How To Send Letters To Santa & Get a Reply!

All the details on writing letters to Santa, where to send them to, and how to get a reply. Such a fun Christmas tradition with kids!

My kids LOVE to write letters to Santa Claus, and what could be more fun than actually receiving a reply? It’s absolutely one of our family’s favorite traditions. Seeing my kids’ faces, when they open the mailbox and see a letter with their name on it from Santa? It’s the best thing ever! It’s really easy to do, and I’ve got all the info you need.

How to write a letter to Santa

Christmas is such a magical time, and the perfect season for family activities and traditions. We have many we love at our house, like cutting down our Christmas tree, reading a Christmas book every night, and making homemade cinnamon ornaments. At the top of our must-do list is writing letters to Santa, and the very best part is when the kids get their own letter back! It’s easy to do and there are several options, depending on what you are looking for.

I have information for receiving a reply to letters, Santa’s address for letters to him only, and even an email address if you want to go digital. Information is included for sending letters to Santa from Canada, the UK, and the United States.

Where to send a letter to get a reply from Santa

Santa Claus, Indiana responds to children’s letters, and he museum director sent this important information:

Hi All,

Merry Christmas! I am the Director at the Santa Claus Museum & Village and one of Santa’s Elves. I just wanted to encourage everyone to get those letters in by December 20 – the earlier, the better! The Elves get pretty overwhelmed close to the deadline. We do try to respond to every child who sends a letter, though sometimes there are problems if the return address is not legible. So make sure there is a clear return address listed. And these letters are all free, though we certainly welcome donations! We’re a small non-profit with volunteer Elves and every little bit helps. If you have any questions or need more information, check out our website. There is also a link for “print at home” letters if you would prefer to do that rather than mail a letter to us. You can also give us a call at 812-544-2434.

Santa Claus
P.O. Box 1
Santa Claus, IN
47579

Mailing Santa letters in Canada

Canada Post

 Checklist from their website: 

  • Postage isn’t required for the return letter—they want every child to get a letter back! (I’m sure if you wanted to include extra stamps, they would love that too!)
  • Mail your letters by December 9th.
  • Make sure to include your full return address.

Santa’s address is:

Santa Claus
North Pole
H0H 0H0
Canada

Mailing letters to Santa in the UK

 Royal Mail

 Checklist from their website:

  • Mail your letters by December 6th
  • Make sure your letter is stamped, and includes child’s full name and address

Santa/Father Christmas
Santa’s Grotto
Reindeerland
XM4 5HQ

Santa’s address for letters with no reply

Santa Claus
North Pole,
Alaska 99705

Santa Claus
North Pole,
New York, 12946

Email Santa (last minute letters too!)

FAQ

Have your kids written to Santa and received a reply? Yes! We’ve done this for many years, and always receive replies. I have six children, and each of them get their own unique letter. It’s a highlight of the season.

Do the reply letters cost any money? None of the options above have a cost to send a reply letter, but most do require return postage to be included.

What are my last-minute options? If you’ve missed the mailing deadlines to receive a return letter, I would suggest sending an email to Santa. He will reply quickly, and you can send them anytime!

You’ll have to let me know if you get a letter back–I would love to hear about it! We received letters back for each of our kids, and they absolutely loved it.  It was definitely one of the highlights of the season!

More Christmas ideas for you!

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*Originally posted November 2013.

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29 Comments

  1. Although we live in Nevada, my three children (6,4 & 2) each sent a letter to the Canada address. I mailed all three letters together, postage was less than a dollar and each child received their own reply letter. Each one was generic but different. One told of hide-and-go-seek in the Candy Cane Forest, another told about Mrs. Claus baking cookies and other goodies, and the last told about their Christmas Day Party. The envelope was very cute as well as the stationary they received. My kids LOVED it! I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I was so excited when their reply letters actually arrived.

    1. That is awesome! I’m going to have my munchkins write and see if we don’t receive a reply. Thanks for the info!

  2. Found this via Google search…thanks for sharing the info. Our little girl is turning 9 and this might be her last Santa year…always like seeing her face when she gets a letter back

    1. Glad you found me!! I agree–any year after age 9 you never know, although my oldest held out until he was 12. :) Let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear!!

  3. This is the first year I’m doing this and I’m actually really excited to see what happens (can you say “dork”?). Thanks for the detailed instructions.

    1. Not “dork”…”AWESOME”!!! :) Let me know what happens!!! Merry Christmas!

  4. Sadly, we didn’t get a response this year. Oh well. Hopefully they use the stamp from the envelope I included. ;-)

    1. Oh, I’m sorry! Where did you send yours? We sent ours to the Indiana address and got our replies a few days before Christmas. (We sent them around the 7th or 8th).

  5. That’s the one I used.

    I didn’t mention a return response, so there was no disappointment here. I’ll try again next year and see how it goes. :-)

    1. Darn it!! Definitely try again next year! You were wise not to say anything…just in case. When did you send it?

  6. My children want to send Santa and their Elf on the Shelf “Tim” a letter with our new address. We are moving to another state and they want to make sure Santa and Tim know where they are. Does anyone know if I sent the letter now if I would get a response or is it simply just letteres around Christmas that are returned? Thanks

    1. I would give them a call! The post office Santa Claus, Indiana might be available to talk to you, since it’s a regular post office. If you can’t get a hold of anyone by mail, I would just try it and see–I don’t think they would turn away a letter to Santa Claus!

  7. So I called and this is what I was told, you can send them all in one envelope, they have to be received by Dec 20 to get a response and if you want to stick money in there for a donation to help with postage great, but it’s not necessary. They also have envelopes so there is no need to send envelopes with it! She said they go to the museum now. Here’s the address to send them to:

    Santa Claus
    P.O. Box 1
    Santa Claus, IN
    47579

    1. Thank you, thank you, for calling and listing all the info! I’m going to add it to the main post, so everyone will see it. We sent ours to the Indiana address last year, and we got letters back, but it’s good to know that the address has changed. Thank you!!! xoxo

  8. The number I called to speak to someone was (812) 937-4199 :) if anyone needs it!! My kids will be so excited!!!

  9. Canada Post has dedicated employees and retirees that answer letters to Santa (over 20 million!)…no self-addressed stamped envelope needed! Include your full address in the letter though. My kids and students have done this for years!
    Address: Santa Claus, North Pole, HOH OHO, CANADA
    Happy writing!

    1. Thank you so much, Dora! I’m going to add this to the post, so everyone will see it. I love the address…I think we might try this one this year! :) xoxo

  10. You are so very welcome! Anything to put a smile on the kids faces! I love this time of year!

  11. We live in West Virginia and I was wondering if we send them to one of these addresses would my kids get something back? Just asking because last year we sent him a letter and got nothing back. Don’t want kids to be disappointed this year. Thanks

    1. We sent ours to Santa Claus, Indiana last year, and weren’t sure if we would get ours back either, but we DID! It was awesome, and my kids loved it. I can’t guarantee it, but I think there’s a very good chance you will too!

  12. Hi All,

    Merry Christmas! I am the Director at the Santa Claus Museum & Village and one of Santa’s Elves. I just wanted to encourage everyone to get those letters in by December 20, 2014 – the earlier, the better! The Elves get pretty overwhelmed close to the deadline. We do try to respond to every child who sends a letter, though sometimes there are problems if the return address is not legible. So make sure there is a clear return address listed. And these letters are all free, though we certainly welcome donations! We’re a small non-profit with volunteer Elves and every little bit helps. If you have any questions or need more information, check out our website at http://santaclausmuseum.org/letters-to-santa/. There is also a link for “print at home” letters if you would prefer to do that rather than mail a letter to us. You can also give us a call at 812-544-2434.

    1. Thank you so much for posting this! I’m adding it to my main post, to make sure everyone sees it. You all do a wonderful job, and we do appreciate all of your efforts! I know my kids have absolutely loved getting their letters, as well as so many others. Thanks to all the elves and everyone involved all for your willingness and thoughtfulness to spread a lot of Christmas cheer!! xoxo

  13. Do these require postage to send to Santa? I would assume so but thought I would ask, :) Thank you

    1. Yes, good question! They do need postage, and I usually tuck in stamps to cover the postage back to us, although that part isn’t required. xoxo

  14. I teach PreK4 in DC. I’d love to know if they really send back letters to the students. Thanks for your help.

    1. Yes, they really do! Our family has been doing this for years, and we get replies back every single year. We always do the address so Santa Claus, Indiana.

      Such a fun thing for students to do!! xoxo

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