history Archives | Cool Mom Picks

Elected leaders need to do more than just “recognize” Juneteenth. Tell them to act on these 5 issues.

Today marks the very first Juneteenth since the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution to make Juneteenth a national holiday this week and it was quickly signed into law by President Biden on Thursday. It’s amazing! So many of us grew up never having heard of...

What was the Tulsa Race Massacre? Resources to help teach kids (and adults) of all ages

by Kate Etue | Doing Good, Kids, Thinking : Parent

May 30, 1921, marks one of the darkest days in America’s history. And yet the Tulsa Race Massacre isn’t an event I ever learned in school — and unfortunately most kids today don’t either. The Burning of Black Wall Street can be a hard day to...

7 incredible aspects of The American Families Plan you may not have caught. It’s a big f*cking deal (to paraphrase a certain current president)

by Liz Gumbinner | Doing Good, Kids

Watching President Biden describe some of the details of his American Families Plan this week — well, it’s made me emotional. It’s so much of what we’ve hoped for. And frankly, so much of what our own parents and even grandparents have hoped...

5 free online courses that look fun to take with your mom for Mother’s Day

by Liz Gumbinner | Entertainment + Media, Mother's Day Gifts

So far, we’ve loved what’s happening with The We Time Project that we introduced last month: In order to help you connect more with far away friends and family around shared experiences, we’ve been offering our readers 30 days worth of unlimited...

Ambitious Girl by Meena Harris: Because girls need to own their dreams. And so do women!

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids

I’m typing from behind swollen eyes today, the result of a day of crying tears of joy, tears of relief. Just a whole lot of tears. Lots of friends and readers have told me the same, and shared that one of the most profound moments of yesterday’s historic...

2021 inauguration activities and events for kids and families: Lots of ways to watch, learn, and celebrate with your kids

by Liz Gumbinner | Kids

As we move on from the worst president of all time, some wonderful organizations are coming together to help us collectively process, plan, and heal. You can find the full schedule of official Biden-Harris inaugural events here, but there’s more inaugural...

15+ inspired gift ideas for the most devoted The Crown fans

by Kate Etue | Holiday Picks

I know I’m not alone when I say I’m obsessed with The Crown. And I would happily take any The Crown gift this Christmas, because escaping to 80s London, if only through my screen, has been a very nice retreat from our home these days. (Even if we all have...

A study about the ignorance of teens + young adults around the Holocaust + anti-Semitism is disturbing. Here’s what we can do as parents.

by Liz Gumbinner | Books for Kids, Doing Good, Kids, Thinking : Parent

This morning I woke up to the study that’s making the rounds on Twitter: Nearly 2/3 of US young adults are unaware that 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust — some get the numbers wrong, some didn’t know at all. Dig deeper into the survey results...

20 fun, educational board games that totally count as homeschool time: Math, science, geography and more

by Kate Etue | Toys + Playthings

If you don’t think of family board games as an educational opportunity to supplement your kids’ learning, well put away the Cards Against Humanity (ha) and check out these suggestions! To be clear, as a homeschooling mom, I’m a big fan of actual...

I’m a lifelong Tennessee white woman. And we have to talk about the Confederate flag and other symbols of hate.

by Kate Etue | Doing Good, Thinking : Parent

Let’s talk about the Confederate Flag, y’all. It’s time. As I write these thoughts, I’m sitting at the exact location where Confederate soldiers met the “Federal Front Line” of the Union Army during the Battle of Franklin in the...

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Picks in 2006 to help make life cooler, more meaningful, and more fun for parents of all kinds.

Trivia: It was called Cool Mom Sh*t for the first two days. (Yeah, we rethought that.)

We had no idea our site would grow to become a major lifestyle network, that we'd end up sharing our finds with the TODAY Show and Martha Stewart, that we'd be able to make a real difference for so many small businesses and women-run companies, or that we'd end up with an incredible community of the coolest readers on the planet. (If we do say so ourselves).

We still love what we do every single day. And we're so glad you're here.