From soothing my kids to sleep with their favorite bedtime tunes to making sure I remember when dinner’s done, my family’s small-but-mighty smart speakers have streamlined our routines, put smiles on our faces and helped to save my precious mom-sanity a little bit every day. We started with a single Google Home Mini a few months back but quickly bought two more because we’ve discovered that loads of family-friendly fun + function are just a “Hey Google” away. Naturally, I felt the need to share the new “mom hacks” I’ve learned along way so here are ten ways we use our Google Home Mini smart speakers around the house…
Side Note: The Google Home Mini has a recent successor – the Nest Mini – which boasts better sound quality and wall mountability (totally not a word!) but the Home Mini is still available, often on sale and an amazing option for families looking to explore smart speakers at an extremely affordable price!
1 | Alarms and Timers and Reminders – Oh My!
Beginning with the basics, I use our Google Home Minis to wake my family up in the morning, set timers for free-time, time-outs, baking times + more and remind me to do whatever I’ve gotta get done on any given day. The best part? It’s all via voice command so I never have to pull out a device or push a button to set my family up for success. It’s so simple!
2 | DJ Mom in the House
Using our smart speakers with Spotify, I’ve hosted after school dance parties for my kids, set the tone for homework time and, on a nightly basis, we play sleepy time tunes (mostly the Jazz for Babies albums) to help them drift off to dreamland. And, because we have multiple smart speakers, I’m able to group them together to play music throughout the house which is super handy during the holidays and on my whole-house cleaning days!
3 | Pre-Trek Weather Checks
While dressing the kids can get a little stressful, our Minis make it easy for me to ensure that their outfits are always weather-appropriate. When I ask for the forecast, Google gives me the 411 on the current and future weather conditions for our location or our destination before we walk out the door. Yay!
4 | An Internet’s Worth of Answers
As every mama knows, kids ask a LOT of questions. Fortunately, Google smart speakers come equipped with answers to everything you could ever, well, google. We’ve asked ours for facts about the moon, how to spell different words, how many days/weeks until specific holidays/events and – courtesy of Hendrix – everything you never needed to know about Super Mario. It’s been awesome!
5 | Stories + Games to Entertain
Using our Minis, my kids have listened to podcasts, played musical chairs, taken interactive adventures with Mickey, sat down for story time with Anna, Elsa + Olaf, played trivia games and so much more. They get their digital entertainment fix and I get a little less mom guilt than I would if they were simply sitting in front of the TV. It’s a win-win situation!
6 | Parental PA System
Making house-wide announcements is admittedly one of my favorite things to do with our Minis. The Broadcast feature makes sure my voice memo plays on every speaker so the entire fam gets the message and the kids can easily send back replies. Also, if you say “it’s time to wake up”, “it’s dinner time” or “it’s time for bed”, Google plays its own message with fun sound effects. I love it!
7 | Mama’s Long-Term Memory
Have you ever put something somewhere you “won’t forget it” but couldn’t seem to find it the next time you needed it? Yea, we’ve all been there. Thankfully, Google Home Mini can remember things like where the spare key is hidden or (listen up, dads) what mom’s favorite kind of flowers are. I’ve actually not used this feature yet but I’m sure I’m going to get a good amount of use out of it.
8 | A Streamlined Bedtime
Once the kids are asleep, my most used feature is the Bedtime Routine. With a simple “Hey Google, goodnight” the speaker in my bedroom lets me know the weather for the following day, asks me what time I’d like an alarm to wake me up in the morning and then plays an hour’s worth of thunderstorm sleep sounds that soothe me to sleep. Mama Tip: This feature can also do things like put your phone on silent and let you know your first calendar event for the next day. And, when paired with compatible devices like smart bulbs or the Google Nest Thermostat, Mini can turn your lights off and the temperature up or down depending on your set preferences. Sweet dreams!
9 | Hands-Free Recipe Recitals
While I do love cookbooks, I usually source recipes from Pinterest which often means I’m picking up my phone every few minutes whilst I cook. This is fine except for the times I get whatever I’m making all over my phone screen – aka pretty much every time. Luckily, Google smart speakers can not only find top-rated recipes but also recite them step by step (you just say “Ok Google, what’s the next step?” as you’re ready) so I can keep my hands focused on food and off my phone.
10 | Compact Personal Assistant
Last but not at all least, Google Home Mini can act as the perfect parental assistant when it comes to tasks like telling you what time Target closes, letting you know how your commute is looking, calling someone from your contacts list and even dialing the closest pizza place because sometimes we just can’t be bothered, ya know? I’ve even used it to ring my phone when I can’t find it which saves me time versus logging into Find My Phone or asking a family member to call it for me. As all parents know, even a small assist can be a huge help so here’s to having one less thing to do whilst you do all the things!
As thorough as I’ve tried to be, the above hacks are really just a jumping off point as Google Home Mini – along with Google’s whole line of smart home products – offers an ever-expanding assortment of tasks + activities. We recently purchased a Google Chromecast for our family room TV so we can use voice command to play content from Netflix and YouTube as well as cast Disney+ from our phones and tablets. It’s all been pretty magical and we’re definitely looking forward to acquiring a few more additions – like the Nest Hub and the Nest Hello Doorbell – in the (hopefully) near future. For now, I’m enjoying our small fleet of Minis and all the ways they’ve made my #momlife a little smoother every single day.
Are you in the market for a smart speaker? Do you already own one? Let me know below!
Melina Elisa says
We actually own two google home minis and one regular google home, and the funny thing is that we don’t use it for anything other than music. WELL, we also use it to turn on and off our smart lights! It’s really cool because since it turns the actual switch off it actually saves electricity, and lets us know how much power we’ve saved by using the smart switches. Great post, and I’ll be sure to implement some of these other things into my daily life. xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
nickyashleigh says
How cool! How’s the sound quality on the regular Home vs the Mini? I definitely want to get some bulbs soon. I had no idea it tracks energy use. That’s really awesome. Thank you so much for the comment!! I was actually in the middle of rewriting this post when it published because I forgot I had scheduled it. I think you saw it about two-thirds rewritten so I’m glad you still enjoyed it. Lol!! xxx
Jen says
I always ask my friends what they think of their dots or minis and they swear by them! I’m so late to the train haha. I do appreciate your input As a mom it seems to have many uses. And yes on getting phones dirty while cooking- dec relate!!
nickyashleigh says
They really are super helpful! Lol. I’m glad I could be another vote in favor of them. Let me know if you end up getting one! xx
ROSA M. ENRIQUEZ says
Seriously, when I first saw the picture, I thought it was a pincushion. I thought: Oh! Something crafty! I AM low-tech; notice how late I am to the comment section. : )