Find High-Tech Holiday Fun on the Web

Stuck at the North Pole year round, it's a safe bet Santa Claus is a fan of the Internet. So it comes as little surprise that hundreds of Web sites are devoted to the rotund red-suited one and his favorite holiday.

In the interest of keeping impatient kids of all ages occupied until the big day arrives, we've rounded up a few of the Web's best Santa-related offerings. As always, it's best that parents tag along when the youngest surfers visit any Web site.

Making Contact

Discerning children know that while passing along a wish list to the Mall Santa is a sound strategy, it never hurts to send a nice reminder to the chubby elf at home. Snail mail still works, but today's busy children often turn to the Web to confirm their wish lists.

Claus.com offers one of the more interesting options. At the site you--I mean, your kid--can plug in a name and e-mail address, write Santa a note, and then pick a colorful stamp to adorn the e-mail letter. An instant reply lets you know Santa has the message and will respond as soon as possible.

In addition to its e-mail feature, Claus.com has a long list of other Santa-related items, from a feature that lets you check your naughty or nice status to clever reindeer biographies.

Most of the site's features are free, subsidized by site advertisements posing as additional features (help the elves decorate their Chevy truck--boy, that's subtle).

However, there is at least one for-pay feature: four calls to a prerecorded Santa in his sleigh for $4.95. A portion of that fee does go to charity, however.

Online Games

If you're looking to occupy your overanxious children while building their hand/eye coordination, point them toward one of these sites with holiday-themed games.

For the younger kids, try this assortment of Christmas games. This free site features a basic matching game, a simple quiz for a Young Elf Diploma, a Santa maze, and more.

Geared toward a wider age group, the game links available on The Kid's Domain run the gamut from simple to complex. The youngest kids will enjoy the "What's Different' puzzles, while slightly older ones will enjoy unscrambling words in "Mixed Up Christmas." And kids young and old will likely find the Christmas Trivia Quiz challenging.

A Little History

For the child with a flair for history, we offer up two sites filled with interesting information about the holidays.

Logically enough, the History Channel's History of the HolidaysWeb site is full of facts, and covers Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Within each subject resides numerous links to other interesting tidbits. For example, did you know that Pope Julius I chose December 25 as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus because nobody knew the actual date?

Another interesting site for scholarly types is How Christmas Works--The Complete Guide to Christmas Traditions. A part of the How Stuff Works Web site, this comprehensive guide covers an amazing amount of ground. From the evolution of the Christmas tree to the origins of "oversize socks" on the mantel, this site provides all the answers. It even takes a crack at fruitcakes, which it claims can be enjoyed up to 25 years after baking. Did it say "enjoyed?"

Tracking Santa's Progress

When the big night comes, your high-tech kids won't want to rely on the haphazard guesses of local weather forecasters as to when Santa will arrive. For more precise tracking, we offer the Santa Web site, provided by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

In addition to defending the United States and Canada from missile launches, the good folks at NORAD use their high-tech radar and satellite systems to keep track of Santa's trip around the world.

As the story goes, years ago a misprinted phone number for a Santa hotline had kids instead calling the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor. Rather than turn away the eager callers, good-natured defense personnel offered to use their high-tech equipment to track the jolly elf and report on his position.

In addition to offering Santa tracking on December 24, the site contains a growing collection of other interesting tidbits, including technical discussions about how Santa covers the entire world in one night, how he fits down chimneys, and how he maintains his list of naughty and nice children.