Is my child gifted? Helpful advice and online resources from an educational expert.
I still remember when my son’s then first-grade teacher asked if they could test him for the gifted program in our school district. I looked at her and asked, “Are you sure?” I just thought my sweet, curious boy asked a lot of questions. Like, a...
How to get free admission during National Park Week
If this gorgeous spring weather has you itching to get outside with your family, we’ve got the perfect excuse to head out to one of our national parks this weekend: it’s free! This year, the National Park Service turns 100 years old, and to celebrate,...
An easy way to help more kids learn from real news, not fake news.
We’re big fans of supporting quality journalism, especially in this age of where fake news is running rampant. Because, facts matter. (Not that this is a big stake in the ground, mamas. I mean, is any normal person really like, “Whoo! Fake news! We need...
Our favorite new words just added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, from Seussian to humblebrag.
Yesterday, Merriam-Webster announced they had added more than 1000 new words to the dictionary, and wow, word nerds like me could lose ourselves in here for ages. Actually, I kind of did. According to the editors the terms come from everything from tech to science and...
How The National Park Service is letting families visit free!
I’m all about supporting our nation’s National Park Service in any way we can, especially because of the myriad ways they support us right back. So I’m thrilled to share the brilliant initiative to get even more kids to our National Parks and...
How children can write letters to the president: An American tradition
Children writing to our president and the First Family has always been a wonderful and important tradition. And with the inauguration of a new White House resident today, this is a great time to get kids thinking about their own hopes, their concerns, the issues that...
10 free educational online resources for curious kids that every parent should know
We love how the Internet can help us when it comes to raising a generation of more curious kids. There are just so many remarkable free educational online tools and resources that help support a child’s natural curiosity, and even help push them a little (or a...
The 2016 National Spelling Bee winners. And tips for getting your kids excited about spelling.
The 2016 National Scripps Spelling Bee finals ended last night and just wow. For the third year running, two amazing kids tied as winners: 13 year old Jairam Pathwar of Upstate NY, and Austin Texas’ Nihar Janga who is only 11. Wow. To clinch the number-one slot...
Put a poem in your pocket: A fun way to celebrate National Poetry Month
By this point in the school year, my kids know not to expect the sorts of lunchbox love notes they got from me daily in September. But there are a few days on the calendar that inspire me to scribble something special to surprise them: Valentine’s Day (of course), St....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.)
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