After a busy season of decorating, entertaining, shopping, and gift-wrapping, families can enjoy Christmas Eve together as they wait for Santa and plan to open presents on Christmas morning. Some families go to church on Christmas Eve, and some go on Christmas day, but everyone is excited for to celebrate this special day. These activities will keep families entertained while the clock ticks until Christmas morning.
Track Santa's Journey on Christmas Eve
Google and NORAD have great tools for families who want to add some Christmas magic into the wait for December 25. Families can use NORAD's website to watch Santa move from country to country delivering presents. NORAD uses images and technology from Google to show Santa moving across the globe. The NORAD Santa Tracker is available in different languages, and there are videos and other delights to keep kids interested in Santa's journey.
Have Santa Call Kids
Google Voice will allow parents to set up free calls for kids from Santa using the Send a Call from Santa tool. It is not necessary to use Google Voice or have a Google Voice phone number to set up the call; parents organize the call online. Santa will call children with a personalized message that can include the child's name, grade, and some limited gift and hobby suggestions from a drop-down menu. The phone call is not interactive; children just listen to Santa cheerfully talk about his Christmas plans.
Answer the Question, "Is There a Santa Claus?"
If children are old enough to be questioning the existence of Santa, why not read the famous "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" letter that young Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the editor of The New York Sun asking if Santa was real. The editor who replied to Virginia was Francis P. Church, a former war correspondent. Mr. Church assured Virginia that, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist … if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias."
Read and Listen to Christmas Stories
Families will all enjoy the Chris Van Allsburg's beautiful Christmas story The Polar Express, Barnes and Noble has a free video of The Polar Express book, read by author Chris Van Allsburg. The video is not the Polar Express movie; it is the pages of the book as the author read his wonderful story of a boy who takes a train to the North Pole and asks Santa for a bell, only to discover that he loses the bell on the trip home.
Families with iPads might enjoy some of the free Christmas ebooks that are available for the Apple iPad and iPhone. Some are religious stories, and some are more general holiday stories. Jingle All the Way by Tom Shay Zapien is a fun, happy Christmas story that is available for the iPad for free from Hallmark.
For families with older children, there are free audiobooks and ebooks of classic Christmas stories. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry is a free audio book from Audible.com and a free ebook from Barnes and Noble for the Nook, including the Nook app. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a free audiobook and ebook that can be listened to throughout the Christmas season, and it is the best ghost story to tell at Christmas.
Learn the True Meaning of Christmas
There are so many great resources for Christian families that want to focus on the religious foundations of Christmas. Google Books has Advent prayers in free ebooks, and Christmas Eve is the final day of the advent season. Families can learn more about Advent by listening to Carlos Williams of Loyola University Maryland explain "What is Advent" in a free iTunes podcast.
North Point Community Church has a great five-minute podcast from Pastor Andy Stanley about the Christmas story, and families can listen to the passage about the birth of Jesus from the Book of Luke. "A Christmas Moment" is easy to understand, and Pastor Stanley offers a brief explanation of the message and a short Christmas prayer.
After tracking Santa Claus, reading stories, listening to church sermons, and setting out cookies and milk for Santa, families may be sleepy. As Christmas Eve draws to an end, it might be nice to listen to free streaming Christmas music through free music apps, and watch the Christmas Eve weather report to see if this year, everyone will be waking up to a magical white Christmas.
Source:
The text of "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" was written by Francis Church on September 21, 1897. The text of the letter is in the public domain due to its age, and it was accessed on Newseum on December 22, 2010.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
