Breaking: The NORAD Santa Tracker goes live tomorrow night, and this year is the 70th anniversary of the world’s favorite sleigh watch. I have confirmed the countdown is set. Families will get real time map updates, playful “Santa Cam” clips, and a steady stream of check ins as the big red suit crosses time zones. This is more than a website. It is a cozy winter hobby you can build into a night of maps, cocoa, and wonder. 🎄
How a Wrong Number Became a Ritual
The tradition began with a mistake in 1955. A newspaper misprint sent children to a military phone line, then known as CONAD. The officer on duty took the first call, then the next, and the next. The team decided to keep answering. The next year they prepared for it. The custom stuck, and the modern NORAD picked it up. Seventy Christmas Eves later, the switch still flips and the sleigh still shows up.
What You Can Expect Tomorrow Night
The tracker opens on Christmas Eve, and the fun grows as night falls. You will see a clean world map, a moving sleigh icon, and a clock that respects each time zone. NORAD blends radar, satellites, and its charming Santa Cams into the public feed. Volunteers work phone lines and chats to answer the most important question a kid can ask, where is Santa right now.
You can follow on the main site, in the official apps, and on the usual social pages. Parents can keep it simple on a TV browser, or go mobile during a drive to grandma’s. The tone is safe and cheerful. The visuals are bright without being loud. It is built for shared viewing, not just solo scrolling.
Set up a “Santa station” before dinner. Dim the lights, cue soft music, and cast the map to your TV. Keep cocoa and a plate of cookies within reach.
Turn Tracking Into a Family Hobby
NORAD’s map is more than a dot that moves. It is a gateway to playful learning. Treat it like a short, friendly expedition. Talk about oceans, mountain ranges, and how pilots plot routes. Kids love the feeling of a mission, and adults love the calm of a plan.
- Pick four cities to “check in” on, one per hour, and learn a greeting in each local language.
- Keep a travel journal. Log time, place, and one fun fact about the stop.
- Use a globe or paper map with stickers to mirror the digital route.
- Try simple time zone math. When it is 8 p.m. for you, what time is it in Reykjavik.
Geography becomes a game, and maps feel less like homework. You also build patience, a rare gift in any season. 🧭
Makers, Collectors, and Cozy Extras
Crafters can turn the night into a build. Make a cardboard “radar console” with green cellophane and fairy lights. Print a small badge for each “flight officer” in the house. If you collect holiday ephemera, this is the perfect night to display vintage postcards of reindeer, or pins from past tracker years. The table becomes a tiny control room, and everyone gets a role.
Music helps pace the evening. Rotate between instrumental carols and quiet ambient tracks. Keep screens at a gentle glow. If excitement spikes, pause the map and do a quick stretch. Then return to the next Santa Cam with fresh eyes.
Plan your finish line. Choose a local “bedtime checkpoint” so kids can tuck in with the magic intact. Promise a morning debrief with the final route.
What Makes Year 70 Special
Anniversaries invite reflection. This program began with a phone call to the wrong desk, and grew into a yearly open house from a defense command. The blend is the secret. High tech tools, low tech warmth. Serious coordination, silly joy. Volunteers still show up to talk to children by name. Cameras still “spot” a red sleigh over cities that glow like jewels. It works because it is simple, and it invites us to slow down together.
Tomorrow night, do not just watch the dot move. Make it a shared hobby hour. Print a small map. Stack some crayons. Set a timer for your check ins. Let the questions roll, and let the answers be curious and kind.
When the map lights up, we gather. We sip, point, and smile. Then we pass the tradition to the next pair of small hands, and the next set of bright eyes. Seventy years in, the tracker is still the easiest way to feel close to the wide world, and to each other.
