How to Tell Your Children About Santa Claus

As kids, there are few things we look forward to more at Christmas than a visit from Santa Claus, or to sit on Santa’s lap at the mall and tell him what they want for Christmas.  The notion of Santa is incredible for children, and it provides a great deal of entertainment, hope, and joy. 

 

As they get older, however, your kids will naturally start to have doubts.  Let’s look at how and when to tell your kids the truth about Santa.

There is no specific age when you should tell your kids about Santa, but there are a few recommendations.  For starters, you should wait until your little ones start to have doubts or ask questions.  If they are starting to hear rumors from friends or from older kids, it might be time to sit them down for a talk.

 

If your children are more than a year or so apart in age, it is also best to wait a little longer.  If your oldest child is having doubts and asking questions, or seems generally skeptical, but your youngest still has a strong belief, then you should wait until the youngest child ‘catches up’ with his or her sibling. 

 

While any child in your family still has a strong belief in Santa, it is not fair to them to let older children in on the secret and exclude them.  It is likely that the older child will spill the beans to them at some point, even if they promised not to.

 

When you decide that it is time to talk to the kids about Santa, consider telling them by helping them to figure it out on their own.  Explain that Santa is someone who knows when they are sleeping or awake, that he knows whether they were good all year or not, and that he knows that they want for Christmas, and try to get them to figure out who they know that knows all of these things (you!). 

 

Once they guess, let them know the true story of Saint Nicholas and why he is associated with the idea of presenting toys to children.  This may be a good plan if they are hurt and feel they have been lied to – you can explain that Father Christmas was indeed once a real person, but nobody can live forever and grown-ups keep his memory and his kindness alive through the tradition of Santa.

 

Praise them for being clever and grown-up enough to have figured it out on their own.  Explain to them the magic in the story of Saint Nick, and how they will one day follow this tradition themselves and bring magic into their own children’s lives.

If your child wants to know why you are telling them the news, let them know that it is because they are grown up now.  Help to teach your little ones that the idea of Santa is a special secret among adults that they are now lucky enough to know.

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