JINGLE — A premium Christmas storybook your family plays together.

Create a magical Christmas mission for your family

JINGLE is a private, Santa-led Christmas mission your family plays together. Hand-picked clues drop daily on a schedule we manage, Santa writes back to your kids by name, and the Christmas Spirit Map of your home glows brighter with every find. Set up takes about two minutes. The whole thing is yours to keep.

Create your Christmas Mission · Join with an invite · See how it works

Quick answer: JINGLE is a family Christmas mission app made by Northlights Magic. A parent or grandparent creates a private mission in about two minutes, invites relatives by private link, and guides the experience from Mission Control. Daily indoor-friendly clues drop automatically — riddles, photo missions, and tiny dares, each tuned to each child's age. Santa writes back to kids by name. Brian Brightbell the elf drops gentle hints when a child is stuck. The Christmas Spirit Map of your home glows brighter with every find, and the family keeps a private keepsake at the end of the season. JINGLE is designed for families with kids roughly ages 4–12, works on one shared device or many, and runs entirely indoors.

What is JINGLE?

JINGLE helps you create a magical Christmas mission for your family — with Santa-led clues, photo moments, Mission Control, and a glowing Christmas Spirit Map — so every day of December feels like part of a private storybook your household lives together.

JINGLE is a premium family Christmas mission app for households with kids roughly four to twelve years old. A parent or grandparent — the host — creates a private mission in two minutes. Each kid joins with their name. From that moment on, JINGLE becomes a Christmas storybook your family lives inside: hand-picked clues, indoor-friendly photo missions, real letters from Santa and the elves, and a glowing Christmas Spirit Map of your home that lights up with every find.

It is not a generic advent calendar and it is not a public chat app. There are no public profiles, no friend requests, no DMs from strangers, and no GPS tracking. Hosts read every message and see every photo. Difficulty is set per kid, so a five-year-old and a twelve-year-old can play side by side without anyone feeling left out or talked down to.

How JINGLE works

Five small steps and the magic takes over from there.

  1. Spin up your mission. Name your family, pick a tone, and tell us about each kid in two minutes.
  2. Invite your players. Send a private invite to grandparents, cousins, or just the people in your house.
  3. Hand-picked clues drop daily. Indoor-friendly riddles, photo missions, and tiny dares — never busywork.
  4. The Spirit Map lights up. Every find adds warmth. Watch your home glow as the mission unfolds.
  5. Santa writes back. Real messages from Santa and the elves — by name, about what your kids actually did.

Read the full walk-through of how JINGLE works.

Christmas Spirit Map

The Christmas Spirit Map is JINGLE's signature moment. As your family completes clues and photo missions, a private map of your home — your living room, kitchen, tree, stockings, and any other rooms you set up — quietly lights up. Every find adds another warm glow. By Christmas Eve the map is a keepsake your family can scroll through together and remember.

The map is private to your family. No one outside your invite list can see it, and JINGLE never asks where you live or where your kids are. The "map" is of your home, set by you — not a real-world GPS map.

What's inside JINGLE

  • Daily clues — indoor-friendly riddles tuned to each kid.
  • Spirit Map — a glowing map of your home that lights up with every find.
  • Letters from Santa — warm, written-by-name messages — never canned, never creepy.
  • Mission Control — you're the host: approve, nudge, and grant the surprises.
  • Plays everywhere — one phone, many phones, grandparents far away. All welcome.
  • Coalie's mischief — the friendly elf who keeps things interesting. Mostly harmless.

Trust and privacy

JINGLE is built so you can hand the phone over without worrying. It is invite-only, with no public profiles and no friend search. There are no DMs from outside your family. Hosts read every message and see every photo. JINGLE never asks where you are or where your kids are. Every Santa message is reviewed for tone — no fear, no shaming, no weirdness. We never sell your data, share it, or use it for ads.

Pricing

Planned mission options. JINGLE is planned as a one-time seasonal purchase per family, not a recurring subscription. Pick the size that fits your December.

  • Free entry tier. Spin up a family, meet Santa and Coalie, and try the Christmas Spirit Map for the first mission day.
  • Mini Mission — planned at $4.99. A short three-day mission for a quick weekend taste of the season, for up to three players.
  • Full Christmas Mission Pass — planned at $14.99. The full December story — daily clues from December 1 through 25 for unlimited players, plus letters, postcards, and the full Spirit Map and Mission Control.
  • Premium Christmas Mission — planned at $24.99. Everything in the Full Pass, plus per-kid story arcs, premium voiced Santa messages, a Christmas Eve grand finale event, and a keepsake postcard album export.

See a sample JINGLE mission

JINGLE builds a private Christmas mission around your specific family — your kids' names, your home, your December. Each day a hand-picked clue drops: an indoor-friendly riddle, a photo mission, or a gentle dare. Santa writes back to your kids by name. The Christmas Spirit Map of your home glows brighter with every find.

Sample clue: "Find something in your home that's warm and twinkly at the same time. It might glow or flicker — but it definitely makes the room feel like Christmas."

Sample Santa message: "Maya — I saw the way you let Leo find the kitchen one first. That's a real Christmas heart, kid. There's something behind the cocoa tin."

Who JINGLE is for

JINGLE is built for the person who makes Christmas happen for everyone else. Parents who want to be present, not just a stage manager. Grandparents who want a private invite and their own spot on the family Spirit Map — whether they're in the house or across the country. Aunts and uncles who join the hunt with their own invite. Big-family hosts who want Mission Control: approve photos, drop bonus clues, watch every player on the map from their phone. And Christmas Eve planners who need something magical that spins up in minutes, runs entirely indoors, and ends with a surprise from Santa.

A magical Christmas Eve family activity — no prep required

JINGLE turns Christmas Eve into an adventure the whole family will remember. Santa-led clues, indoor-friendly photo missions, and a grand-finale surprise — set up in minutes, no yard, no snow, no fireplace required. Premium missions include a special Christmas Eve finale event. Send a private invite to grandparents or cousins who join remotely; they show up on your family's Christmas Spirit Map.

See the full Christmas Eve family activity walkthrough.

Sample Santa clues for kids

JINGLE's hand-picked clues are indoor-friendly, family-safe, and tuned to make the hunt feel genuinely magical. Here are a few examples of the kinds of clues the JINGLE elves write:

  • The kettle clue: "Where the kettle hums and the cookies cool, something waits that nobody told you about. It smells like cinnamon and secrets."
  • The twinkly clue: "Find something in your home that's warm and twinkly at the same time. It might glow or flicker — but it definitely makes the room feel like Christmas."
  • The North Star clue: "In the night sky, one star never moves. In your home, there's a guiding light too. Find it — it might be at the top of something tall."
  • Coalie's trail: "Coalie left evidence again. A sooty paw print, a crumb or two, and the faint smell of mischief. Follow the trail — the clue is where the trouble ended."
  • The stockings clue: "Something in your home is waiting to be found — it hangs, or it sits, or it's tucked inside something soft. You wouldn't be surprised to find a gift near it."

Real JINGLE clues are written specifically for your family, your kids' ages, and your home. Read more about Santa clues for kids in JINGLE.

JINGLE vs. other Christmas apps

Most Christmas apps for families fall into one of three categories: Santa trackers that end on Christmas morning, gift list apps that don't create shared memories, and generic scavenger hunt apps with no Christmas story or characters. JINGLE was built differently — as a private, Santa-led Christmas mission with a personal story, daily clues tuned to each kid, real letters from Santa by name, and a Christmas Spirit Map that lights up your home all December. No prep required. No public profiles. No strangers.

Frequently asked questions

What ages is JINGLE for? Built for families with kids roughly four to twelve. Difficulty is set per kid.

Do my kids need their own phones? No. JINGLE works on one shared phone, tablet, or laptop.

Can grandparents play? Yes. Send them a private invite and they show up as a player on your family map — perfect for long-distance grandparents.

Does it need a yard, snow, or a fireplace? Not at all. Every clue is indoor-friendly and works in apartments, dorms, and warm climates.

How private is it really? Very. Invite-only, no public profiles, no friend search, no DMs from strangers.

Can JINGLE be used as a Christmas Eve activity? Yes — JINGLE works as a cozy Christmas Eve family activity an adult can spin up in minutes.

Explore JINGLE