Google's adorable Elf Maker will help get you in the holiday spirit

You can also check in on Santa on Google Maps.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter

Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.

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Marrian Zhou

Dec. 4, 2018 9:16 a.m. PT

screen-shot-2018-12-04-at-11-04-35-am — You can customize your own elf in Santa's Village.
Google

Google's annual Santa's Village, an interactive holiday space where you can play games, has added a few new features this year.

In Santa's Village, you can play holiday-themed games, learn coding skills, create original artwork, exercise your geographic knowledge and more, according to Google's blog post Tuesday. This year, you can dress up an elf with the Elf Maker and customize its outfit, accessories, hairstyle and facial hair.

In the days leading up to Christmas, you can follow Santa's location on Google Maps after he leaves the North Pole. You can also look at holiday photos from Local Guides worldwide and test your knowledge about traditions with Google Earth and Street View. And the Translations game teaches you how to say "Season's Greetings" and "Happy New Year" in other languages.

Google started tracking Santa in 2004 via Google Earth and launched a separate feature in 2012, which let children track Father Christmas on a special holiday page.