Remember when your parents would ask you to write a letter for Santa – listing all the things you wanted for Christmas? You might have asked for the latest toy maybe… or a new shirt or dress…or maybe even a bicycle with the fancy pedals and bell. Writing a letter to Santa is an exciting activity and  a great opportunity to teach kids the organization of writing a letter and creating lists e.g. where to place the ‘To, From, Address’ etc. For younger children or those with low writing and spelling skills – cut and paste items out of the numerous toy catalogues filling our letter boxes at the moment. You can help them learn new words in a motivating way by labeling the pictures. This is not only a more creative way for your child with special needs to learn but doing it with them is simply going to be one of those nice bonding moments you can look back on and share with them later in life.

Have you ever thought where all those letters might go? ‘Operation Santa’ is an organization run by volunteers who sift through Santa’s letters to find the children in need. In today’s hard economic times some kids want more practical gifts from Santa. Here’s a link to an article in USA Today sharing what some children in need are hoping for under the tree this year.

In Australia ‘Operation Santa’ is run by ‘Uniting Care’ with the help of Target Australia. Those of us that are more fortunate and think our biggest problem is ‘working out what to get our children’ rather than ‘how can we get them anything’ can help this valuable cause by purchasing a gift and donating it by leaving it under the tree at any Target Store in Australia. The ‘Uniting Care’ then collects the gifts and connects it with a child who wrote a letter just like the ones New York Post receives. For more information you can go to UnitingCare.org.au

So once your child has written their Santa letter and you have the valuable list to shop from why not add an extra present and put it under the Target tree… it’s always a nice way to teach your children the value of giving by taking the time to involve them. Why not while showing them how to write a letter share the story from US Today and tell them about ‘Operation Santa’ in your country. So grab those colored, sparkly and shimmery pens, art papers and stickers, it’s time to learn while creating a fun Christmas activity with our children!