What do you get when you combine the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and a love of all things Christmas? Voice-activated virtual assistants equipped to play Santa Claus can stream holiday music, read you a story or tell you about other festive activities going on in your area. You can also use these assistants to shop for gifts, look up recipes, or find a last-minute holiday deal. Some virtual assistants also come with games or puzzles that kids can play with Santa. The Amazon Echo has a Santa mode where you can hear him tell stories and answer questions. The Google Assistant can read you Christmas stories and tell you about holiday activities going on in your area. The Siri assistant comes with a Santa Claus costume for the icon. If you own an Alexa device and want to give it a little more holiday spirit, read on for some helpful tips. With the recent release of new firmware for the Amazon Echo, we’ve seen an uptick in interactions with Alexa that involve something other than asking for the weather or getting directions to somewhere. So many people have begun using Alexa as their assistant that some might even say it’s beginning to creep them out.
List of Alexa Easter Eggs
The following are some Easter Eggs you can activate by saying a certain phrase to your Amazon Echo.
- Alexa, volume 11 - Alexa, what does the fox say?
- Alexa, what is the loneliest number?
- Alexa, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
- Alexa, when do pigs fly?
- Alexa, what is the meaning of life?
- Alexa, what are the three laws of robotics?
- Alexa, make me a sandwich.
- Alexa, what is your favorite color?
Turn on holiday music with Alexa
Have you ever been sitting around the house, feeling festive and wishing there was a way to start some holiday music that wasn’t at the click of a button on your phone? Well, now you can with Amazon’s Alexa. You can ask Alexa to play any of your favorite playlists or even just play a random holiday music playlist. You can also ask Alexa to give you a random song and let you know who the artist is. If you want to stream music from a device other than your phone, you can connect it to your Amazon Echo with Bluetooth.
Hear a story with Alexa
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean kids only have time to read books about snowmen and sledding. They can also learn about Hanukkah or Kwanza. And what better way to keep the kids entertained than with stories read to you by Alexa? Some of the stories you can ask Alexa to read include:
- The Gift of the Magi
- The Legend of the Poinsettia
- The Little Match Girl
- The Polar Express
- Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Yule Log
What Can You Ask Alexa as Santa Claus?
Some of Alexa's existing features are still available when Santa's voice is enabled. As far as shopping, lists, reminders, and other skills are concerned, Santa will not be able to help. It is no secret that Santa Claus is a busy man during the holidays, especially during the Christmas season. St. Nick gets plenty of requests, so if you're feeling cheeky, you can ask him anything you want.
Set a reminder with Alexa
You can set reminders on your phone, and you can ask Alexa to remind you when to do just about anything. All you have to do is say, “Alexa, remind me to ...” followed by whatever you want her to remember. You can set reminders for events on your calendar, the due date on bills, and any important dates you may have. If you want to set a recurring reminder, say something like, “Alexa, remind me to feed the cat once a day.” You can also choose to have Alexa ask you what the reminder is each time you set it.
Ask Alexa to be Santa Claus
There are a lot of new Alexa voices available this season, so Amazon just introduced one more. This new Santa Claus is the most famous of all the celebrity voices the company added earlier this year.
As soon as the feature is enabled, users can have fun with Santa. Alternatively, you could ask Alexa to sing Jingle Bells. Or, you could ask, “Hey Santa, have I been good or bad?” so your kids can answer a series of questions, determining whether they’ll get fun presents or coal in the stocking.
If you’re looking for other ways for Alexa to spread holiday cheer, you should ask her to be Santa Claus. When you ask Alexa to be Santa, she will read you a random Christmas trivia fact. You can also ask Alexa to tell you her Christmas wish or even ask Alexa to tell you a Christmas poem. If you have kids in the house, you might want to have this discussion with them before using this Easter Egg, so they know how Santa communicates with people.
Other Fun Voice Commands for the Holidays
- Alexa, roll a dice - Alexa, flip a coin
- Alexa, flip a coin by saying heads or tails, Alexa, give me a fortune, Alexa, predict my fortune, Alexa, tell me a fortune, Alexa, tell me a fortune for today.
- Alexa, predict the next item in my shopping list
- Alexa, tell me a random fact - Alexa, tell me a random fact about Christmas - Alexa, tell me a random fact about New Year’s - Alexa, tell me a holiday-related fact.
- Alexa, tell me a holiday-related poem.
- Alexa, tell me a riddle for kids.
- Alexa, tell me a knock-knock joke - Alexa, tell me a tongue twister
- Alexa, what are the capitals of the states?
- Alexa, give me a random fact - Alexa, give me a random fact about animals
- Alexa, what is the diameter of the sun? - Alexa, give me a random fact about the sun
- Alexa, what is the mass of the moon? - Alexa, give me a random fact about the moon - Alexa, what is the length of a year? - Alexa, what is the length of a year in days?
- Alexa, when does Daylight Saving Time start? - Alexa, what time is it in Beijing? - Alexa, when is the next solar eclipse? - Alexa, when is the next lunar eclipse?
Conclusion
As you can see, Alexa and other voice assistants are much more than just a thing that can order you paper towels when you’re out of them. They can also be extremely useful when it comes to keeping track of your to-do list, reading recipes, and even taking care of the kids by ordering their favorite bedtime stories. And the best part is that you don’t need to be looking at your phone or computer to do any of these things. All you have to do is talk to Alexa, and she will do the hard work for you. They can be an excellent resource during the holidays, as they can keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in the world, help you set reminders, teach you facts, and so much more. During the holidays, you can even ask your Santa Claus voice on Alexa assistant for a special holiday fact, poem, or riddle. With so many options, there’s no reason why you can’t make your voice assistant even more festive.
As far as Amazon is concerned, Santa Claus works with all Echo devices except first-generation Echoes, Echo Dots, and wearable devices. This fun voice option doesn't support Fire Tablets and Fire TVs, although Amazon plans to add them later or next year. In addition to Singing some music playlists in Santa's voice, most Alexa features seem to work with this new voice. Whether you try it at home or in the office, it will bring a little extra holiday cheer.
