Write their letter from Santa
Fill in their name and a couple of details, and the letter writes itself on the sheet beside you. Download it as a PDF or send it straight to the printer. It is free, there is nothing to sign up for, and nothing you type ever leaves your browser.
Prefer to write it yourself? Here is the wording we use, with the bits to change marked. Copy it into any word processor and print it on the heaviest paper you own.
Dear [name],
It has been a busy year at the workshop. The elves have been at it since the spring, the reindeer are back in training, and this morning, while I was checking the list, I came to your name.
The elves tell me [something they have done this year]. That is exactly the sort of thing I like to hear about, and it is why I wanted to write to you myself.
I know about [what they asked for], too. I cannot make any promises in writing — that is not how this works — but I have made a note of it, and my notes have a way of coming true.
So hang up your stocking, get to sleep early, and leave me something to eat. I will be over [their town] on Christmas Eve, and I never miss a chimney.
Be good, be kind, and look after the people who look after you. That is the whole of it, really.
With love from the North Pole,
Santa Claus
Why a letter still beats a screen
A letter from Santa is the only part of Christmas that survives being put in a drawer. Videos get watched twice and then live on a phone that gets replaced; a letter on the mat, with their name on it, ends up in a box in the loft and gets found again in fifteen years.
It also arrives differently. There is no unlocking, no handing over of a phone, no adult hovering to press play. The child finds it themselves — on the doormat, on the pillow, propped against the tree — and reads it in their own time. For a child who is just learning to read, being written to personally by Santa is a considerable event.
What goes in a good letter from Santa
The structure that works is the same one a real letter would use, and the details are what carry it. The studio above follows it.
Their name, and where they live
“Dear Amelia… I will be over Hillcrest Road on Christmas Eve.” Naming the place is a small detail that does an enormous amount of work.
The year they’ve had
The swimming badge, the new baby, the first term at big school. Santa noticing is the point of the letter; presents are secondary.
A kind verdict
Firmly on the nice list, with one gentle, affectionate note about the thing they’re working on. Never a telling-off.
Christmas Eve, and a signature
When he’ll arrive, a request about the mince pie, and a sign-off in his own hand rather than a typed name.
Four small things that make it convincing
- Print it on something heavier than copier paper. Anything above 100gsm immediately reads as correspondence rather than a printout. Cream beats white.
- Fold it into an envelope and write the name on the front by hand. An unfolded sheet looks like it came out of a machine, because it did.
- Age the corners slightly. A cup of cold tea on a cotton bud along the edges, dried flat, does more than any font choice.
- Leave it somewhere odd. Propped inside the fireplace, half under the door, tucked into a boot. Where it turns up is half the story.
The trick most parents miss. Give them the letter first and the video afterwards. The letter makes a claim; the video confirms it in Santa’s own voice, saying the same things. Two independent sources agreeing is what stops a sceptical eight-year-old in their tracks.
Where to have it come from
If you want a genuine North Pole postmark rather than a printed one, several national postal services run a Santa letter scheme, and each has its own deadline in early December. They are free or close to it, but they are slow and they are generic — the reply is the same for every child.
The practical combination most families land on: the personalized letter above, printed at home, for the details that only your family knows; a national postal scheme for the postmark if you have time; and a video from Santa on Christmas Eve, saying the same things aloud.
Let them hear it as well as read it
The letter is yours for nothing. When you want the same details spoken out loud — their name, their year, the thing they asked for — Santa records it by the fire and it’s ready in minutes.
- Their name, out loud
- Choose your Santa
- Ready in minutes
- Yours to keep
Letter from Santa questions
Is the letter from Santa really free?
Yes, completely. The letter is written and drawn in your own browser, so there is no account, no email address, no watermark and no limit on how many you make. The video message, where Santa says the same things aloud, is the paid product.
Do you keep what I type into the letter?
No. The letter is built in the page itself and never sent anywhere — your child’s name and details do not reach us at all. Close the tab and they are gone.
What paper should I print it on?
Anything heavier than standard copier paper — 100gsm or above — and cream rather than bright white. That single change does more for believability than any amount of decoration.
Can I get a real North Pole postmark?
Not from us, but several national postal services run a Santa letter scheme each year with a deadline in early December. Many families use both: the postal scheme for the postmark and a personalized letter for the details.
What should Santa mention?
Specifics nobody outside the family would know — the street, the pet’s name, a badge earned in the summer, a new sibling. Being noticed matters far more to children than being promised presents.
My child wants to write back. Where do they send it?
We have a free printable template and the posting addresses for each country on our letter to Santa page, along with what to actually write in one.
