'Tis the season!: Google Doodle celebrates first day of the Christmas holidays

The winter doodle has wished people a ‘Happy Holidays’ in previous years

Google's 'Tis the season! doodle (Google)

Google is celebrating the first day of the festive holiday season with a new Doodle depicting children in a sleigh waving as they are pulled along by a reindeer.

The festive “’Tis the season!” doodle, which gets a new incarnation each year, is the search giant’s way of celebrating the start of the Christmas holiday season for its users across the globe.

Starting on Monday in New Zealand, the doodle will roll out across a number of countries, including Australia, the US, and countries in Central and South America, Europe, parts of the Middle East and Asia.

In previous years Google’s dedicated festive doodle, starting on any day between 21 and 23 December, has wished people a “Happy holidays,” but the message has been tweaked for this particular animation.