Google's Santa Tracker Lets You See Santa's Deliveries
Google’s Santa Tracker is back to help you find out where Santa and his jolly reindeers will be on Christmas Eve.
Google has released the annual Santa Tracker for the last 13 years, giving kids a chance to see where Father Christmas is right now, all while getting into the holiday spirit. Starting Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) visitors can tune in to track Santa all night long.
However, Google's Santa Tracker is offering more than its staple tracking feature in 2017. Head to the tracker before Christmas Eve and you’ll see a countdown in the form of a digital advent calendar, inviting you to play Christmas-themed games and learn about the occasion before the big day.
You can play Santa tracker games like the reindeer runner or penguin dash, take part in wrap battles with elves, and get to know how you can say popular holiday phrases in countries around the world. Google's Santa tracker also offers fun tidbits on how cultures around the globe celebrate Christmas, from the costumes families wear in Ghana to the midnight dinners that take place in Brazil.
You can also play the Santa Tracker games on Google’s Android app, which features activities like taking "elfies" (elf selfies) in famous landmarks around the world or hopping onboard rocket-powered sleighs. Several of the games also include coding to help acquaint kids with basic programming, all while taking part in festive activities like snowflake making and an elf dance party.
Google's Santa Tracker of course isn't the only Santa Tracker out there. Those interested in following Father Christmas can also use North American Aerospace Defense Command's NORAD Santa tracker, which began by accident when a department store had put up an advertisement for children to call Santa, but there was a typo that led to children started to call NORAD thinking they were chatting with Santa, according to NBC News. NORAD's Santa tracker has been going strong since 1955 through the use of satellites, cameras, and radar tracking sites.
