Google Santa Tracker is a platform developed by Google which allows people with Internet connection to track and find where Santa is. Since its launch in 2004, Google Santa Tracker has added a wide variety of interesting and fun features making it one of the best Santa trackers out there.
Google Santa Tracker offers a Santa Village where people get together to celebrate Christmas, play games, share resources, and have fun during the season. “On December 24th Santa’s Village transforms into a tracking experience where you can follow Santa and his reindeer as they deliver presents to kids around the world.”
Google Santa Tracker offers a wide variety of games and activities ideal for use with kids and students both at home and in class. These Santa-themed activities help kids learn and practice their coding skills, develop their geography literacy, build social emotional competencies, and enhance their cultural awareness. For more educational Christmas resources, check out our Christmas Resources section here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.
Google Santa Tracker organizes these educational resources into five main categories: Learn to Code with Santa’s Elves, Discover Holidays Around the World, Get Inspired and Create Something, Come together for Family Time, and Google Assistant Santa activities.
1. Learn to Code with Santa’s Elves
Google Santa Tracker offers interactive Christmas themed games that encourage kids to use their coding skills to do various Christmas related activities. These coding games include:
- Code Boogie: In this game, kids teach elves to dance using various snippets of code. Each snippet represents a dancing move.
- Code Lab: Code Lab is another interesting Santa themed coding game in which kids drag and drop coding blocks to construct various objects (e.g., reindeer, Santa, etc).
2- Discover Holidays Around the World
These are games and quizzes that help you learn about how people celebrate the season. Games include:
- Holiday Traditions: Holiday Traditions provides you with educational resources to learn how people in various countries around the world celebrate Christmas. Simply click the map pins to explore Christmas traditions around the globe.
- Translations: Translation games help you learn about the language people from all around the world use to celebrate the season.
- Map Quiz: This is a geography game in which you match the outline of a country to the map and learn about places Santa visits.
4- Get Inspired and Create Something
Google Santa Tracker offers various creative games that enable kids and adults to draw, paint, build and create using their favorite characters. These games include:
- Santa’s Canvas: Santa’s Canvas is a drawing game where you use a blank canvas and Santa’s creative suite to create your own Christmas-themed designs.
- Snowbox: In Snowbox you are provided with 3D materials and you are to build your own creations. You can construct houses, toys, snowpeople, forests, or anything else you want.
- Elf Maker: Elf Maker is a game that allows you to create your own elf. You can choose among different colors, clothing, body parts, and several other props. When your elf is ready you can share it with others using a unique URL.
- Santa Selfie: You are a barber and you get a special visit from Santa who needs a whole new do. You can color his beard or even shave it, blow dry his hair, and decorate him the way you want.
5. Come together for Family Time
Use these resources to enjoy your time with family during the season. These include:
- Ollie Under the Sea: Get your kids and family together and enjoy watching Ollie the narwhal and her friends put together the first annual kelp lighting celebration.
- A Day at the Museum: Join Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves and reindeer on a visit to the Museum of Holiday Cheer.
- Elf Car: Watch elf, reindeer, and pegman from navigate place to place in the North Pole.
- Santa’s Takeoff: Watch as Santa and the reindeer get coding help from elves to embark on their journey.
6. Google Assistant Santa activities
Google Santa Tracker uses Google Assistant to provide you with more activities and resources to learn about Santa Claus. These include:
- North Pole Newscast: Ask Google Assistant what’s going in the North Pole and it will tune you to the North Pole Newscast letting you know what Santa and his elves are up to.
- Call Santa: Call Santa using Google Assistant and help him prepare for his musical concert. Your job is to teach him how to play the only song he knows.
- Santa Jokes: Have fun asking Google Assistant about Santa’s jokes and enjoy the light-heartedness of his jokes.
Final thoughts
Since its inception in 2004, Google Santa Tracker has evolved into a rich, immersive platform that extends far beyond its initial purpose of tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve journey. With a suite of interactive games and educational activities, it stands out as a premier Santa tracking service that delights and educates. The Santa Village becomes a global hub for festive fun, offering coding challenges, geographic explorations, and creative endeavors that foster learning and cultural awareness.
As a digital holiday destination, it encourages family togetherness with a variety of activities accessible through Google Assistant. This fusion of entertainment and education makes Google Santa Tracker a valuable resource for parents and educators looking to infuse the holiday spirit with meaningful, engaging learning experiences for children.
