You can buy your kid a dumbphone, or purchase an app (with paid subscription!) to make a spare smartphone dumber, but Jeremy White at Wired figured out that you can also use the buried options in an iPhone to craft a perfect device for a kid. These options are somewhat hidden under the Accessibility menu, and seem to be designed for those with cognitive disabilities, but also work to constrain the access your child has. Full instructions in this Wired article, This Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone Into the Perfect Kids’ Dumb Phone. — KK

What was the most streamed show in 2025? Bluey, a kids animated show from Australia. Bluey has about 150 very short episodes using an animated dog family to model emotional intelligence and give toddlers strategies for big feelings. Like Sesame Street, adults can tolerate watching it. I think early Sesame Street is better, teaching more and broader, but Bluey is a good second choice. (Technically streamed on Disney+, but available on YouTube as well.) Because episodes are shorter (about 10 minutes), small kids love rewatching them. — KK

Electronics for Kids, a new book by Øyvind Nydal Dahl's, starts with the basics — making a battery from a lemon, turning a bolt into an electromagnet — then moves into soldering real circuits, and finally into digital electronics, introducing logic gates and memory circuits before culminating in an LED reaction game that tests how fast you can catch a blinking light. The illustrations are clear throughout. Despite the title, I'd recommend it for adults as well as kids. — MF

A common parenting challenge when traveling or visiting with small children: a bib is too bulky to carry around, but meals without it are a mess. First world solution: disposable bibs. Light, cheap, does the job, toss when done. $7 for 20. — KK