How to call Santa Claus: a parent's guide

A call from Santa is one of the few Christmas traditions that costs almost nothing and lands enormously. It's also easy to get slightly wrong. Here's how to set one up so your child believes it.

Do the setup before they're in the room

This is the single biggest thing. Enter your child's name and details beforehand, check your volume, and make sure your phone isn't about to show a notification from the app itself. Nothing ends the magic faster than a seven-year-old watching you type their name into something called a Santa app.

Choose the moment carefully

Quiet beats exciting. Bedtime, the car on the way home in the dark, or an evening with the lights on the tree all work far better than a room full of relatives. Santa needs to be clearly audible, and your child needs a second to process what's happening.

Timing across December matters too. Early December, while anticipation is building, tends to land better than Christmas Eve itself, when children are already overstimulated and everything is competing for attention.

Let them lead the conversation

Resist the urge to prompt. Children ask Santa strange, wonderful things — about the reindeer's names, about whether he gets tired, about a friend who moved away. The call is better when you let it go where they take it. If they freeze up, that's fine too; plenty of children go completely silent and are thrilled afterwards.

If you'd like a few prompts ready for a shy child, we've collected some in what to ask Santa on the phone.

Keep it short

Two or three minutes is plenty. A short call that ends while they're still delighted is remembered far more fondly than a long one that drifts. Let Santa say goodbye before the energy drops.

What to expect afterwards

Expect questions. Many children want to call again immediately, and some will want to tell every adult they know. A few will go quiet and think about it for a day. All of that is normal.

Common mistakes

• Doing it as a surprise with no setup. Fumbling with the app in front of them kills it.
• Choosing a noisy moment. If they can't hear Santa clearly, they get confused rather than excited.
• Letting it run too long. Stop while it's still magic.
• Filming it from the start. A phone pointed at their face makes children perform instead of react. Record if you want, but be discreet.