NORAD's Santa Tracker is back, and with only four days till the big day, the NORAD website has many fun things for your kids (and you, we won't tell). We've mentioned the site in previous years; Thankfully, there will be no semi-celebrity greetings section this year.

Visitors can take a stroll through Santa's North Pole village and click on the downtown shops for fun games and activities. Including Mrs. Claus' Alphabet soup typing test, an illustrated PDF Elf story and a snowboarding game.

After using Microsoft Visual Earth for last year's high-tech tracking, this year NORAD will display it's tracking info via Google Earth. Last year, Google provided its own tracking data, unaffiliated with NORAD. An iGoogle module is also available so you can track Santa from the comfort of your Google homepage.

The Santa Tracking Control Center kicks off operations on 2:00am MTN Christmas Eve and lets you track Santa live as he navigates the globe. If you're left wondering, as we were, why the multi-billion dollar NORAD defense operation would burn time and resources tracking harmless lil' Santa Claus, there's actually a rich and storied history behind it all.

NORAD's Santa Tracker site is up and running for 2006 and counting down the seconds until Christmas Eve. The site has been beefed up over previous years with info and history about NORAD and the Santa Tracker, some downloads, maps, music, and activities. Most interesting, perhaps (until the actual tracking begins, at least), is the Celebrities section, which features video greetings from folks like Dick Van Patten, Edward James Olmos, George Lopez, Joey Lawrence, Leeza Gibbons, Michael Bolton, and many more who I think will be far more recognizable to people younger than myself.

Last year Google got in on the act with a Google Earth Santa tracker, but there's no word yet whether there will be an encore for 2006.

Update: That was fast. Commenter Chris points us to Google's Santa Tracker and Toy Hunt site for 2006.