More coolness from recent weeks…
7 clever stuffed animal storage solutions: Our favorite ideas for all your kids’ fuzzy friends
It seems like one of the great organizational issues that all parents have in common is finding stuffed animals storage solutions for those dozens of critters that seem to accumulate out of nowhere. When I was a kid, it was Beanie Babies that started to flood my...
Pico Kid jewelry line for girls and boys inspires mini makers
Cool jewelry for both girls and boys that inspires the makers of tomorrow? Found it. Pico Kid, a line of jewelry for girls and boys (or the young at heart), is the latest collection by Pico Design. We've featured Andrea Panico's architectural inspired jewelry...
3 cool no-lace gadgets that make school mornings easier
My youngest child is still learning to tie his shoes. He can get it right about 50% of the time -- just enough to be absolutely confident he can do it himself with no help from me thankyouverymuch. As you can imagine, this makes it hard to get out the door on time on...
How to plan an awesome long weekend with the kids in Asheville, NC
My favorite fall break destination with the kids is unquestionably Asheville, North Carolina. Even though it isn't a kid-centric destination per se (no Mickey Mouse for miles), there's still so many fun, family-friendly activities we can enjoy in the city and...
Adorable silicone teethers that look just like donuts and other treats. Sweet!
Every good baby deserves donuts and ice cream and Oreos... at least in the form of adorable silicone teethers. Not only are they so delicious, you just want to gobble them up (the teethers, not the babies), they're also super safe and carefully constructed. That's one...
The hilarity and terror of raising teens: Tips + humor to get you through it | Spawned Ep 52
Today we're speaking with humorist, best-selling author and actual real-life teacher Robert Wilder about raising teens! We first discovered his hilarious Daddy Needs a Drink way back in the early CMP days, and we've been fans ever since. Break up your day with this...
Turn signal gloves, inflatable helmets and other cool bike safety gear for the whole family
This summer my family hit a new milestone on our bikes: my youngest learned to ride without training wheels, and my oldest is now big enough to be trusted to ride his bike a couple blocks to his friend's house on his own. (Although I still sit next to the phone until...
Happy Heart Kids: fun, easy, educational craft kits that teach kindness and empathy.
If you ask me, it's never too early to teach a child about emotional intelligence. I still remember my teacher making us practice "I" statements -- as in, "When you steal my Hello Kitty pencil, I feel hurt and sad." A couple of decades later, I'm still finding this...
6 adorable pinecone crafts that go way beyond wreaths. Hello, fall!
The thermostat may not reflect it where I live just yet, but tomorrow is officially the first day of fall. And though I likely won't touch a sweater until November, I'm still finding ways to make it feel like autumn with scented candles, apple picking, and leaf...
Le Tote: A fab fashion subscription service that keeps you in style, affordably | Sponsored Message
This is a sponsored message from Le Tote If you've got a love of fashion, but don't necessarily have the budget to support your fabulous taste, check out Le Tote, a fashion subscription service that lets you borrow from hundreds of popular brands without the huge...
The best non-toxic nail polish brands for kids, in colors we can wear too.
Even though I'm a first-time mom-to-be, I feel like I'm already an expert on the best non-toxic nail polishes for kids. I adore painting my nieces' nails; it's such a fun bonding activity, and they love it too, especially when we can wear the same color and be...
Roy Lichtenstein meets Dick and Jane
I'm always a sucker for books for toddlers and early readers that make use of modern art. We've covered Where's Warhol (a Where's Waldo parody) most recently, Henri Matisse and Alexander Calder pop-up books, and now there's a cool new one -- Roy's House, by Susan...
How L.A. families in need can get free infant car seats this week: Spread the word
We're all huge fans of The Good+ Foundation, which was started 15 years ago by Jessica Seinfeld -- and you may know it by its original name, Baby Buggy. (In fact, our Editor-in-Chief Liz is so committed, she's a member of the Friends of Good+ Foundation board of...
5 simple tips to help parents prevent and deal with bullying. We get it. We’ve been there. And it sucks.
Bullying is nothing new. Unfortunately. And I still have the emotional scars from 7th grade to prove it. But for our 21st century kids, bullying is only amplified with the lively presence of social media in all our kids' lives, meaning now bullying that once happened...
Pro family photography tips for parents who’ve caught the photo bug
My absolute favorite feature on my iPhone isn't the smart to-do list that keeps my life sane or the ability to look up random facts on Google whenever I want -- it is, of course, the camera. I take thousands of pictures each year, and as a result, I kind of believe...
Tons of easy pirate party ideas, because every day should be Talk Like a Pirate Day.
There is never a bad time to throw a pirate themed party and look for cool pirate party ideas. Of course there's always Halloween -- and then today's Talk Like a Pirate Day. (One of our favorites!) But it's a cool birthday party theme all on its own, and it doesn't...
All the favorite people in your life, written in stars.
We've always been fond of mom jewelry that doesn't look like mom jewelry, and hooray for us, there have been no shortage of beautiful options over the years. From braille jewelry to roman numeral necklaces, we've seen it all. And now, this custom family zodiacs...
Here’s how you can follow Cool Mom Picks, Cool Mom Tech, Cool Mom Eats. We promise we’ll make it worth your while.
Whichever social media site is your guilty pleasure du jour, we’re there, making sure you don’t miss our favorite posts on parenting, fashion, apps, recipes, deals and discounts, and random awesomeness from around the web. Plus our favorite part: we love hearing from...
SoundBub: The cutest (and smartest) portable white noise machine ever.
I never used a white noise machine with any of my kids when they were babies, which may explain why they were such terrible nappers. Compare that to my friends, who'd come over for dinner and board games with their babies in tow. Their kids slept soundly in our room...
A clever backpack vest for kids, so you can ditch the role of family sherpa
If you've been reading Cool Mom Picks for long while now, you know how much we love to support small indie shops that make amazing gifts for kids or families -- like the beautiful handmade jewelry at Julian & Co or geeky wooden teething toys from 3Princesses Etsy...
5 fun and easy last-minute birthday party ideas your kids will love. (Not that we think you forgot or anything.)
I've never actually forgotten to send the invites out to one of my kids' birthdays, but I've definitely waited until the very last minute to plan their parties. The thing is: if your child's birthday happens to land during one of the crazy-busy times of the year...