So my oldest is now 5 years old and she has written a letter to Santa.
She knows the mail takes a while to get to the North Pole and is upset that we might miss the mail lady on Monday if we don’t address the letter NOW and put it in the mailbox. :=)
I thought surely we can’t actually do this. But something inside of me told me to double check that Santa didn’t have an actual mailing address.
And guess what? He does!
What is Santa Claus’ actual mailing address?
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the United States Postal Service has a program called “Letters to Santa” that allows children to put real letters to St. Nick in the mail.
I found out it’s been going on for 102 years. Who knew?!
How do you get a letter to Santa?
It’s simple, really.
All you have to do is address your letter to “Santa Claus, North Pole, Alaska.”
As long as the envelope doesn’t have a valid Alaska mailing address (like with a real zip code included), it will stay in town and be accepted by the local postmaster.
Local postal employees actually read some of the letters and try to respond to the needier children. I am still not sure how they do this because if most kids are like my daughter, they don’t elaborate. Ours simple says, “Dear Santa, I want XYZ for Christmas.” The End. LOL
Kind-hearted citizens are also allowed to anonymously provide gifts to children by going through the Postal Service. This is explained in detail on USPS.com page about Letters to Santa.
Do your kids mail letters to Santa?
How long do they want to do this? I’m already getting saddened by the thought of my children outgrowing Santa. :(((
Do you need a cute “Letter to Santa” template?
Here’s a super cute printable version you’re welcome to! >> Printable Christmas Wishlist Letter
If you’d like even more options, here’s an entire collection of Santa Claus letters that I’ve published over the years! Have fun!
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Barb @ A Life in Balance says
Great tip! I shared this with my FB readers.
Lena Gott says
Thank you so much, Barb! I thought this was a neat little tidbit about Christmas I had never heard of before.
Linda L. says
Better still, if they write to Santa in Canada, they will definitely get a response from him! Over 9,000 Canada Post staff and retirees volunteer as elves help Santa answer mail from kids all over the world in the language in which the child wrote – including Braille. The postal code for Santa is H0H0H0! The more info in the letter about the child, the better Santa’s response will be.
The address is:
Santa Claus,
North Pole,
Canada
H0H 0H0
This has been going on for over thirty years and they’ve responded to millions of letters. If you live in Canada, you don’t even need to put a stamp on your letter.
Lena Gott says
Thanks for posting this information, Linda!!
Matha a Denison says
Thank you for whatmommydoes.com . I’m a nana raising my little granddaughter since she’s been born. Been a hard road. Forgot about this but since she’s 7 years old now Santa is a big thing for her. So thank u.