The holidays are supposed to feel magical—but between school concerts, gift lists, Elf on the Shelf pressure and last-minute cards, they can quickly feel overwhelming. This year, I leaned on AI tools like ChatGPT, Nano Banana and Gemini to help me pull off a little holiday magic without losing my mind.
To my surprise, several of them worked better than I expected. Some felt genuinely thoughtful and convincing. Others simply saved me time when I needed it most.
Here are five AI-powered ways I used technology to make the holidays feel more magical — especially for kids. Most of these tools are free to try, and the ones that aren’t don’t require any design or video skills.
1. Synthesia’s personalized Santa video felt shockingly real
Synthesia lets you generate a custom Santa video that actually says your child’s name and references specific details — like good behavior, siblings or even a pet.
What stood out wasn’t just the personalization, but how natural the delivery felt. This didn’t come across as a gimmicky deepfake. To my kids, Santa was clearly talking to them — and that alone made it worth it.
Synthesia has strict safety guidelines in place so parents can feel safe about this one.
2. I brought Elf on the Shelf to life using Veo (with way less effort)
Elf on the Shelf is adorable — but keeping it fresh every single day is exhausting. Using Veo, I generated short, playful videos of our elf “coming to life,” getting into trouble or leaving messages. All I did was snap a photo of our Elf and a room in our house. From there, Veo created a video that made it look like the Elf came to life!
Showing my kids a video of their elf moving on its own instantly reset the magic when things started to feel stale. This is a fun way to bring magic to the holidays because it adds motion, surprise and audio. It extends Elf on the Shelf beyond photos and with the Google app on your phone, it doesn't take much for us parents to make the magic happen.
3. Tracking Santa with ChatGPT + NORAD turned into a nightly ritual
NORAD’s Santa Tracker has been around forever, but pairing it with ChatGPT turned it into an interactive experience. My kids (ages 4, 8, 11) have had lots of fun playing around with the app right inside ChatGPT.
AI explains where Santa is headed to next and answers even the craziest or silliest of questions in real time. Parents, this is a great way to turn Santa's journey into a mini story at bedtime.
As a bonus, you can also play around with Elf Enrollment right in the app by uploading an image to ChatGPT and answering a few quesitons.
4. Gemini saved me from Elf on the Shelf burnout
We are getting very close to the big day and I have to say, I'm exhausted with trying to come up with new ideas, especially in the wee hours of the morning. So, I asked Gemini to become my Elf-planning assistant.
Within seconds I got low-mess setups, creative ideas for those moments when I completely forget about the Elf (if you know, you know), age-appropriate scenarios and ideas using what I already have in my house.
It gave me dozens of ideas in seconds — and more importantly, removed the mental load, which is perfect since things are getting crazy busy these days. The endless creativity on demand is exactly what I need.
5. Nano Banana made our holiday cards fast — and genuinely personal
Holiday cards are one of those things I love in theory and dread in practice. Nano Banana let me generate polished, personalized holiday card images without coordinating outfits, lighting or multiple takes.
The final result looked thoughtful and custom — not rushed or generic — and I actually got the cards done on time. No photoshop required (or photoshoots!), clean, realistic results and plenty of hoiday cheer without sacrificing quality or dealing with tantrums.
Final thoughts
AI didn’t replace the magic of the holidays — it helped me protect it by getting extra creative this year. It helped me offload the stress, logistics and creative burnout. Without a doubt, these tools let me focus on the moments that matter most.
If the holidays ever feel more stressful than magical, these tools make it easier to get that feeling back.
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