How To Send A Letter To Santa Claus: Best Ways To Get Christmas Mail To And From The North Pole

Paper? Check. Pen? Yep. Sugarplums dancing in your head? Got 'em. Sounds like you're ready to write a letter to Santa Claus. Some organizations let you email Santa, receive a letter from him, get a video response and check if you're on the nice list. But be careful -- you need a more specific address than "Santa Claus, North Pole, Alaska" if you want to get your mail to the big man. Below are the best ways to contact Kris Kringle (parents only beyond this point):

Write him a physical letter. Feeling old-fashioned? The U.S. Postal Service launched Letters to Santa earlier this month. The volunteer program enlists people, businesses and charities to answer kids' letters addressed for Santa Claus and other winter characters, according to a news release. “What better way to celebrate the season than to help Santa and his elves read the thousands and thousands of letters we have on hand?” New York district manager William Schnaars said. Operation Santa in New York City alone responds to more than 500,000 letters a year. If you're looking for Santa stationery, freelettersfromsantaclaus.com and bighugelabs.com allows users to personalize and print letters from the North Pole.

Send Santa an email. If you visit aletter4santa.com, you can get an instant reply from jolly old Saint Nick. He'll write back immediately with Comic Sans and clipart, and he'll sign off with a reminder for kids to brush their teeth and do their chores. You can even check to see if you've made his nice list. Or, for procrastinators, Saintnick.org will shoot you back an email from Santa Claus wondering why it took you so long to write him. He'll tell you a few facts about Christmas -- such as that he has only 31 hours total to work with due to the Earth's rotation -- and complain about cleaning up Rudolph's drool.

Get a video response. Emailsanta.com has a form you can fill out with your age and Christmas wishes. Wait a few minutes for your letter to reach the North Pole -- it's pretty far away, after all -- and then Santa will appear on your screen. In a video, he'll comment on whether you've been naughty or nice before he does some exercises to stay limber for Christmas Eve. At the end, a letter from 1 Rudolph Way will pop up and summarize what Santa said.