Twelve Days of Apps: Inventioneers (Day 12)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

My #1 favorite new app of the year is..... Inventioneers by Filimundus! (iOS, Android)

(image: kapiawards)

Twelve Days of Apps: StarWalk for Kids (Day 11)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

Learn more about the night sky in StarWalk Kids: a kid-friendly, but packed-with-facts app.

(image: beatzone.cz)

Twelve Days of Apps: Monument Valley (Day 10)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

Not designed for kids, specifically, this app appeals to a very wide range of ages and is great for kids and parents to play together.

(image: toolsandtoys.net)

Twelve Days of Apps: Hideout (day 9)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

A catchy soundtrack and word-building action reminiscent of old-school Electric Company make this FREE app from BYU one of my favorites to recommend.

(image: hideoutapp.com)

Annual Holiday Special: Nifty Thrifty Gifty

We interrupt this list of app reviews to bring you details about this year's Nifty Thrifty Gifty -- an annual craft event where I choose interesting, yet simple crafts that are great for gifting to friends and family.

The craft in the title photo is from the"DIY Friendly Pendants" tutorial.  See some kid-made versions after the jump

Twelve Days of Apps: Alien Assignment (Day 8)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

This app will get your kids off the couch and searching the house hunting for items to photograph in an out-of-this-world scavenger hunt!

(image: itunes)

Twelve Days of Apps: JumpSeeWow's Fire Station App (Day 7)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

I'll preface this review with a disclaimer that the app developer is a friend-of-a-friend, but all opinions here are my own, unbiased thoughts.

 (image: slj.com)

Twelve Days of Apps: Toca Lab (Day 6)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

So I could follow yesterday's post with a "Toca Boca anything" post, but then this whole "12 Apps" concept would really start to look like a sham.  So I'll narrow it down to my favorite app from this fantastic developer from this past year.

 (image: geekmom.com)

Twelve Days of Apps: Sago Mini... Everything (Day 5)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

I went to look at my notes today and... well, this has GOT to be cheating, but I just wrote down "Sago Mini Everything." And no, Sago Mini fans this is not the name of a new Sago app you haven't heard of, I simply couldn't narrow it down to only one Sago Mini app. But I will list some of our favorites after the jump.

 (image: appaddict.net)

Twelve Days of Apps: Piiig Labs (Day 4)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

Science (on sale!) without the mess.

 (image: geekswithjuniors.com)

Twelve Days of Apps: Lazoo Squiggles & Kapu Blocks (Day 3)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

For Day Three, I couldn't decide between these two apps, plus I feel like I've told almost everyone I know about this first one already, so really, I almost OWE you a second app recommendation today.

 (image: simplyrealmoms.com)

Twelve Days of Apps: Weigh the World (Day 2)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

Here's day two!

 (image: topbestappsforkids.com)

Twelve Days of Apps: One Globe Kids / Thinkrolls (Day 1)

 (Creative Commons image: Jesper Hauge)

I am going to attempt a series of posts here, listing my top 12 (or so) favorite apps, most discovered this year.  I won't promise that the posts will arrive on 12 consecutive days, but I'll do my best to finish them before the end of the month.  It was extremely difficult to narrow my app list down to 12 apps (and I've left some favorites off this list simply because I've already blogged about them somewhere in the past), so a bit of cheating may be in order.  For instance, today there was a tie.  So I am going to tell you about two apps.