As we enter December, children are using technology to track Santa's sleigh as it flies around the world delivering gifts on Dec. 24, reports USA TODAY.

Children have two Santa Claus trackers to choose from: the Google Santa Tracker and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa tracker.

NORAD, which usually monitors the U.S. and Canada air space for suspicious activity, has "tracked" Santa's gift-giving travels worldwide at Christmas since 1955, according to the Guardian. The NORAD tracker uses a radar system, called the North Warning System, and it has 47 installations across Alaska and Canada.

"The moment our radar tells us that Santa has lifted off, we begin to use the same satellites that we use in providing air warning of possible missile launches aimed at North America," according to a statement on nordasanta.org.

NORAD partnered with Google Maps for five years to provide Santa monitoring at Christmas. In 2007, Google created its own Santa Tracker that showcases Santa's dashboard as well as "sleigh engineering" to follow him place-to-place on his journey. There is also an interactive Santa Village with games and music.

The start of Google's Santa Claus tracking meant the end to its partnership with NORAD, although the aerospace agency maintains the split was a mutual decision. NORAD signed up Microsoft's Bing to be its official mapping tool. Microsoft offers its mapping tool free for the agency's Christmas tradition.

NORAD's tracking feature includes information about the elevation and direction of Santa's "journey," photos, weather conditions and Wikipedia information about Santa's travel destinations.

Google-owned YouTube continues to host videos and updates from the government agency concerning Santa's travels.

Updates from NORAD about Santa Claus' Christmas journey are also available on Twitter, Facebook and by calling the agency's live Santa tracking hotline 1-877-HI-NORAD.

More than 1,250 Canadian and American volunteers maintain the 59-year-old tradition, according to the Guardian.