What to write in a letter from Santa

A letter from Santa works when it’s full of things only Santa could know. General praise (“you’ve been very good this year”) is fine; knowing about the swimming badge, the new baby brother and the business with the broccoli is magic. Here’s what to put in, with lines you can borrow.

What Santa knows

Before you write, jot down a few specifics from their year. You’ll use most of them.

• Their full name and age, and their best friend’s name.
• Something they learned: to swim, to read, to ride a bike, to whistle.
• Something brave: the first day at a new school, a trip to the dentist, a new sibling.
• The pet, by name.
• One thing from their list, so Santa has clearly read it.
• A small, forgivable crime.

Praise something specific

This is the heart of the letter. Name the thing they did and say why it mattered.

The elves tell me you learned to swim a whole width this summer, and that you didn’t give up even when you swallowed half the pool. That’s exactly the sort of thing we notice up here.

I hear you’ve been a wonderful big sister to Rosa. Holding her hand at the park was very kind. The reindeer were most impressed.

The gentle nudge

If there’s something to work on, keep it light and hopeful. Never make presents depend on it. Santa believes in them.

Mrs Claus asked me to mention bedtimes. She says even reindeer need their sleep, and so do very busy seven-year-olds.

The broccoli incident has been noted, and forgiven. I didn’t like broccoli either, until I was about four hundred.

News from the North Pole

A little of Santa’s world makes the letter feel real. Keep it short: they want the letter to be about them.

It’s been a busy year up here. Rudolph has a new harness, the elves have finished the wrapping early for once, and it snowed so much in November that we lost the workshop for a day.

Dasher has a cold, so please leave an extra carrot. Crunchy ones are best.

Handling the list

Santa shouldn’t promise anything that isn’t coming. Mention the list warmly, and leave room.

Thank you for your list. The elves have read it very carefully, especially the part about the dinosaur. I’ll do my very best, and I always pick something I think you’ll love.

A whole letter, to borrow from

Dear Maya, Ho ho ho! I’ve been reading the elves’ reports, and what a year you’ve had. Six years old, a whole width of the pool, and a wonderful big sister to Rosa. The broccoli incident has been forgiven. I’ve read your list very carefully, and I’ll do my best. Please say hello to Biscuit for me, and tell him to stay off the sofa on Christmas Eve, because that’s where I’ll be having my mince pie. Be good, sleep well, and I’ll see you very soon. Love, Santa. P.S. Rudolph says thank you for last year’s carrot.

Keeping the magic

• Sign it from Santa, not from you, everywhere it appears.
• Use Santa’s voice consistently if you write one every year. Children remember.
• Let it arrive, rather than be handed over. A letter that turns up on Christmas Eve feels like it came from somewhere.
• Add a film if someone in the house does a good Santa. A wave from “the North Pole” (the garage, with the lights off) goes a long way.

Sending it from the North Pole

In an envelope, put their name on the front and Santa as who it’s from, and set it to open on Christmas Eve. Until then they’ll see a snowy envelope with a countdown, and when the moment comes, they brush the snow off to open it. The letter can be as long as Santa likes, with a photo of the half-eaten mince pie and a film from the workshop if you’ve got one. It starts from $1.29 for a letter, and opens on any phone or tablet.