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Christmas is around the corner, and if you celebrate the holiday and have kids, they're likely a little excited right about now. The holiday has all kinds of magic built in, but if you’re trying to keep your kids entertained and have grown weary of managing an Elf on the Shelf’s escapades, why not enlist the help of your home assistant and smart home technology?
Unlike other voice assistants, Alexa requires you to enable their holiday-specific functionality. You can do this by asking, “Alexa, enable ‘Hey Santa’” or in your Alexa app, go to Skills & games, search for “Santa” and click on “Santa-holiday personality for Alexa.”
Once you’ve done this, you and your family can now talk to Santa just like you'd talk to Alexa. Some basic requests that work are “Hey Santa, tell me a story,” “Hey Santa, tell me the North Pole news,” “Hey Santa, tell me about your reindeer,” and “Hey Santa, sing karaoke.”
Apple’s voice assistant doesn’t need any special activation; ask it questions about Santa, and it should be able to supply an answer that satisfies your kids. Some examples that already have been tested are “Hey Siri, where’s Santa?,”“Hey Siri, is Santa coming?,” “Hey Siri, what do you want/what are you doing for Christmas?,” and “Hey Siri, call Santa.”
Like Siri, Google Assistant is already set up to assist kids in exploring what Santa is up to. Your kids can ask “Hey Google, what’s happening in the North Pole?” and every day, they'll get a news update from an elf, much like the Google news update adults can receive each morning. You can also have Google call Santa: Simply ask “Hey Google, call Santa.” Santa can also read a Christmas story when asked, or tell you about Christmas activities when you ask, “Google, what Christmas activities do you have planned?”
If you keep wrapped gifts in a closet or special room, or even under the tree, you can protect them from curious kids by using your smart home automation. First, add a vibration sensor to the stack of gifts. Then, in your home automation system (any of the above systems like Google, Homekit or Alexa will work) add an action if the sensor detects motion. You can have the lights in the room go on and off; you can sound an alarm on your assistant’s speakers; you can make a recording in your voice (or Santa’s voice!) warning the intruder to stop or Santa will deliver them coal instead.
If you struggle with kids staying asleep Christmas morning (or at least, staying in bed) this automation will help. You’ll want a presence sensor in the room with the Christmas tree and gifts. Much like the routine above, you’re going to set up a routine or automation. If the presence sensor detects motion between the hours of 4am and 10am (or whatever hours your set) then perform a set of actions. This is up to you, but I’d suggest a recording of Santa saying that he’s still working, or your voices telling kids it’s not time yet.
Consider holiday lights that are smart and sound-reactive: If you stand near the lights and sing, or just have a conversation, the lights will move with your voices. Govee sells a microphone (they call it a "music sync box") for their lights, which can be used with indoor or outdoor lights. Last year I set the microphone up on the sidewalk with some kid-friendly instruments and a sign; children walking by would play the instruments into the microphone and the house would light up in response to their playing.
