What to write in a letter to Santa
Left to their own devices most children write a list, hand it over, and consider the matter closed. A slightly better letter — and one that is much more fun to keep — has four parts, and only one of them is the list.
Say hello properly
Their name, their age, and where they live. “Dear Santa, I am Joe and I am six and I live in the house with the green gate.”
Say what they’ve been up to
The year they’ve had, in their own words. This is the part parents reread later, and the part that is worth the most in ten years’ time.
Then the list
Three things, not thirty. A short list is easier for everyone and produces far less disappointment on the day.
Ask Santa something
How are the reindeer? Is it cold? What’s Mrs Claus doing? A question turns a list into a letter, and gives Santa something to reply to.
Let them write it badly. Resist correcting the spelling. The misspellings are the entire value of the artefact ten years from now, and a letter dictated by a parent is worth nothing at all.
A free printable letter to Santa template
If a blank page is too intimidating, a template with prompts fixes it. This is the structure we use — copy it onto a sheet, print it, and let them fill in the gaps:
- Dear Santa,
- My name is ____ and I am ____ years old.
- This year I have been ____ .
- The best thing that happened to me this year was ____ .
- I have been trying really hard at ____ .
- If I could ask for three things, they would be: 1. ____ 2. ____ 3. ____
- I would like to ask you: ____
- I will leave you ____ and I will leave the reindeer ____ .
- Love from ____
The two lines that do the heavy lifting are “the best thing that happened” and “I have been trying hard at”. Those are the ones that make the letter about the child rather than about the toys, and they are the ones a reply from Santa can pick up on.
Where to send a letter to Santa
Most national postal services run a letter-to-Santa scheme, and most of them will send a reply if the letter arrives in time. The details — the address, the closing date, whether a stamp is needed — change every year, so the only sensible advice is to check your own postal service’s website in late November rather than trusting an address copied off a blog.
What is consistent year to year:
- The deadline is earlier than you think. Most schemes close in the first half of December, well before the last posting date for parcels.
- The child’s return address must be on the letter, clearly, or no reply can be sent. This is the single most common reason a reply never arrives.
- The reply is generic. It is the same letter every child receives, which is lovely, but it will not mention anything your child wrote.
- Some schemes are charity-run and ask for a small donation. Some are entirely free. Both are legitimate.
The domestic alternative
Plenty of families skip the post entirely. The letter goes up the chimney, under the pillow, into a decorated box by the tree, or out of the window on Christmas Eve — and a reply appears the following morning. It is less romantic on paper and considerably more reliable in practice, and it means the reply can actually respond to what the child wrote.
If you take that route, a personalized letter from Santa gives you a reply that references their actual list, their actual year and their actual name.
When the letter is really a question
Somewhere around seven or eight, letters to Santa start containing tests. Children write things they haven’t told anyone, or ask questions with no obvious answer, and then wait to see what comes back. It is not cynicism — it is a child checking whether the world works the way they’ve been told.
That is worth knowing before you write the reply, because a generic response at that moment tends to settle the question in the wrong direction. A reply that mentions the thing they only put in the letter does the opposite. So does hearing it in Santa’s own voice a few days later, saying the same things.
Create Your Santa Video
Santa replies out loud, using their name
Give them a reply worth keeping
A personalized video where Santa answers by name and mentions what they actually wrote. Ready in minutes, yours to keep.
- Their name, out loud
- Choose your Santa
- Ready in minutes
- Yours to keep
Letter to Santa questions
When is the deadline for a letter to Santa?
Most national postal schemes close in the first half of December, earlier than the final posting date for parcels. Check your own postal service’s website in late November, because the date moves every year.
What address do I send it to?
Each country has its own, published on its postal service’s own website. We deliberately don’t reprint addresses here — they change annually, and a letter sent to last year’s address simply never arrives.
Will Santa write back?
Most postal schemes send a reply if the letter arrives before the deadline and the child’s return address is clearly on it. That reply is the same for every child, so many families create a personalized one at home as well.
What should a young child write?
Their name, their age, what they’ve been up to, three things they’d like, and a question for Santa. Keep the list short — three is plenty, and it makes Christmas morning considerably easier.
Should I correct their spelling?
No. The spelling is the point. In ten years the misspellings will be the reason you kept it, and a letter written in a parent’s handwriting is worth nothing to anyone.
What if we’ve missed the postal deadline?
Send it up the chimney or leave it under the pillow instead, and have the reply appear at home. It’s more reliable, and the reply can actually mention what they wrote — which the postal version never does.
