How to Track Santa Claus With Your Kids on Christmas Eve

Kelsey Hurwitz, Jamie Ballard
·3 min read
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Christmas Eve will be here sooner than you think. Imagine it now: the tree decorated, the gifts all finally wrapped and under the tree, a plate of Christmas cookies out for Santa, maybe some cheery Christmas songs playing in the background. And if you have young children, we're sure they'll be spending Christmas Eve asking the same question over and over: "Where is Santa now?" Luckily, you don't have to come up with an answer on the fly. We've got all the info you need on how to track Santa with the kids. It's 2021, so of course there are apps and websites where you can track Santa, but did you know that you can also ask your Amazon Alexa or Google Home where Santa is? Technology really is amazing.

If you need a break from refreshing the Santa trackers, you can always tell the kids about the history of Santa Claus (they'll be shocked to learn how old Santa is!) or share other trivia and fun facts about Christmas. You could spend some time as a family reflecting on Bible verses about Christmas, or relax and enjoy one of your favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Or, you can get everyone laughing with one of these fun Christmas games (just saying, they're extra-fun for adults if you've got a Christmas cocktail in hand).

These Santa tracking ideas are just one way to keep the Christmas magic alive for the whole family. Here’s how to follow Santa’s journey across the globe on Christmas Eve.

Photo credit: 10,000 Hours - Getty Images
Photo credit: 10,000 Hours - Getty Images


How to Track Santa With NORAD

According to NORAD's website, in 1955, a child dialed a misprinted department store phone number that advertised a direct line to Santa. Instead of connecting with the store, the phone was answered by a commander in the organization that later became the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. While NORAD spends most of its time tracking flying objects for national defense purposes, since that phone call over 60 years ago, it has dedicated a team to tracking Christmas's most important flying object each year on Christmas Eve.

Hannah Pinkos, a software developer at Cesium who leads this project with NORAD, tells Woman's Day that the history of NORAD's Santa tracker is what makes it really special. "We have a long history of tracking Santa," she says. In addition to its wholesome origin story, she says NORAD Tracks Santa had the first online Santa tracker in 1995. It's also the only Santa tracker to use a 3D representation of Santa's journey, rather than a 2D model. Last year, NORAD told ABC7 News that their call center gets more than 100,000 calls each year and the Santa tracker website gets more than 30 million visitors each Christmas Eve.

You can access NORAD's Santa tracker any of the following ways:

How to Track Santa With Google

Photo credit: Rebecca Nelson - Getty Images
Photo credit: Rebecca Nelson - Getty Images

Google has an answer to everything, so why should it be stumped by "Where's Santa?" Leading up to the big day, the website is home to Santa's Village, which has games and activities for kids who want to get in the holiday spirit. On December 24th, it tracks Santa and his reindeer on their voyage around the world with live updates on his whereabouts.

You can access Google's Santa tracker any of the following ways:

More Santa Tracking Apps

If you still want even more ways to track Santa, there are a few other Santa-tracking apps you can check out.

  • Santa Tracker app by Dualverse, Inc. available via the App Store and Google Play

  • Santa Tracker app by First Class Media B.V. available via the App Store and Google Play

  • Speak to Santa Christmas Call by North Pole Command Center Limited available via the App Store

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