It’s Christmas Eve, and as the holidays start to really bed in, it’s a time to come together and find joy in the simple things – and one of those is the constant question of ‘When is Santa coming?’

Well, while this is one of the times when it’s great to not be glued to a screen (unless it’s to watch one of the best Christmas films, of course), there are a few good Santa trackers that you can use to find out where the jolly red-suited man is, and when the best times are to go to bed.

What is a Santa tracker? The clue is in the name – it’s either an app or just a website where you can see where he is in the world right now, and – depending on the platform – you can watch a live feed of what he’s doing, play games, read updates from his elves or even listen to (and appear on) dedicated Christmas radio stations.

There are a few Santa tracking apps out there, but I’ve been covering the whereabouts of this present-giving speedster for nearly a decade now, and these are the ones I’d recommend for getting the best insight into his location – and find fun ways to count down the hours until he arrives at your door.

Google Santa Tracker

While this isn’t the longest-standing tracker, it is one of the most popular and the one me and my kids go to first. Partly because it goes live so early in the Christmas period, but also because it’s got the best games to keep the whole family interested when the desire to start thinking about what Father Christmas might bring gets too much.

There’s a cute video that shows how Santa got ready this year (spoiler – he was late getting up, apparently, as his hat fell on his alarm clock and then he didn’t wake until the very last minute!) and you can play loads of mini games, from the simple ones that you play by tilting your device, to those that help teach you the basics of coding through the magic of the elves.

And, of course, the main event is the map of where Santa is right now – with photos and local guides to wherever he is, selfies on the beaches and a live update of how many presents delivered (proving just how magical he is, given he manages around 12,000 a second) – this is a great place to start if you just want to know where he’s at.

(One thing that’s never really been fixed over the years: the website doesn’t work as well on the iPad, with games like Wrap Battle not showing the controls, nor Gumball Drop allowing you to tilt the iPad).

Head on over to the official Google Santa Tracker website – he’s already on his way and is zooming around the world already.

NORAD

NORAD – the North American Aerospace Defense Command – began tracking Santa decades ago. It was actually born out of a mistake made by a Colorado Springs newspaper on Christmas Eve in 1955. A hotline phone number that gave kids the opportunity to call Santa was misprinted by the newspaper, showing instead the number for NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Aerospace Defense Command (CONAD).

Suddenly finding itself on the receiving end of a deluge of calls from excited children expecting to speak to Santa, the operators taking the calls were good enough to play along, enthusiastically giving updates on Santa’s location throughout Christmas Eve. The misprint led to an annual tradition, with the arrival of the internet opening up new possibilities for the service.

And it’s still possible to call 1-877-HI-NORAD on Christmas Eve for an update on Santa’s whereabouts – there are a bunch of lovely people on the other end of the phone already, waiting for your call!

You can check out NORAD’s tracker on the web or via mobile apps for Android and iOS. It can also be accessed via its website.

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