How to Use Google Santa Tracker (Updated for 2019)

 

Back in 2004, Google created the Google Santa Tracker to keep track of Santa during his holiday deliveries. Each year, the Santa Tracker is improved, and it's grown to include lots of free games, short movies to watch, and other fun activities.

Santa Tracker 2018 Starts at Santa's Village

Long before Santa and the elves load up the sleigh and Santa starts his whirlwind journey around the world (in one night!) Santa's Village opens on the Google Santa Tracker Page. December 1 is the official opening date, and that's where you'll find tons of cool activities to keep you busy until Christmas Eve. In 2018, there are new movies and games, and you can even call Santa with the Google Assistant.

Because December seems to go by slower than molasses in the freezer, Santa's Village is designed to help pass the time. New games are released each day during December on a path to get to Christmas Eve, on December 23rd. (That's when the real fun begins, but we'll get to that...) The games are designed to keep your brain busy. You can do everything from building your own custom elf to learning how to code a customized holiday emoji you can use online and in real life.

You'll also find plenty of fun games, information about holiday traditions in other places, and you can even learn how to say holiday phrases like 'Merry Christmas' in Polish and 'Ho Ho Ho' in Japanese.

There's a Santa Tracker App, Too! 

 

In case you don't want to be tied to your computer all the time, the Google Santa Tracker (including Santa's Village) is available for Android devices, too. There's even an app for Android Wear watches.

You can even access the Santa Tracker app using the Google Assistant on you mobile device. It won't take you to Santa's Village, but if you're in a hurry and don't have time to play the games or do any of the other available activities, just ask your Google Assistant "Hey Google, Where's Santa?" and the assistant will give you a quick update on where Santa is at this time.

Google Santa to Find Out Where He Is 

 

Another option for when you don't want to be distracted by the Google Santa Tracker is to google Santa. Really, it's a thing.

A quick Google search for Santa will pull up his current location along with the top stories about Santa, as well as some information about Jolly Old St. Nick, and links to movies, books, and Santa's affiliations.

Where is Santa Now? 

 

And now for the really fun part: the Santa Claus Tracker. All of the options covered above lead to one thing, finding out where Santa is right now! On the Google Santa Tracker website and app, there's a countdown at the top of the page that tells you exactly how long it is until Santa's sleigh takes off, right down to the number of seconds.

At the bottom of the page, on both the Santa Tracker app and website, is a link to the actual, where-is-Santa-now? tracking map. You won't be able to see the map until the counter runs down (which will be on December 24th),but once it does, you'll have access to Santa's current location, where his next stop is, and an approximate number of gifts he's delivered.

Something to keep in mind, though. Santa moves fast. Sometimes, faster than the app can update. He has to to make it all the way around the world in one night! So, if you find other trackers have a slightly different location than Google's Santa Tracker, don't worry. Neither one is wrong, it's just super hard to track Santa's magical movements.