With Christmas around the corner, there are really cool things that you can do to make Christmas even more special for your children.

The first one is to visit northpole.com. This is a very cute website where your child can write a letter to Santa and actually get a reply.

Need inspiration for unique holiday-themed gifts? Visit our Red Bubble store.

 

The website’s front page reads:

Santa really loves to get letters from boys and girls. They tell him if they have been naughty or nice and what they want for Christmas. I know Santa would like to get a letter from you. All you have to do is click on the inkwell on the desk and I’ll help you write your letter to Santa.

Once you have sent a letter to Santa, come back and check your mailbox by clicking “Santa Letter Pick-Up”. Santa answers every letter that is sent to him, but he has so much mail it usually takes him about three days to write back to you.

Have you sent a letter to Santa on this site previously? You can view it.

Northpole.com celebrates the holidays with dozens of activities for children and families. A child-safe, award-winning holiday site,northpole.com promotes a traditional look at Santa’s Secret Village at the North Pole, but with high-tech, creative features to keep children and adults entertained—all for free.

The northpole.com site premiered in 1996 and has been delighting children ever since. Its creators wanted to provide a family-oriented, traditional Christmas site for children and their families to enjoy, and showcase it as a site steeped in both tradition and technology. As a result, visitors enjoy animation using Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Webmail, and conversation simulators using artificial intelligence—all on Web pages richly illustrated with hundreds of original, detailed, hand-drawn artwork.

The site opens with a panoramic view of Santa’s Secret Village℠, the fanciful home of Santa, his elves, and reindeer. Visitors click on different ‘buildings’ to enter, leading to a variety of activities or stories. Buildings include Santa’s Mailroom, Santa’s Workshop, Elf Clubhouse, Santa’s Reindeer Barn, Santa’s Den, Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen, Northpole Weather Station, Elf Pal Academy, and Toy Shop.

Letters to Santa arrive by the thousands each day during the holiday season and are processed in Santa’s Mailroom. There, children have a quick, secure, and certain means to write Santa AND get a free, keepsake-quality reply letter within days. In Santa’s Workshop, children can read short creative stories about elves and toys. In the Reindeer Barn, the stories are about Raymond the playful reindeer. All stories onnorthpole.com are original, and many offer a gentle and upbeat lesson for children. Personalized, original stories await children in Santa’s Den and are created by the child (or parent) answering a few short questions, such as the child’s first name, hometown, and a favorite activity. These answers are woven into the story to personalize it for the child, and pages can be printed out as a keepsake or gift.

After discovering that teachers were using the site in classrooms to teach computer skills, reading, and writing, site creators added the Elf Pal Academy, offering mind-challenging games, puzzles, mazes, math riddles, an interactive coloring book, even Santa’s favorite Rubik’s cube. A favorite is the Good Deeds Calendar that children can print and record their good behavior for Santa.

Need a special recipe for the holidays? Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen has thousands! Also, at northpole.com there’s ElfChat℠, animated holiday postcards, and an ‘elf-run’ weather station that gives updated North Pole weather reports.