by Cool Mom Staff | Back to School Shopping, School Gear
Back to school time isn’t just about shopping! (Not that there’s anything wrong with shopping, of course.) One of our favorite annual traditions is sharing our favorite back to school printables in our Back to School Guide to help make the school year...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, DIY
Finding all of these free sight word printables for kindergarten instantly brings me back to those sweet early days of school, sniff. I have teens now, but I remember how scary it could be to send your kid off to kindergarten, hoping that their reading and writing...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, School Gear
Each year, in our annual back to school shopping guide, we always love tracking down those cool lunch box accessories, water bottles, bentos, and other fun goodies that help make opening that same old lunch box every day a little more special. Some of of these lunch...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, Kids' Furniture, School Gear, Storage + Organization, Tips + Tricks
So many parents have learned over the past few years that setting up a study space at home is more important than ever. Maybe you homeschool, maybe your kids just need a dedicated space for homework, or maybe they’ve got virtual tutoring or other extracurricular...
by Kate Etue | Back to School Shopping, DIY, Tips + Tricks
When we think back to school season, we’re also thinking about those time-saving hacks we dust off to ease out of the summer groove and ready for our September (or August!) routines. While our Annual Back to School Guide mostly features the coolest new...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, School Gear
When we put together our picks for the coolest backpacks for preschool and kindergarten each year, we think about how exciting it is for little ones to pick what may likely be their very first school gear ever. They seriously geek out over all their  school...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, Kids
As our kids have gotten older, we know they prefer lunch bags to lunch boxes because it’s so much easier to shove into a backpack–especially when they may or may not have a locker. And of course, it doesn’t look so “little kid” The key is...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, School Gear
When we look for cool backpacks for teens, it’s not enough for them to just be, you know, cool. As kids head to middle school or high school— especially after a whole year at home more or less (sigh) — they need bigger, sturdier backpacks, better shoulder...
by Lisa Barnes | Back to School Shopping, Living
I’ve become a bit of a pro at picking out dorm room essentials, which means separating the must-haves from the nice-to-haves from the not-going-to-haves. Especially iff I’m paying for it. Having sent all of my three kids away to college, it’s become...
by Christina Refford | Back to School Shopping, Fashion
A reader reached out this year to ask for a few of our favorite cool plus-size clothes for teens, to help get her own teen daughter up to speed for back-to-school. And we are happy to oblige! Considering school will be starting up again soon, we know our teens will be...
by Liz Gumbinner | Back to School Shopping, Tips + Tricks
With back to school coming up, I’m sharing some of my favorite personalized label ideas to help keep you organized, keep you sane, save you money (whoo!) and even keep the peace if you have more than one kid. (Parents of two or more, you know what I’m...
by Kate Etue | Back to School Shopping, School Gear
It’s kind of amazing that we’re searching for the best small appliances for dorm rooms these days — with our own teens in mind! It’s like we blinked and our team went from back to school shopping for preschool backpacks to sending some of our...
We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, more meaningful, and more fun for parents of all kinds. Whether you found us from appearances on the TODAY Show, from a Google search, or from a friend, we're so glad you're here.
