Want Letter From Santa? Letters From North Pole Now Available

NORTH POLE — Parents know it's hard for little ones to keep it together this close to the holiday season. The best remedy for pre-holiday anticipation may be a letter direct from Santa Claus and postmarked from the North Pole.

Across California, children draft letters to Santa with their secret wishes and requests for their siblings and loved ones. But what happens to those letters once they are put inside the mailbox?

"One year, my daughter left a letter for Santa on Christmas Eve and included an apology to the reindeer because we only had one carrot to leave for them," mother Francine Baxter said.

No reply was necessary with the gifts left behind by the "big man," however, many children who pen letters to Kris Kringle earlier in December may frequently check the mail for replies.

Especially if there's a Santa-doubter in the house.

If you've ever seen "Miracle on 34th Street," or read the beautifully penned "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," then you will understand what kids across the globe already know. Letters sent to the biggest elf at the North Pole will reach its destination, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. But did you know that you can get a letter back from Santa Claus?

This year, the U.S. Postal Service, thanks to its longstanding relationship with Santa, enables you to get a letter directly sent to your child from Santa. Letters must be requested no later than Dec. 15. And the U.S. Postal Service will deliver a return letter to your child postmarked from the North Pole.

Here are the steps for your child to get a letter from Santa:

• Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
• Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
• Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
• Affix a First-Class Mail stamp, such as the new Holiday Windows stamp, to the envelope.
• Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope — preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope — with appropriate postage and address it to: North Pole, Postmark Postmaster 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998

“Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than Dec. 15. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.

Be sure to share the experience on social media using #LettersFromSanta

Tips

• To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote.
• When responding as "Santa," make the response as personal as possible highlighting your child’s accomplishments over the past year, for example, helping around the house, receiving good grades in a subject at school or participating in community service activities.
• This is a great activity at Thanksgiving that the whole family can enjoy -- including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other caregivers.

"The Letters from Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is ideal for interesting youngsters in letter writing, stamps and penmanship," said the U.S. Postal Service.

Pixabay Image/Stamp image courtesy USPS