Have you heard of the NORAD Tracks Santa website or apps for Apple and Android? If you’ve never checked these out to track Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, you HAVE GOT TO read on!
“How many days until Christmas?”
How many times have your kiddios asked you that this week?
I remember when my girls were little, as soon as school let out for winter break, that question was asked over and over and over!
You can only answer that question so many times before they get exasperated and you are, too.
The year I stumbled across the NORAD Tracks Santa website and free app changed all that!!
Whenever one of my girls asked about Santa, I’d tell them to grab my phone or go on the computer and look it up.
They’d squeal with delight when they’d get a new little tidbit about what Santa. And, they’d race into tell me what Santa and the Mrs. were up to and how long until he’d be climbing into the sleigh for the all night ride.
Both the NORAD Tracks Santa website and app can track Santa’s whereabouts. Kids can see in real time down to the second how many days, hours, minutes and seconds it is until Santa and the reindeer take off from the North Pole.
In addition to learning what Santa is up to, there are stories, music, and games.
NORAD – North American Aerospace Defense Command – is a bi-national command jointly created by the United States and Canada in the early 1950’s. The operation, is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was set up to centralize North American air defenses against the threat of Soviet bombers after the cold war.
Today, NORAD provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and even maritime protection for North America.
What does NORAD have to do with Santa?
The origin story of how NORAD became involved with following Santa on Christmas Eve began in 1955. The telephone number for Santa Claus was printed in a department store newspaper advertisement. A child dialed the number, which was actually a NORAD phone number.
The number for Santa Claus had been misprinted in the local paper.
The Air Force Commander on duty that night who took the first call, Col. Harry Shoup, quickly realized the error and acted as Santa Claus for the child. He ended up reassigning an officer to answer the multiple calls coming in for Santa that evening.
NORAD has continued to track Santa each Christmas Eve since then.
This tradition has been ongoing each December 24th for over 65 years. In recent years, NORAD has answered over 130,000 calls for Santa Claus a year. In addition, they have counted website and app visitors from over 200 countries worldwide!
There are several ways for you and your kiddios to get in contact with Santa and NORAD today through Christmas Eve.
- 1-877-HI-NORAD
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noradsanta
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NORADTracksSanta
- NORAD Tracks Santa Website: https://www.noradsanta.org
- NORAD Tracks Santa Newsroom: https://noradsantanews.com/newsroom
OnStar and Amazon Alexa also provide convenient ways to keep tabs of Santa’s location.
The NORAD Tracks Santa site is supported in 8 languages, including English, French, and Spanish.
My girls LOVED to track Santa on this app on Christmas Eve and to follow his progress as he visited each continent on the globe. They also loved getting anecdotal snipits about what Santa, Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, and elves were up to in the days leading up to Christmas.
Check it out with your kids (or even on your own if you are still a kid at heart) and drop a note in the comments below to let me know your thoughts!
