free or close to it

When emojis first started popping up in random social media spots, I thought, "Eh, they won't last." But then I starting using the funny little graphics myself in iMessages and on Instagram comments, and suddenly emojis sort of became my…

One of the scariest things I may see this Halloween is my 13-year-old disappearing down the street with her big group of friends to go on her first trick-or-treating trek without me. And while it's hard to believe the years of us trick-o…

If you have a baby, you've probably said i t's all going by so fast 20 times just this week alone--and then felt guilty at least four times for forgetting to record all those sweet moments in a baby book somewhere. We get it! We look for…

I'm looking for a child tracking app to secretly put on my 17-year-old's iPhone to track his whereabouts. My wife's "spidey senses" are telling her that he's going places and doing things without permission. I know I could Google but I'd…

For me, as a kid, mathematics was fun until it wasn't. I would say the party fizzled around the time If a train leaves the station at 10:15... questions became regular players on homework. So that's why I enjoyed giving the Todo Math app…

If your kids are old enough to toddle, chances are they have opinions about their upcoming Halloween costume and may be considering one of the all-time classics: The robot. If that's the case, or if you'd like to steer them in this direc…

With National Coffee Day just behind us, there's been a whole lot of buzz about buzz lately. And if there's one thing I learned about people who drink coffee, it's this: don't mess with their java. They like it how they like it, and they…

If you like great kids' music as much as we do, then you should be sure to follow our friends Stefan Shepherd via his website Zooglobble , and Bill Childs through his hugely popular weekly radio show, Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child . No…

Have you ever been somewhere, sitting through an event or activity, and just wishing you could hit the fast-forward button on it all? Well, last week Instagram released a new video app that is as close as we're ever going to get to that.…

There are three things you need to know about the productivity app IFTTT : 1) It's an acronym that stands for If This, Then That. 2) It's pronounced like the 'ift' in the word gift. 3) It's out here saving lives. Okay, that's a bit drama…

Whether your kids are figuring out how to sound out words for the first time, or you have older grade-schoolers who just might choose an educational app over a game from time to time if it's fun enough, educational apps can certainly be …

There's excitement and anxiousness in the air at back to school time, but for many parents, this time of year can also bring about a little dread. As in: Ugh. Here comes the deluge of To-Do lists and classroom paperwork and lunch-packing…

While looking around for cool printable lunch box notes for our back to school guide, I stumbled across these wildly awesome optical illusion flash cards at Mr. Printables. As a kid, I couldn't get enough of optical illusions and now my …

We're so happy to kick off our 2014 back to school tech guide with one of our favorite, and most requested categories: The best educational apps for preschoolers. Now just because your little one isn't in official Big Kid school yet does…

Other than the daily sunscreen application my children must endure, they would probably say their least-favorite thing about summer are all the bugs that fly, crawl, buzz, and bite on a summer's day or night. Since I'm getting a bit wear…

Even though it's easy to snap and share plenty of great vacation photos these days, I do miss those fun postcards we used to collect and send during my family trips as a kid. But now with the ScenePast app for iOS, you can actually send …

We've got everything you need to celebrate today's National S'mores Day in a way fitting for this iconic campfire treat. From 9 Fantastic S'mores Recipes to a genius indoor s'mores recipe (if it's raining in your neck of the woods), and …

There's a lime green folder in a top drawer in our kitchen that is spilling over with paper: artwork, drawings, little wobbly letters that are getting less wobbly day by day. I've learned to let go and throw some things away, but the res…

About halfway through our summer, my bag of tricks is getting dangerously empty when it comes to creating fun, new things to do with the kids. But one of our favorite arts-and-craft companies, Kiwi Crate , has developed Kiwi Corner , a w…

We have covered many ways to recycle your tech devices in the past, but if you want to create an amazing new use from an older device, like turning it into a baby monitor, home security system or having a way to see what exactly those ki…

My kids are way deep into a Minecraft obsession. They ask for Minecraft playdates, they've built full-size characters out of cardboard boxes, and my 9-year-old daughter talks about marrying the Enderman. She calls him Endy. They're close…

As women in tech, we're big believers that girls can and should succeed in any field they want to go into, including sciences and technology. That's why sought out so many amazing STEM toys for girls over the years, why we've cheered for…

A long holiday weekend here in the states is the best way to usher in the hazy, lazy days of summer which makes the hip-hop, kid-friendly rap of Cool Mom Picks' favorite Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's Unwind track sound so perfect. And for a l…

If you'll be taking a long road trip with the family, now is a great time to start building a rocking kids' music playlist to minimize the are-we-there-yets. And if have Amazon Prime , then you can hear loads of kids' songs for free just…