24+ Genius Parenting Hacks, Products, and Gadgets

Items Needed: Labeled clothes
Est. Cost: $19.99*

Parents are naturally able to tell the difference between their twins. Other relatives and friends might have some difficulty, especially if they’re identical. For this reason, identifying clothing can really help in telling the difference between twins. 

@BabyrockstarGifts/Etsy

There are so many cute designs out there with cheeky jokes identifying twin A  and twin B. You could also get named clothing, with each twin’s name. Once they get older it usually gets easier to tell the difference as they grow into their own styles, but this is a perfect solution for the early years. 

Items Needed: Shoes, stickers, and patience
Est. Cost: $2* (for a cute sticker)

Something that seems so obvious as an adult can be strangely complex for a child to grasp. Such as which shoe is left and which is right. One would think it would be intuitive since the shapes of the shoes are different, but somehow kids struggle with this and often get their shoes mixed up.

@Lifehacker/Twitter.com

This hack is so simple, it’s hard to believe we didn’t think of it ages ago. All you need to do is cut a sticker in half and place the left half in the left shoe and the right half in the right shoe. The child simply has to match up the sticker to know immediately which shoe goes on which foot. Thanks Elsa sticker!

Items Needed: Fan and a fitted duvet cover
Est. Cost: $99*

So many of our happiest childhood memories are in a fort or a tent at home. We would build elaborate tunnels out of bedsheets and take our favorite books, toys and flashlights and spend hours on end inside. This takes a favorite childhood hobby to the next level.

FAN FORCED BLANKET FORT @So a Playground/YouTube

Especially great for warm summer days, your fan is the perfect tool to inflate a fitted duvet cover. All you need to do is place the fan in the opening of the duvet cover and secure it around the edges. Turn on the fan and you have a giant, inflated home tent. Perfect for an imaginary journey to outer space! 

Items Needed: Cupcake holders
Est. Cost: $15*

How is it that kids tend to gulp down their food at a speed only comparable to TWX except when it comes to ice cream? Somehow ice cream becomes the thing they lick so slowly, you can see it melting before your eyes. Next thing you have sugary syrup everywhere, sticky fingers which become sticky walls and faces, and of course tears due to melted ice cream. 

Cupcake Liners to Catch Popsicle Drips @bargainmaxuk/instagram

One parent came up with one potential solution which seems logical off the bat. Take a cupcake holder and push the stick of the lolly through it so the holder catches the melted ice cream. Of course, this doesn’t actually work at all since the melted ice cream simply slides right past the cupcake holder. A tissue is a better solution here (or stealing little licks of their ice cream to ‘help’ them stay clean).

Items Needed: Lint cleaner
Est. Cost: $9.99*

Glitter, the sparkly bits that we all love to hate. Somehow glitter seems to last for two seconds, while simultaneously never completely going away. One little tub of glitter is equivalent to about three minutes of fun and about two years of cleaning up. It’s no wonder that so many parents have put a blanket ban on glitter at home, despite the rather fleeting joy that it provides.

@BuzzFeed/Pinterest | ©Stephanie Zieber/stock.adobe.com

With this simple hack, you will be able to glitter your crafts once again without concern about cleaning up. All you need is a simple lint cleaner. You know those round sticky tubes that clean lint and pet hair off your clothes? They will pick up glitter with ease in all the tricky places like carpets, allowing you to glitter to your heart’s content. 

Items Needed: Puffy fabric paint
Est. Cost: $14.99*

Toddlers are adventurous with no real ability to assess danger. They climb without abandon and run without limitations. Bumps and bruises are par for the course when your little one begins to walk and enjoy their newfound independence. While we can’t avoid any accidents altogether, there are a few things we can do to protect them. 

DIY No-Slip Socks @Tulip Color/Pinterest

One of those things is socks with a grip that will help avoid slipping. If you don’t have any no-slip grip socks, don’t worry, they are easy enough to make! All you need is to use puffy fabric paint to paint dots at the bottom of the socks. This will create a grip that will prevent your little one from slipping. 

Items Needed: Healthy food packet
Est. Cost: $14.95*

One occasion in which parents often tell white lies is when it comes to candy. We are very adamant that sugar is not healthy in excess and kids should limit their intake. Especially when evening comes around, we are even more particular about the no Hershey’s after 6 pm rule.

@Maynard Rose/Facebook.com

When it comes to our rules though, chocolate snacks at night are abundant. It doesn’t mean the kids have to know about it though. All you need to do is hide it in a healthy-looking bag in the fridge or cupboard and they’ll never know…. Or will they?

Items Needed: Toothpaste and a scrubbing brush
Est. Cost: $6*

Kids are all little artists, their creativity flows freely and abundantly. We as parents want to ensure that we nurture this creativity, allowing it to blossom and bloom as who knows if our child might be the next Picasso. The only problem with this is that kids also don’t understand basic things like, for example, drawing on a wall is not necessarily advisable. 

©New Africa/stock.adobe.com

If your little one attacked your walls with crayons, fear not. All you need is some toothpaste (the non-gel kind) and a scrubbing brush. With a little bit of the old elbow grease, the crayon will come right off and your little Picasso can express themselves on another surface, preferably paper. 

Items Needed: Chalkboard paint
Est. Cost: $29*

Organizing kids’ stuff is probably one of the most constant battles for parents. This constantly changing, dynamic problem needs a more dynamic solution than just compartments and drawers. What we need to solve this issue are drawers that you can label according to the current needs of the user, which change all the time.

Chalkboard Paint Drawers @BuzzFeed/Pinterest

The answer is chalkboard paint. Yes, that black paint that is used for chalkboards. By painting your drawers and compartments with chalkboard paint you are able to change the labels according to the current needs and demands of the space. Genius. 

Items Needed: Floor mop onesie
Est. Cost: $24*

When babies begin crawling, it is both an exciting time as well as terrifying. Hazards appear out of nowhere and the cleaning is simply endless. They put everything in their mouths and collect dirt all over themselves basically everywhere they go and there is very little that can be done about it. 

Baby Romper Mop @inspireuplift/Twitter.com

This baby mop floor cleaner idea was a hilarious gag gift and pretty clever in concept. Babies crawl around all day, so why not put them to work and get them cleaning at the same time? The truth is though that it is simply not an effective cleaning method, despite being quite a funny idea. 

Items Needed: Hanging shoe rack
Est. Cost: $26*

No matter how big our homes are, we never seem to have enough space. Kids’ stuff accumulates so fast and the clutter seems to just be everywhere no matter how much we try to keep our homes orderly. Basically, any ideas that make storage simpler and more compact are genius as far as parents are concerned and this idea is no exception.

Toy Organiser ©amazon.com

Using a shoe hanger as a toy organizer is pure brilliance. The reason is twofold, firstly it takes up minimal space and hangs behind the door, and secondly, the compartments are the perfect size for an enormous amount of kid’s toys. Barbie is basically made to fit directly into a hanging shoe rack with all her pals. 

Items Needed: Fabric, elastic
Est. Cost: $6.99*

There are many reasons why a parent would not want their kids to lock their doors. Firstly safety is an issue, especially with small kids. If they accidentally got locked in a room any number of things could happen which we would want to avoid at all costs.

@projectnursery/Twitter.com

A small piece of fabric sewn onto an elastic will prevent locking with a fair amount of ease and still look lovely. You can select a fabric that matches your decor for something that is not only functional but also looks lovely. 

Items Needed: Boxes
Est. Cost: $29.50*

We’ve all been in that dreaded situation whereby we can’t leave the house due to some unforeseen circumstance such as very poor weather or an unwell child or parent. That feeling where you and your kids are quite literally climbing up the walls with boredom is so dreaded that we are often forced to be super creative with what we have access to at that moment.

Cardboard Slide @The Contemplative Creative/Twitter.com

If you happen to have a couple of boxes lying around, you can easily create a makeshift slide on the stairs. All you need to do is lay the boxes flat, making sure they join up smoothly and your kids will be entertained for hours on end. 

Items Needed: Baby shower visor
Est. Cost: $7.99*

Shampooing a baby’s hair is often a traumatic experience, both for the parents as well as the baby. The feeling of the water and soap on their face is enough to send them over the edge and cause tears to no end. Aside from just avoiding washing their hair which is not advised, there is a solution to this problem.

@Babyfit/AliExpress

You need this little baby shower cap that fits comfortably on the baby’s head. It works in the same way that an umbrella works, allowing the water to flow downwards and fall far enough away from its delicate face. This is the perfect answer for a tear-free bath and soft, clean baby hair.