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When children write a heartfelt letter to Santa, what’s a parent to do? We’ve found a few ideas to help families spirit these precious letters straight to the big guy in red. You can drop off your letter in a local Santa mailbox (and get a reply), receive an email from Old Saint Nick or get a personalized letter from Santa postmarked from the North Pole. Create sweet memories this year with these thoughtful ideas.
1. Operation Santa
This long-standing program from the United States Postal Service matches letter writers with kind folks who “adopt” the letter and send the child gifts on their list. Letter writers are not required to register, but to “adopt” a letter, you must sign up and verify your ID. Then, the child’s letter is shared with the gifter (with all personal information redacted). The gifter can then buy and ship up to six gifts to the child. These will be shipped by USPS, and the child’s address will remain private. The gifter pays for all shipping costs. This is a fun way for children in need to get a gift and for families with older children who might have outgrown Santa to work as helpers.
2. Letters From Santa
This cute program, also from the Postal Service, was originally started to encourage letter-writing skills and it’s still going strong. Follow these simple steps:
- Your child writes a letter to Santa.
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A parent writes a personalized response to the child’s letter, signing it, “From, Santa.”
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Insert both letters into an envelope, and address it to the child. Do not seal it.
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Add a First-Class Mail stamp to the envelope and include Santa’s return address in the upper left corner: “Santa Clause, North Pole.”
- Place the envelope addressed to your child into a larger envelope, both with appropriate postage, and send it to:
North Pole Postmark Postmaster
4141 Postmark Drive
Anchorage, AK 99530-9998
The child will receive Santa’s reply letter in the mail, complete with a North Pole postmark — all for the cost of two stamps.
3. North Pole Santa Letters
At this site, you can create a personalized letter to your child from Santa on a variety of templates and stationery. The letter is then mailed with a North Pole postmark to your home. You can also order a “nice list” certificate or ornament.
4. Santa Letters From the North Pole
This paid service sells certified letters to send to your kid in the mail. This service offers a variety of personalized letters to choose from — all sent with the North Pole postmark on official North Pole stationery. After you order a letter, you can also add a gift package if you wish. The service offers a money-back guarantee and donates a portion of the profits to Toys for Tots.
5. Dear Santa
Nordstrom offers templates of Santa letters as a physical copy to pick up in-store or to print at home. Santa’s even accepting emails this year.
6. Letters to Santa
This fun website allows kids to fill out an online form and then get an instant message back from Santa himself. The magic happens on the website, so there is no need to give last names, email addresses or other personal information. The site also includes fun online Christmas-themed games to play, all for free.
7. Email Santa
The City of Renton’s Email Santa Claus program offers a charming way for kids to connect with Santa — no stamp required! Partnering with the North Pole Communications Team, the city invites up to 300 children to email Santa at Santa@rentonwa.gov between Nov. 29 and Dec. 8, and receive a personalized reply by U.S. mail by Dec. 20 (or via email if preferred). Parents can help make Santa’s response extra special by including their child’s first and last name, a mailing address or note requesting an email reply, and a special wish at the top of their list. If letters include details like the child’s age, school grade, favorite activities, accomplishments or last year’s favorite gift, Santa may add a personal touch to his reply. Be sure to act quickly — Santa’s inbox will close after 300 emails or on Dec. 8, whichever comes first.
8. Local Santa mailboxes
If you are looking for an extra-special place to mail your letter, try one of these jolly and bright mailboxes that will expedite your letter directly to the North Pole.
- Santa’s Mailbox in Downtown Kirkland is open after Thanksgiving until a few days before Christmas. The mailbox is there for children to post their letters to the big guy in red. Volunteer elves will then write a personalized letter back to each child as Santa.
- Edmonds also has a special red mailbox for posting letters to Saint Nick. Kids need to have their letters posted by Dec. 15 to receive a letter in return.
- From Dec. 2–15, children can send their letters to Santa through the magical red mailbox at Chambers Creek Regional Park in Pierce County. The mailbox is located by the playground. Santa is eagerly awaiting these heartfelt letters so he can send personalized replies, which will be mailed via USPS by Dec. 18. To ensure Santa can respond, don’t forget to include the names of the children and a return address. This delightful tradition is the perfect way to add an extra touch of magic to the holiday season, so don’t wait too long to drop off your letter!
Editor’s note: This article was previously published in 2022 and was updated in December 2024 by ParentMap’s editorial team with updated information and dates, and new instructions for parents.
