Since early this morning, Santa Claus has been on the move, delivering gifts to children around the globe. To help parents avoid answering the age-old question, “When will he get here?” over 100 times, the Canadian Region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) offers a live tracking service for Santa’s journey.

Through the platform noradsanta.org, children can follow Santa’s real-time location. To keep them entertained while they wait, the website also features games, activities, and a virtual tour of Santa’s Village at the North Pole.

Kids can even learn about holiday traditions from around the world. A countdown timer is displayed on the site, which is available in nine languages.

The Origins of the Tradition
This beloved tradition dates back to December 24, 1955, when a now-defunct Sears store published an advertisement in a local Colorado Springs newspaper.

The ad invited children to call Santa Claus directly. However, due to a printing error, the phone number listed connected callers to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), NORAD’s predecessor.

On Christmas Eve, 1955, Colonel Harry Shoup, the officer on duty at CONAD, found himself inundated with calls from children asking where Santa was or whether they were on the “nice” list.

Rather than disappoint the young callers, Shoup decided to play along. He told them he was assisting Santa and tracking his journey via radar screens. He even instructed his staff to provide children with real-time updates on Santa’s location.

Today, 69 years later, the tradition continues with NORAD’s dedicated team of volunteers. These teams handle over 70,000 calls from 200 countries and territories and respond to more than 12,000 emails during a 25-hour window from 2 a.m. on December 24 to 3 a.m. on December 25.

Ready to Track Santa? Follow Santa’s live journey at www.noradsanta.org.