How to Write a Letter to Santa: Tips for Kids Writing on Their Own

Canada Post has been answering letters to Santa for more than 40 years. According to Canada Post’s page, it receives over one million letters a year. The address is “Santa Claus / North Pole / H0H 0H0 / Canada”, and for 2026 the page asks families to mail their letters no later than December 9.

As December gets closer, many children want to write to Santa. In this post I share some tips for helping a child write that letter as much as possible on their own.

What to write

There is no set way to write to Santa. It is enough for a child to pick one or two of these.

• Their name and age. “My name is Sam. I am 5.”
• Something they worked on or learned this year. “I can ride my bike now.”
• A question for Santa. “How many reindeer do you have?”
• What they would like. Keeping it to one thing makes it easier to write.
• A thank-you or a kind word. “It is cold, so don’t catch a cold.”

A letter that is only a wish list is fine too. But asking for one thing they learned this year gives the child a chance to look back on their year.

If your child cannot write yet

Even a 2- or 3-year-old can take part.

Write with pictures. A picture of Santa, of the thing they want, of their own face. A letter made only of pictures is still a real letter.

Take dictation. Write down what your child says, word for word. Rephrasing or tidying it up too much takes away what makes it theirs.

Let them write just their name. The child writes only the name at the end. Even if it does not look like letters yet, it is their own mark.

Sign with a circle or a line. If a name is too hard, drawing one circle is enough.

If your child is just starting to write

For a child who has just started writing, a whole letter is a long piece of writing. Trying to do it all can wear them out halfway.

Keep it short. One or two lines is plenty: “Dear Santa”, their name and one sentence.

Prepare a model. Write what your child said in large letters on a separate sheet and let them copy it. Tracing over light writing works too.

Don’t over-correct. You may notice reversed letters or creative spelling. For this letter, it is fine to send it in the child’s own writing without fixing it. Santa can read it.

It doesn’t have to be done in a day. “Dear Santa” today, the name tomorrow. Splitting it up is fine.

When children are ready to start writing is in When Do Kids Start Writing Letters?, and pencil grip is in How to Teach Pencil Grip.

Where to send it

Some families hand the letter to Santa at home, and some actually mail it.

If you mail it, check the deadline. Canada Post, mentioned above, needs no stamp for letters mailed within Canada, and you need to include a return address to get a reply. Canada Post has a separate page of tips for letters sent from outside Canada. Many other postal services and organizations run their own Santa letter programs at this time of year.

Deadlines and how to send can change from year to year. Before mailing, check the official information from whichever service you use.

Writing with Letters in BrainDojo Kids

BrainDojo Kids is an iPhone and iPad app for children aged 3 to 6. The home screen has a tool called Letters, where children can write a letter by hand in a grid of squares.

Here is how it works.

1. Open Letters on the home screen and tap “New letter”.
2. Tap a square on the paper and a large writing box opens. Write one character in it. The grid is 8 squares across and 7 rows down.
3. Choose the ink from eight colors, from black to purple.
4. Pick a design from Stationery in the top right. There are “Christmas”, “Snow” and “Winter forest” designs, among others.
5. Check the result in Preview and tap Save to put it in the camera roll.

Squares can hold pictures as well as letters. A child who cannot write yet can make a letter of pictures in the squares. You can print the saved image from the Photos app and mail it as a paper letter. Sharing from the list of letters is behind the parent gate.

If your child wants to practice “Santa” or family names first, “Create a course” in the Courses tab turns the words you enter into a tracing course. There is also a “My Name” course for practicing their own name. Every stage of these two courses is free.

The first letter is free, and from the second one a Premium subscription (monthly or yearly) is needed. There are no ads and no account to create. In the parent settings there is a daily time limit, on by default at 10 minutes.

Getting Started with BrainDojo Kids covers the first session, and Practical Tips for Using BrainDojo Kids Every Day has ideas for keeping it going.