Now H is three we’re embracing Christmas big time, even though I try not to spoil her too much. My best memories from childhood were the times we’d see Santa at the Co-Op in the centre of York, so we always try to make sure anything involving Santa is memorable and fun – and Portable North Pole are doing just that.

Portable North Pole are back – we’re in the digital age now, so my lucky girl gets a personalised video from Santa who knows where to come to leave her present (for being good and listening to her parents – ha…), he knows two good events from the last year, and he knows some basic information – and as far as H is concerned Santa is the BEST! (and I’m sure every time she sees him from now on she’ll remind him of the nice video and be a bit confused when he asks her what she wants for Christmas AGAIN…)

Of course, the reality is that I’ve trawled through a years worth of photos and memories while asking the right questions so the video could be created – so that’s a photo from Peppa Pig World, a photo from our Welsh holiday, and a picture of last year’s Christmas tree – but it’s enough to make the video pretty magical; every time Santa asked her a question she answered him when we watched it!

You can have unlimited online views of your video too through the Christmas holidays so plenty of time to watch (the five minute deluxe version lasts until March 2013). The videos include brand new scenes from Santa’s village, new elf clips and more.

The setup of the video took around ten minutes (a lot of that was finding the right photos), the video arrived immediately and loaded within two minutes. Santa looks like a proper santa, a nice long beard and his elves are good too!

This year, Portable North Pole has pledged to donate 5% of all personalized product sales to participating Children’s Hospital foundations in the U.S, UK, Ireland, Canada and France, as part of the PNP Children’s Hospital programme.

In 2012, Portable North Pole is also offering a personalised phone call from Santa himself! There’s also an augmented reality interactive letter, sealed with some magic by the elves! The letter includes a premium video and facial scan feature which Santa uses to check if the child is on his nice list.

Also new for 2012, Portable North Pole has an updated iPNP mobile and tablet app (cost £1.99), which includes the premium video, interactive advent calendar and phone calls from Santa (n.b. you need to buy this separately). Last year the Portable North Pole app was among the top 10 paid downloads on the Apple Store in the UK. Click here to get the App

Santa’s e-shop on the Portable North Pole website is also stocked with a range of new personalized gifts, from letters, colouring books and place mats, to books, puzzles and “Santa’s NiceList” certificates – and I can offer a code which gives you 10% off – just use BLOG10BK – check this video for more information!

We were provided with a code for the Premium Video, all thoughts are our own – H loves it!