holiday activities Archives

80+ creative Easter egg decorating ideas: Your ultimate egg decorating resource!

For more than a decade now, so many of our writers have searched the web to compile the most creative Easter egg decorating ideas, from simple to wow, from traditional to modern, from designs for toddlers to designs for teens — and everything in between. And so,...

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...

12 acts of kindness you can do with your kids over the holiday break, to make the season about more than presents.

by Christina Refford | Doing Good, Tips + Tricks

Acts of kindness have never felt more important than they do this year. And since kinds are naturally inclined toward kindness, we wanted to give this post a bump this year. Because when Christmas is over, Santa is back at the North Pole, the toys are all unwrapped,...

New Year’s Eve at home with the kids: These 13 festive (and easy!) ideas can make the night memorable.

by Kate Etue | Party Ideas, Tips + Tricks

New Year’s Eve at home with the kids isn’t a new idea for this year. In general, New Year’s Eve parties for parents are more about trying our very best to stay up till midnight (though 10 PM is more like it) and drinking sparkling cider with our kids...

Last-minute holiday gift ideas: Tons of options that let you skip the $$$ shipping

by Liz Gumbinner | Holiday Picks

I totally get the last-minute holiday gift problem. Believe me! I mean, we may have started amassing ideas for our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide in, like…February, but hey, we’re busy moms. And we’re busy shopping for you sometimes at the expense of our...

The best subscription gifts for kids this year: 40+ ideas for every age, and every interest

by Kate Etue | Holiday Picks, Kids, Toys + Playthings

It’s final countdown to the holidays, which means last-minute gift ideas, which means subscription gifts for kids, which are always some of our favorites to give — last minute or not! Wwe know from experience that our kids love to receive boxes in the...

Stop everything and watch Debbie Allen in Dance Dreams: The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker on Netflix.

by Ibidunni Ojikutu | Entertainment + Media, Holiday Picks

The day it was released on Netflix, I watched Shondaland’s Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, the new documentary about Debbie Allen Dance Academy and their annual production. Before I knew it, I was crying. While I danced as a child, I was never a ballet...

Our giant list of more than 200+ homemade holiday gift ideas: DIY gifts for boyfriends, girlfriends, men, women, kids, neighbors, teachers…

by Liz Gumbinner | DIY, Holiday Picks

I can see in my social networks this year that so many more of us are looking for homemade gift ideas for the holidays. It’s not just that homemade gifts allow us to save some money (well, depending on the gift of course!), but they allow us to give an...

Explaining Hanukkah to kids: Start with this PBS documentary

by Liz Gumbinner | Entertainment + Media, Holiday Picks

Living in New York, I kind of take for granted that everyone knows what Hanukkah is, and we don’t need help explaining it to our kids. But last night on Twitter, I came across a thread started by a curious mom asking for documentaries or other resources to help...

How to “meet” Santa this Christmas during COVID: 5 fun, safe ideas to get kids in front of the big guy.

by Caroline Siegrist | Holiday Picks

Let’s talk ways to “meet” Santa this Christmas this year, during Covid. Because my young son will want a Santa Claus visit this year, and I know he’s not the only kid, by a long shot! So I’ve been brainstorming alternatives to sitting on...

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.