A bit of Christmas magic: Here's how you can get a letter from Santa this year

Saman Shafiq, USA TODAY
·2 min read

Need a bit of magic this year? Maybe Santa can help.

With the holiday season upon us and Christmas just a few weeks away, the season's most sought-after man in red is taking letters for the next several weeks. So, take out your notepad, your Christmas wish list and mail it to Santa.

Letters received by the deadline will be answered.

Here's how to do it:

U.S. Postal Service's Operation Santa

One of the best ways to reach Santa is through the U.S. Postal Service's Operation Santa program. The 111-year old program started accepting letters to Santa on Sept. 18. The final date to mail a letter to Santa is Dec. 11.

The postal service says that letters are accepted from everywhere in the country and that there is no age limit for letter-writers.

"Everyone deserves to experience the magic of the season," the agency says on its website.

Letters written to Santa by local children are received at the U.S. Post Office as a part of Operation Santa on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 in Salem, Oregon.
Letters written to Santa by local children are received at the U.S. Post Office as a part of Operation Santa on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 in Salem, Oregon.

Calling all elves: Operation Santa seeking helpers to open hearts, adopt North Pole letters

Writing to Santa

All letters must include first and last names and a complete return address with the street address, apartment number (if applicable), city, state and ZIP Code.

Letters sent in the regular or business-size envelope must have a first-class mail postage stamp to be able to travel through the postal service's processing systems.

Multiple letters can be put in the same envelope but each letter must include a full name and address. The envelopes might require additional postage, depending on the number of letters.

Parents can also send in letters on behalf of their young children.

A girl drops a letter to Santa in the special North Pole mailbox before the Christmas tree lighting and grant ceremony at Texas Motor Speedway on Dec. 4, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas.
A girl drops a letter to Santa in the special North Pole mailbox before the Christmas tree lighting and grant ceremony at Texas Motor Speedway on Dec. 4, 2018 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Santa's address

Letters to Santa can be sent at the following address:

Santa Claus, 123 Elf Road, North Pole 8888

Letter-writing tips

When writing to Santa, the postal service recommends writing legibly and including specific gift details – like game and book titles, clothes and shoe sizes (include infant, toddler or teen), colors, styles, etc.

The postal service's website also offers templates that can be downloaded and printed – from a “Ho ho ho" letter to a winter bear letter – that can be accessed here.

A sample of a letter received by the United States Postal Service is put on display at a news conference at the James A. Farley Post Office in New York on Dec. 4, 2006 to kick off "Operation Santa Claus". The program was created for the public to come into the post office and help answer some of the thousands of "Dear Santa" letters that arrive every day.

Santa Claus Museum

The Santa Claus Museum in Indiana is also accepting letters from those wishing to hear back from Santa. The tradition has been going on since 1914, said the museum.

To receive a written letter from Santa, mail a letter with a legible return address to:

Santa ClausPO Box 1Santa Claus, IN 47579

The museum says that every letter received by Dec. 16 will receive a response from Santa and his elves.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Letters from Santa: How to correspond with Father Christmas this year