Dear Santa Reply

Your child writes to Santa — and Santa writes back, with a real letter in your mailbox.

🎄 … days until Christmas!
✉️ … letters received so far
📮 Send letters by December 15

Track Santa on Christmas Eve with NORAD ↗

How It Works — easy as 1, 2, 3

🧝 Hi! I'm Jingle, Santa's mail elf! I run Santa's mailbox, and I'll show you how it works — it's easy as pie. (Mmm, pie.)

1

Your child writes a letter

On the page, your child tells Santa their wishes, their good deeds, or anything on their heart. Little writers can peek at the letter starters on the Nice List page for ideas.

2

You add the mailing address

A grown-up adds the address where Santa should send the reply, and ticks the consent box. That's the only thing the address is ever used for — Santa's reply, and nothing else. It stays private in Santa's mailbag.

3

Santa mails back a real letter

Santa reads the letter and mails back a real, personalized reply on paper, through the mail. It's a mailbox surprise — the reply is never shown on this website.

Good to know, grown-ups

  • 💚 It's free. Every child who writes gets a reply. Donations toward stamps and envelopes are welcome but completely optional.
  • 🔒 Private by design. Letters are never listed publicly. This site only ever shows a simple count of how many letters Santa has received.
  • 📮 Prefer paper? Kids can also mail a handwritten letter to Santa's Holding Station — the elves retrieve letters from there and hand-deliver them to Santa. The address is on the Write a Letter page.
  • ⏰ Send by December 15 for the best chance of a reply before Christmas. Later letters still get replies — they may arrive after Christmas Day.

Write a Letter to Santa

Two ways to reach Santa — mail him a real letter, or message him right here. Either way, his reply comes back by real mail.

📬 Rather send Santa real mail?

Some letters are just better on paper! Mail your handwritten letter to Santa's Holding Station — the elves check the station every day, retrieve every letter, and hand-deliver them all to Santa himself.

Santa Claus
North Pole Mail Holding
PO Box [NUMBER]
League City, TX 77573

Be sure to include your return address — that's where Santa mails his reply. (Same rule as the online letters: replies always come by real mail.)

✉️ Rather message Santa now?

Kids: tell Santa everything! Grown-ups: the address at the bottom is where Santa mails the reply.

Free. No account, no email ever sent to your child. The reply always comes by mail.

Check the Nice List

Santa checks his list twice — but you can peek right now. Type a name and see!

✏️ Letter starters for little writers

Stuck on the first line? Borrow one of these — tap to copy it into your letter:

Tip for grown-ups: a sentence about something kind they did makes Santa's reply extra personal.

Coloring Pages

Pick a picture, pick a color, then tap part of the picture to color it in!

Easy pictures

Tricky pictures

Expert pictures — for grown-ups

Santa

Printing tip: if Print is blocked inside an app preview, use Download and print the saved picture instead.

Mrs. Claus Recipes

👵 Hello, dears! I'm Mrs. Claus. These are the very recipes we bake up at the North Pole — cookies for Santa's big night, a treat for the reindeer, and cocoa to warm up after. Pick one, tie on an apron, and bake a little Christmas magic with your family. Grown-ups: you're the head elf in the kitchen — ovens, knives, and hot cocoa are your department.

🍪 Santa's Favorite Sugar Cookies

⏱ About 30 minutes + decorating · Makes about 24 cookies

You'll need

  • 2¾ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda · ½ teaspoon baking powder · ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, soft · 1½ cups sugar
  • 1 egg · 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • Icing and sprinkles for decorating

Let's bake!

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F (grown-up job).
  2. Stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  3. In a bigger bowl, squish the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla.
  4. Add the flour bowl a little at a time, mixing until it's dough.
  5. Roll into walnut-size balls, place on a cookie sheet, and flatten gently with the bottom of a glass.
  6. Bake 8–10 minutes, until the edges are just golden. Cool — then decorate!

🤶 Mrs. Claus's tip: Leave two on a plate Christmas Eve. Santa's never once left a crumb.

🍫 North Pole Chocolate Chip Cookies

⏱ About 25 minutes · Makes about 30 cookies

You'll need

  • 2¼ cups flour · 1 teaspoon baking soda · 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, soft · ¾ cup sugar · ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs · 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Let's bake!

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F (grown-up job).
  2. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
  3. Beat the butter and both sugars until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour mixture, then fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, leaving room to spread.
  6. Bake 9–11 minutes, until golden at the edges. Cool a few minutes — the chips stay melty!

🤶 Mrs. Claus's tip: A tiny pinch of extra salt on top before baking makes the chocolate taste even chocolatier. Santa's secret.

⛄ No-Bake Snowball Cookies

⏱ About 20 minutes + chilling · Makes about 20 snowballs · No oven!

You'll need

  • 1½ cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 40 wafers)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts (skip for nut allergies)
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ⅓ cup orange juice

Let's roll!

  1. Crush the wafers in a zip-top bag with a rolling pin — great job for small helpers.
  2. Stir everything together in a big bowl until it forms a sticky dough.
  3. Roll into little balls, about 1 inch across.
  4. Roll each ball in powdered sugar until it's dressed like a snowball.
  5. Chill in the fridge at least 1 hour so they firm up.

🤶 Mrs. Claus's tip: Little hands get sticky — keep a damp towel handy and call it "snow patrol cleanup."

🦌 Reindeer Food

⏱ 5 minutes · For the lawn on Christmas Eve · Not for people!

You'll need

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons red and green colored sugar (or sugar + a drop of food coloring)
  • A small bag or jar

Let's make it!

  1. Pour the oats into a bowl.
  2. Sprinkle in the colored sugar and stir until it sparkles.
  3. Pour into your bag or jar and tie it shut.
  4. On Christmas Eve, sprinkle it on the lawn so the reindeer can find your house and have a snack while Santa's inside.

🤶 Mrs. Claus's tip: We use colored sugar instead of craft glitter — it sparkles just as bright and it's kind to birds and wildlife.

☕ North Pole Hot Cocoa

⏱ About 10 minutes · Makes 4 mugs

You'll need

  • 4 cups milk
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder · ¼ cup sugar · a pinch of salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • Mini marshmallows or whipped cream

Let's stir!

  1. Whisk the cocoa, sugar, and salt in a saucepan (grown-up job).
  2. Slowly whisk in the milk.
  3. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until steaming — don't let it boil.
  4. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
  5. Pour into mugs and crown with marshmallows or whipped cream.

🤶 Mrs. Claus's tip: Stir with a candy cane and it turns into peppermint cocoa — the elves' favorite after a long toy-making day.

Recipes are for family fun at home. Always have a grown-up run the oven and stove, and check ingredients for allergies before baking.

Questions Parents Ask

Does every child really get a reply?

Yes. Every letter sent through this site gets a real, personalized reply letter from Santa, mailed on paper to the address you provide. No form letters — Santa reads each one.

Is it free?

Yes, completely free. There is one optional donation section (Help Santa Deliver His Mail) that helps cover stamps and envelopes. Donating is never required, and it never changes whether — or how quickly — a reply is sent.

What happens to our mailing address?

It is used only so Santa can mail the reply. Letters live in Santa's private, PIN-protected mailbag; they are never listed publicly, never sold, and never shared. This website publicly shows only a count of letters received.

Why can't I see Santa's reply on the website?

Because it's a mailbox surprise! Part of the magic is a real envelope arriving addressed to your child. Santa's replies are never shown on the site.

When should we send our letter?

Please send letters by December 15 for the best chance the reply arrives before Christmas. Letters sent after December 15 still get replies — they may simply arrive after Christmas Day.

Can you promise a delivery date?

No — mail takes as long as it takes, and Santa won't promise a date he can't control. Send by December 15 and keep an eye on the mailbox.

Can my child mail a handwritten letter instead?

Yes! Send it to Santa's Holding Station (address on the Write a Letter page) — the elves retrieve letters from the station and hand-deliver them to Santa, and those letters get mailed replies too, so include a return address.

Who runs Dear Santa Reply?

A real family in Texas who loves Christmas mail. Questions? Santa's helpers read the parent email you optionally include with a letter — but remember, Santa's reply itself always comes by mail.