Best Christmas Websites for Holiday Fun

Now that the elections are over, web surfers everywhere are floundering about the Internet, looking for something to distract them from their work. Fear not, because with the looming holidays there's a new season and a new reason to drop what you're supposed to be doing. To get you started on your mission, here are a few of the best Christmas websites out there.

If you could visit anywhere this Christmas, wouldn't it be the North Pole? You can do just that at www.northpole.com, a Website that features really cool ways to introduce young kids to Santa. They have an interactive quiz, "Naught or Nice", a Good Deeds calendar that can be filled out and left for Santa (in case he wasn't paying close enough attention), and Bif, the elf in Santa's Mailroom, who will help the little ones compose a letter to Santa. The adults will find hundreds of Christmas goodie recipes and an addictive Disco Santa.

Want to see what's happening at the chilly North Pole? Take a look at the Elf Cam, www.santas-workshop.org/elf/elfcam.shtml, where you can get a peak on what those hard-working helpers are up to. It's part of Santa's Workshop website, which also has coloring pages for kids and instructions on building a gingerbread house. Lots of good links here to give your holiday web surfing a lift.

There's probably no department store more closely linked to Christmas than Macy's. As immortalized in the 1947 classic movie, "Miracle on 34^th Street", Macy's has a reputation for holiday cheer and for employing great store Santa Clauses. The company Christmas website, www.macysbelieve.com, is a beautiful display of Christmas technology that explains the story behind the "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter. There's also a fascinating feature that lets you upload a photo so that you can make yourself up to be Santa and email it off to friends. Now that's a way to spend an afternoon!

You can always count on the History Channel for accurate and complete information on just about any subject. They've done it again with Christmas, compiling video clips and pictures on subjects as vast as the history of the holiday and world traditions on their website www.history.com/minisites/christmas. There's even a really useful page on Christmas how-tos, featuring videos on such stumpers as how to tie a holiday bow and how to recycle the Christmas tree. You'll learn so much you'll forget you were supposed to be goofing off.

Celebrating 15 years of holiday mirth is http://eclecticesoterica.com/christmas.html, who has such helpful hints as how to annoy your roommate at Christmas and a technical analysis of old St. Nick. Can't wait for the holiday? There's a count-down calendar that will let you know how much longer, up to the minute.

And finally, while it won't waste your afternoon, a quick visit to www.isitchristmas.com will answer that burning question with a simple "no". I assume they change that to "yes" on December 25, but if you find yourself wanting to avoid something on Christmas it would be a good thing to check out.