Christmas is here and Google has brought a wide array of fun activities to its Search portal. Wish to track Mr Clause around the globe? Want to play some fun games with friends? Is it a movie you are looking for? Or maybe a festive round of fun coding? Yes, you read that right, Google’s annual Santa’s Tracker has something for everyone. 


How To Access Google’s Christmas Surprises


This bit is pretty easy. Just head over to Google Search on mobile or Web, and look up ‘Christmas Day’. 


Once you do that, you will see a bouncing red gift box right at the top of the screen. Once you click on it, you will be redirected to the special section. 


Google Santa Tracker


By default, the page will open to Google’s Santa Tracker. Just like the more popular NORAD Santa Tracker, this will help you track (a fictional) Santa and his reindeer across the globe as he delivers gifts to all households. It’s interesting to note that Santa’s journey lasts 25 hours in total. His first stop is in far eastern Russia, where he arrives at around 10pm local time (12:30am IST).


At the time of writing, Santa’s already travelled over 285,866 kilometres and delivered over 7.1 billion gifts (and counting!). No easy feat, being Santa!


Google Christmas Games & Movies


While there are many games you can choose from, including the likes of Santa Selfie, Ollie Under The Sea, Elf Jamband, Wrap Battle, Snowball Storm, Penguin Bolt, Gift Slingshot, Elf Glider, Santa Search, and many more. 


All these are marked by Google’s signature bright colour palette and festive animations that are sure to put a smile on everyone’s face. There are a handful of animated movies as well, such as Out Like A Night, A Day At The Museum, and more. 


All these games and activities load instantly on your browser itself, so you won’t need to worry about separate downloads or installs. 


Perhaps the most interesting of the lot is the special coding games, reflecting the rising trend among young users to take up coding professionally. Games like Code Lab or Code Boogie offer a fun co-op gaming experience, teaching the very basics of coding, like stacks.


It could be a great way to introduce your young ones to coding and see if they develop a taste for it.


You can also learn translations of your favourite festive greetings, or even read up about the many Holiday traditions around the world.