The 15 Best Alexa Skills for Christmas and Hanukkah

Our virtual assistants have become part of our everyday lives, so it's no surprise that they're becoming a part of our holidays as well. When the winter celebrations roll around, you can check out these Alexa skills to get your family and friends into that holiday spirit.

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Calling the Butterball hotline for info on how to cook your turkey is so 20th century — now you can just ask Alexa. The Morton Brine Time skill — from the people who brought you, well, salt — can help you through the process of brining your holiday bird, including giving you information based on the weight of your particular turkey. Morton's skill also includes recipes if you're just starting out.

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What's a festive holiday season without musical accompaniment? If all you want is to stream seasonally appropriate tunes, enable the Christmas Radio skill and tell Alexa to fire it up. You'll get an assortment of holiday songs without having to lift a finger.

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Instead of continually asking you when the big holiday is rolling around, kids can now ask your friendly household virtual assistant. The Christmas Countdown skill lets them inquire how many days are left before the man in the red suit shows up bearing his sack full of presents.

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If you're looking to liven up a holiday party or other festive event, Christmas Sounds takes it beyond a simple musical soundtrack and adds other themed sounds as well. Hear sleigh bells jingling, carolers singing, hooves clip-clopping  and more. Santa himself may even make the occasional appearance.

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The holiday spirit is about giving more than anything, and if you're looking for way to spread that generosity, check out the Christmas Kindness skill. You can ask it for a suggestion of a random act of kindness that you can practice this holiday season. And if you've got an idea to bring joy into people's lives, there's even an email address to submit suggestions to.

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Every kid wants to know if they've made Santa's nice list for the year, and now they can consult Alexa. Just enable the Santa Claus skill, and, upon prompting, Alexa will ask a series of questions to help determine whether the kid has met their full niceness potential.

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A little humor helps bring joy to the holiday season, so check out the Christmas Jokes skill. It's the usual level of fare for Alexa's humor, which is to say that most adults will probably roll their eyes, but your average kid will probably be rolling in the aisles.

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