Google Santa Tracker is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment website first launched in 2004 by Google that simulates the tracking of the legendary character Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, using predetermined location information.
It is a community outreach function of NORAD, and has been held annually since 1955. Although NORAD claims to use radar and other technologies to track Santa, the website merely simulates the tracking of Santa and displays predetermined location information to users.
NORAD has been tracking Santa Claus every year since 1958. But NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command started tracking him in 1955. The organization says it uses radar, satellites and jet fighters to follow Santa's route.
Is this website real? Yes. It is written by a staff of elves charged by Santa Claus to give news directly from the North Pole. It isn't like any other website on the Internet.
These are good indicators they're ready to hear the truth." As for when the shift starts to happen, it's different depending on the child, but expect the questioning to get serious somewhere between the ages of 7 and 10.
If you have Sky Q you can track Santa's progress through the different time zones across the globe. There's of course the Norad Santa tracker and the Google Santa tracker, which you can read about in our separate feature, but here we are looking at how you can track him through your Sky Q box.
Santa is real in the sense that he was an actual person. Otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, his story goes all the way back to the 3rd century. He was a monk who was born in 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey. As an only child, he was given great affection by his parents.
Nicholas was the 4th-century Greek Bishop of Myra (in present-day Turkey). Under the Roman emperor Diocletian, who persecuted Christians, Nicholas spent some five years in prison—and according to some accounts, in solitary confinement.
Have your little ones ever wondered, “Where does Santa Claus live?” He lives at the North Pole, of course! Santa stays at the North Pole year-round. It's where he trains the reindeer, shines his sleigh, ice fishes, tries Mrs. Claus' recipes and more.
According to History.com, the monk who over time would evolve into Santa Claus was born in what is now modern-day Turkey in 280 A.D., making him a whopping 1,741 years old!
But don't worry about Santa spying on you. He doesn't do it. He knows when you are asleep or awake just like YOU know when someone is asleep or awake.
Official NORAD Tracks Santa. To see what NORAD does the rest of the year, visit us at NORAD.mil.
Instead, you might ask a few questions back. Ask, "What makes you ask that?" or "What do you think about that?" It's okay to let kids form their own conclusions. When confronted with, "Just tell me. Is there really a Santa?" be honest, and explain that you're behind the presents from Santa.
Google Santa Tracker is an interactive Christmas-themed entertainment with many mini-games inside. Explore and play a different variation of games and activities here.
About this app
The NORAD Santa App is the official app of the NORAD Tracks Santa program. Watch the days countdown to the start of Santa's Yuletide journey around the world! You can also play games, read stories and more!
Although Santa and Mrs. Claus almost never have children in any of their many depictions, there is at least one Christmas Burlesque musical from 1892 that features Kitty Claus, the daughter of Santa.
Long before he lived in the North Pole, and long before his yearly Christmas visits brought joy to all the children of the world, Santa Claus was a child himself. He was once just an ordinary baby boy named Nicholas. The baby boy was just like any other, but his parents hoped for great things from their only son.
Over the years, children all over the world have reported sightings of the real Santa Claus—not department store Santas or bell-ringing Salvation Army charity collectors, but the real thing. Some even claim they saw Saint Nick's sleigh and reindeer.
"There is no such thing as being too old to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy," Kelman tells Yahoo Life. "Letting kids figure it out on their own is preferable to parents breaking the news to them.
While kids may no longer look for reindeer on Christmas Eve, your tween might be ready to embrace the spirit of Santa Claus and spread the joy of giving in their own special way. Helping do so guarantees that in your child's heart, Santa will live forever and that he is, in fact, very real.
Claus (also known as Mrs. Santa Claus or Mrs. Santa) is the legendary wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in Western Christmas tradition.
24, 343 A.D. The sleigh is based in the North Pole and is 77 candy canes long, 40 candy canes wide and 55 candy canes heigh.
A decades-old holiday tradition is once again kicking off on Christmas Eve: The NORAD Santa tracker is following Santa Claus around the world as he and his reindeer deliver gifts. NORAD starts tracking Santa's movements every year around 4 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve through its website and app.
In most countries, it seems Santa arrives between 9:00 p.m. and midnight on Christmas Eve. If children are still awake when Santa arrives, he moves on to other houses.