free or close to it

Black History Month lasts through the end of February, but you'll need to act by Friday if you want to grab free downloads of three important audio books by Black authors. Offered as a gift from Cool Mom Tech-recommended audiobook compan…

It's no secret that we are huge fans of Star Wars here at Cool Mom Tech, so when we heard that Headspace just launched new mindfulness and meditation content for kids 5-10 called Find Your Force with Star Wars , I rocketed over to watch …

This year, we want to stream the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but of course, we happened to have cut our cable cord years ago. Instead, we rely on several streaming services — mainly Netflix, the free HBOMax subscription that came with our phone …

I love giving the gift of photos, videos, and heartfelt messages for Father's Day (or any special day, really), but they're not exactly the easiest things to give long distance to say, a grandpa. Do you attach a video to an email? Send a…

Who else is thinking about gardening this spring? Along with our own Liz and Kristen who recently hosted the We Time Project and took a food gardening course (yay!), it seems like everyone is ready to put down the sourdough starter and g…

We're huge board game geeks in my family. Our stack of strategy games is up to the ceiling. And while we're always up for a new game, they're expensive. So my new solution has been playing board games online before I buy! I get the full …

I am not exaggerating when I say that I cried after watching a presentation about Apple's new, totally free, Make Your Holiday at-home family program . Our kids have been through so much, and whenever I think of all the companies that ha…

This weekend, inspired by the Cool Mom Picks book club video chat about How to Break Up with Your Phone , I decided to try one of author Catherine Price's tips to help me be more mindful about my screen time, and more aware of how much I…

If you're looking to add some new books to your summer reading list, you'll want to head over to Amazon right now and download the 9 free Kindle books they're offering today in honor of World Book Day. But hurry, you've got about 30 hour…

If you're an Amazon Prime member like me who also happens to have a Nintendo Switch , you'll definitely want to check out this awesome offer from Twitch Prime (which, if you didn't know, is owned by Amazon). All you need to do is connect…

With all the not-so-great news coming out around YouTube recently -- from their pedophilia problem to the horrific content spliced into kids' videos to the infamous Momo challenge -- I've been looking for some YouTube alternatives. From …

One of my very favorite movies this year was the Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? , which simultaneously shed new light on the TV personality I loved as a child and sparked a passion for me to show my kids every favorite…

If there's ever a time when we deserve some extra hours parked in front of a screen, it's the week after Christmas when we are all coming down from the excitement of the holidays. And if you are a Roku customer, make sure you check out R…

As my son gets older, I'm starting to look for cool educational apps to give him a leg up on counting and letters and other basic skills. The clear favorite for now? The brand new Khan Academy Kids , a free learning app from Khan Academy…

Podcasts can promote your child's creativity and imagination without spending more time in front of a screen.

Life is short, and now is the best time to do something for yourself and your health.

Because if you're saving money, you don't want to start by spending on another app.

It's not always easy for us parents to find time to focus on our mental and spiritual health, but it's critical to being good parents for our kids. So, set aside the guilt about "me time" and download these free self-care apps now. They'…

Harness your thoughts (and maybe a New Years' resolution) with one of our favorite free journal apps.

When I was a drop-out Brownie some 30-ahem years ago, my troop worked on badges like Basketry and Arts & Crafts. But now I'm kind of wishing I could go back and do it all over again because this fall, the Girl Scout organization has anno…

Just because breastfeeding is a natural process, it isn't necessarily all blissed out bonding time. But luckily, we live in a time where there are tons of tech to help nursing moms, like these 3 new breastfeeding apps that caught our att…

These camps are so cool that you’ll want to be a kid again! Well maybe temporarily.

Well this is cool, parents! Khan Academy is partnering with Disney and Pixar to offer free online classes in storytelling for kids of all ages to show them how STEM helps make movies. The initiative is called Pixar in a Box , and we're p…

We love finding cool toys and apps that do a great job teaching our kids the basics of coding, since it's a language we expect they'll want (and need) to know when they're adults. When they've got great design and fun play through too, i…