Google’s Santa Tracker begins counting down the days till Christmas with fun games for your kids

Is it weird that I genuinely enjoy writing about Google’s Santa Tracker each year? Yes? Well, I’m still going to do it, because I think many children enjoy playing the various mini-games added to it! I absolutely love Christmas above all other holidays, and my son has a ton of fun with it too. Over the years, Santa himself has gone from a Google Maps icon to a full-fledged mask-wearing character with his own progressive web app!

This year, Kris Kringle is back, Mrs. Claus by his side, and both have kept their COVID masks at the North Pole. There are currently 23 days and 12 hours until the big event, and to keep your kiddos busy while they wait for Papa Noel to stop by and get busted by the Nest Guard or Camera, you can play any of the nearly 30 fun little experiences found in the site’s hamburger menu (I think Santa prefers cookies, but it depends on your browser settings).

The night before Christmas, on December 24th, Santa’s Village transforms into a tracking experience where you can follow him and his reindeer as they deliver presents to kids around the world. His journey actually lasts for 25 hours – not 24 – and his first stop is just after 10 PM local time in far Eastern Russia. This is around 5 AM in New York or 11 AM in Paris.

Santa’s Village is the perfect place for families to celebrate the season. You’ll find all your favorite characters together with fun, educational and interactive activities for every age.

Santa Tracker Family Guide

You can also scroll down the page to explore the North Pole and all it has going on while cheerful music plays in the background and the elves have fun and get everything ready. If you’re a parent reading this, there is a family guide you can check out as well.

The Santa Tracker isn’t just meant to be a jolly ol’ time though. Well, it is, but it actually has a lot of tangential learning built in. Children can learn to code using easy-to-understand if-then logic blocks, learn about different cultures and languages and how they celebrate the holidays, get inspired to create something of their own, enjoy family-oriented reading storybooks, and more.

There are also periodic “North Pole Newscasts”, your son or daughter can call Santa through Google Assistant, and the elves have plenty of jokes to practice their comedy skills. To use Google Assistant-enabled Santa Tracker activities, children under 13 will need to have their voice set up via Family Link with the help of a parent. I strongly encourage you to sit your kids down in front of the Santa Tracker as it’s quickly become one of my favorite Google experiences. It’s also one of the most well-made PWAs I’ve ever seen. The elves – erm – I mean, engineers at Google have truly outdone themselves! “Oh, oh, oh!” If you haven’t heard yet, you can also “Drive with Santa” in Google’s Waze app too!