It’s not long before the day kicks over to December 25, so how can you make your kids go “wow” with a little bit of Santa joy?
Whether you believe in Santa or not, getting your kids involved can be a lot of fun. The story of Santa is one many kids believe in, and is delivered by many parents, too, and thanks to the magic of apps, you can actually bring more of Santa to life beyond the regular photo at the mall or on the beach.
There are books, of course, including one book about Santa written by yours truly *ahem*, but there are also more ways to bring Santa to life beyond reading, or even watching the man in red in one of the many movies available on your streaming services.
So how can you partake in the whimsy of Santa Claus at home?
Video Call Santa
Available on: iOS and Android
A fun app that can actually be used all year round, Video Call Santa is more or less what you’d expect from an app named exactly that: an app that has Santa call you and talk to your kids.
Depending on how much you spend, you can get Santa to talk to your kids using their name, or you can even get the Claus to call “daddy”, too, making sure Santa says he’s been naughty, or even nice. In fact, you can use this app throughout the year, reminding kids to be good to stay on that nice list.
Catch Santa
Available on: iOS and Android
Made by the same people that developed the Video Call Santa app, this one is less about talking to Santa, and more about catching Santa in the act.
It works like this: download the app and load in a picture of your living room, ideally with the tree and lights. Then load in a picture of Santa and position him properly so that he’s clearly leaving a pile of presents behind. You can pay for different versions of Santa to load in, but this will create the idea of Santa in your living room, and you can tell your kids a camera almost caught him.
For our version, we blurred the image of Santa using a photo editing app on the iPhone to make it seem even more mysterious. What app can catch Santa?!
Amazon Tracks Santa
Available on: Amazon Alexa speakers
If you happen to have an Echo speaker somewhere in your life, consider asking it where Santa is. As in, “Hey Alexa, where’s Santa?”
Call that out and Amazon will give you an idea. In fact, if you ask an Alexa speaker how many days there are until Christmas, you might even hear an Australian Santa call out a joke or two.
NORAD Tracks Santa
Available on: iOS and Android
One of the oldest Santa tracking systems around, the story of NORAD’s ability to track Santa is one of legend, and one we’ve covered repeatedly, and probably every year since we launched this site.
However, aside for being a story of legend, it’s also an app you can run from around midnight in New Zealand, which isn’t far from midnight in Australia’s eastern cities, either. In fact, you can run NORAD Tracks Santa from any time as the clock ticks over, and keep a watchful eye over Santa before the kids retire to bed.
