11 cool tween and teen Halloween craft ideas that don’t suck.
While we love sharing Halloween craft ideas for our preschoolers and little ones, our tweens and older kids want to get in on the fun too. So with my own Halloween-loving older kid in mind, I searched around for some cool Halloween craft projects and ideas just for...
Keep calm and carry on with these 7 excellent children’s books about mindfulness
My four kids range from toddler to teenager, and I find that no matter their stage in life I am always looking for ways to help them increase their mindfulness. Whether they’re processing complicated, difficult emotions in their early teen years, or just...
Resist like Ruth: Because fighting for gender equality is still a radical act.
Wee rascals is fast becoming my go-to site for gifts for enlightened kids. I just love these makers of wonderful historical tees for kids honoring heroes like Malala, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Hamil-crew, and a girl gang we want to run with. My...
Cool non-candy Halloween gift for a cynical tween or teen? Reader Q & A
When Lisa asked us for cool non-candy Halloween gift ideas for her tween/teen nieces and nephews, I was on the case! I checked with my own Halloween-loving but decidedly…particular tween and teen to see what kinds of things they would think are cool. I mean, of...
Why this mannequin head is a seriously cool birthday gift for a tween girl
When my daughter came home from camp this summer, all she wanted to do was braid everyone’s hair. Except… none of us really have long enough hair to braid. That’s when I decided to search Amazon for a hair mannequin head so she could braid whenever...
5 ways parents can empower our younger kids and tweens to be more independent.
It can be hard to remember when we’re so busy with the minutiae of each day, but the ultimate goal of parenting is to raise responsible, independent adults. And, well, that starts before they actually hit the age of 18. The dance of educating our kids and then...
Take a peek inside the new I Am a Rebel Girl: A Journal to Start Revolutions. It’s wonderful.
From the moment we discovered Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli, we knew it was bound to be a massive hit. A book full of diverse, inspiring women’s stories complete with great writing and stunning illustrations —...
The strong athletic girls t-shirts that honor her passion for sports.
The moment I saw this strong athletic girls tee collection at This Girls Tees, I wished they’d been around when I was a kid. Sports were a big source of confidence for me as a shy kid, and so I’m all about encouraging young girls to get on the field...
How to be a Happier Parent without guilt or shame: KJ Dell’Antonia lays it out | Spawned ep 121
In case the book title How to Be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute sounds like something that’s not for you…you’d be wrong. Because it’s written by the hilarious, down-to-earth, wonderfully...Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz!
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).
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