Fun Ways for your Family to Connect with Santa this Holiday Season

HO! HO! HO! He’s back! ‘Tis the season for reindeer hoofs on the roof, gingerbread houses filled with delicious sweets, and lots and LOTS of holiday cheer!

 For many parents, the holidays involve Santa in one way or another. Truth is, he’s practically unavoidable. Santa is very good at making himself appear and reappear in small town shops, metropolitan malls, and rural farms across America. Try to avoid Santa, and there’s a good chance he’ll find a way to sneak up on you and demand to know ‘if you’ve been naughty or nice’ this year.

When it comes to our children, Santa has the market covered. He magically appears in their dreams with all kinds of fancy gadgets the elves have made for especially for them. He also finds ways to connect with them via TV commercials and even books (yes, I am guilty of reading my children lots of Santa-related books over the holidays). My verdict on all of this Santa madness? It’s absolutely fine to indulge in the notion of Santa Clause!

It’s true that overindulgence at Christmastime is never a good idea, but enabling your daughter to enjoy the holiday and connect with Santa can be fun for both of you. As parents, many of us have fond memories of Santa during our own childhood. My parents used to take my siblings and I to Miller & Rhodes (now out of business) a fabulous old departments store in Richmond, Virginia to see ‘the real Santa’ and have tea and ‘reindeer cake’ with him in their famed Tea Room. Making Santa memorable for your children does not have to be extravagant, it just needs to be fun and exciting. In fact, there are many ways to connect with Santa Clause and his mighty band of elves this season that are absolutely free and will create lasting memories for your family. Check out these creative and oh-so memorable tips to create holiday “Santa” fun for the whole family.

1. Write to the North Pole. Yes, the Elves still take lots of mail to Santa (despite rumors that they had stopped responding to mail due to ‘a few unsavory demands’). Make it fun by writing a list with your daughter and cutting out pictures of items she wants for Christmas. Don’t forget to take the opportunity to teach her that Christmas is more than about receiving gifts. It’s about giving them. Remind her that it’s perfectly alright to ask Santa to bring a gift to a homeless child or to send her grandmother kisses.

2. Track Santa’s Journey. Santa is quite savvy in the age of technology and he’s found a way for children to ‘track’ his every move. No, I’m not kidding. Check out www.noradsanta.org to find out exactly what the jolly old elf is doing. You and your daughter will have lots of fun tracking his every move through Christmas Eve!

3. Text Santa. Santa can text? You betcha. AT&T customers can send Santa their wish list by texting SANTA to 1224 between now and Dec. 24. Other telecommunication companies have similar ways for your daughter to get the 411 on all things Santa so check with your local carrier.

4. Visit Santa’s Website. www.northpole.com is a cute site for children and adults to visit. It count’s down the days until the big guy arrives, includes fun activities for kids and parents, provides teacher resources, great holiday recipes, a place to share your ‘Santa’ stories, and allows you to personally email Santa!

5. Google Earth ‘Santa.’ The mighty Google has found a way to track Santa from outer space via the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Yes, it’s true, if it appears in the night sky, NORAD can track it. Santa can be found via high-powered satellites trained on the North Pole for all of the latest updates on how the reindeer are doing. The image of Santa and his jolly entourage from outer space is truly an amazing site and one that proves he exists! www.noradsanta.org

6. Email Santa. Santa’s got a Yahoo email account and he’s just waiting for your letter! www.emailsanta.com

7. Stalk (I mean find) Santa. Want to find Santa quickly? Have a burning need to sit on his lap and present your wish list? Santa America can help locate Santa in just about every state for you to personally visit. Santa America has the ‘highest quality’ Santa’s posted and where to find them (don’t laugh, keeping Santa honest is a serious business).

So go ahead, Google, email, write, or track Santa this holiday season. He really is ‘everywhere’ and readily accessible to girls of all ages. Even the tween and teen set of non-believers will have fun tracking his every move and maybe, just maybe, they’ll begin to believe again!