Letters from Santa
This is a great family activity.  You can help your children write their letters to Santa.  In composing the response you can be as creative and elaborate as you wish.  Little suggestions such as cleaning rooms and doing homework can't hurt either. And of course praises for goals reached and jobs well done.

There are several choices for your letter, services that will create, print and mail the personalized letter for you (from $10 - $44) or you can write it yourself.   Santa also makes telephone calls this year!

Sending Your Letter via the USPS

The US Postal Service can help you with a special present this year, a letter from Santa. Free!

●  Write a letter to your child from Santa.  Don't forget holiday stationary!

●  Put the letter in a stamped envelope and address it to your child. The return address should be North Pole, AK.

●  Put this envelope in a larger envelope and mail it to:

North Pole Christmas Cancellation
Postmaster
5400 Mail Trail
Fairbanks AK 99709-9998

If you are sending the letters First Class Mail (the least expensive) then you should mail the letter by December 9th so that it can be received by December 14th to ensure that your child will receive their letter before Christmas.

You can do this with letters or greetings cards. According to the USPS, greeting cards should have the card inserted into the envelopes as empty envelopes can get damaged during cancellation.

Sending Your Letter via a Santa Letter Service

There are also several companies that offer personalized letters from Santa for your child for under $10.  Santa-Claus.com offers four different options from a  personalized letter for $9.99 to a deluxe version which includes the personalized letter, a Christmas Teddy with chocolates plus Santa's Magic Snow for $44.95.

Should you decide to use a service, the standard fee (including shipping) for a personalized letter is approximately $10.  Things to look for to distinguish between the services are what information is personalized, how many different references there are to personal information,  what the cancellation stamp will be, and most importantly, what is the cut off date to order your child's letter and still receive it by Christmas.

Receiving a Phone Call from Santa

New (at least to me) this year are services that offer a personalized telephone call from Santa.  You have a choice between a recorded or live call and you can choose the date and time.  Calls from Santa can range anywhere from free (if you live in the Cincinnati area, courtesy of Cincinnati Bell) to $6.95 for pre-recorded calls and up to $15 for 'live' call through services such as Santa-Claus.com. .