How to Explain Santa Claus to Christian Children

As Christians, we teach our children that Christmas Day is the birth of Jesus and that is why we celebrate. The world has slowly integrated Santa Claus as a compliment to Christmas, making him the focus of their celebration. Unfortunately, we have become offended by this invasion of the truth, and we often take a stand against Santa Claus. Since this is a very controversial issue in our world that can affect our children, we need to understand who Santa Claus is and put him in his proper perspective in our children’s lives. We need to do this so that our children aren’t persecuted in their schools as they take a stance that they don’t understand, against a character that is no threat to anyone.

Here are a few suggestions on how to keep Jesus as the center of Christmas without totally tossing out Santa.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

How to Explain Santa Claus to A Christian Child

1. Teach your children that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, and that He is the only reason that we celebrate Christmas.

2. Keep the decorations in your home all focused around Jesus.

3. Let your home be filled with all the inspiring Christmas songs that give praise and honor to Jesus, but let there be "fun" songs that the children can enjoy as well.

4. Teach your children the truth about Santa Claus, so that they can know who he was and where he belongs in the Christmas Celebration.

Tips & Warnings

• We need to understand some facts about Santa Claus.
• He is also known as Saint Nicholas and was born in Patara of Lycia around the middle of the third century. His parents were very wealthy, devout Christians who provided him with a Christian upbringing and education. Unfortunately, he was orphaned at an early age.
• When he grew up, he was ordained a priest, and eventually became the Bishop of his district, being known as the Bishop of Myra of Lycia. He was appointed “Saint” Nicholas, a man of great faith, who was known for his struggle in the name of Orthodoxy and for his charity and love for children. He used his great wealth to help all who were in need, including poor families, widows and especially orphans and poor children. As Bishop, he founded a poorhouse, many hostelries and a hospital.
• He became the epitome of Christian love and affection, honored by Christians around the world and considered to be the great patron Saint of children and the cheerful giver of gifts. His intention was only to help people and spread the love of the Lord, and this was his mission for most of his adult life. It was never to put himself on an equal or higher pedestal than Jesus. The world did that by changing the man into a myth.
• When we share with our children the love that Saint Nicholas had for God’s children many years ago and what he did to bless them, our children will see that Christ is still the focus of our celebration and that Santa Claus was actually a man who was on a mission to bless God’s children.
• Unfortunately, over the years the reality of this giving person was transformed into a magical character that has now become the theme for the world's Christmas. But for Christians, we know him as a person who gave everything he had to make life a bit easier to so many people. And his life is a testimony that we should pass on to our children, thus giving Santa Claus the right perspective at Christmas.

[Cloey]

on 12/9/2008 This comment is directed to "thecoop" who, from what I understand, believes that you should explain Santa by making references to the Holy Spirit. When you are dealing with children, you need to come down to their level of understanding and not expect them to see things from a mature, adult point of view.

Children cannot see the Holy Spirit - although He is very real. They see the physical Santa in the department stores and in parades at Christmas. To them, he is real.

So, what parents need to do is teach their children from the very beginning that he is a representative of the original Santa who was a man given the title of saint because of the sacrifices he made every year to give material needs and hope to the many poor people around him. We need to teach the children that "Santa" did what Jesus would want him to do and that is help the unfortunate and share with those t

[thecoop]

on 12/7/2008 i love how people get on their high horse about "lying to kids".

should we tell them..."i don't want to lie to you, mommy and daddy only have a 50% chance of staying together since 50% of all marriages end in divorce?" of course not...reality is tied to your age and the perception of the world you have at that time. sharing too much "reality" at an early age can sometimes have the opposite effect of what you're hoping for..."sorry Jimmy, but as a 5 year old you have 13 years until your risk of being involved in a tragic accident starts to decrease...I'm only telling you this because I don't want to LIE to you..."

there are better explanations to Santa, that maintain some of the magic and miracle of Christmas that children light up to...

make references to the Holy Spirit in explaining Santa Claus...he is something you may never REALLY see, but his impact is there and real...an

[Cloey]

on 2/13/2008 In response to darthindy’s comment about lying to kids about Santa Clause, this article, How to, Explain Santa Clause to a Christian Child, does not suggest that. It does not suggest that you give gifts to children and say they’re from Santa. It says that since you cannot avoid Santa at Christmas, we shouldn’t confuse children by saying he’s not real because it’s obvious to them that he is real because he’s right there. The article says that you should explain who he is and what he has to do with Christmas, and all emphasis should be on the day being Jesus’ birthday with the gifts we give to the children being symbolic of giving them to Him.

[darthindy]

on 2/12/2008 Or... how about not use Santa at all, so as to avoid lying to the kids? It is entirely possible to give presents without saying they came from a fat guy in a red suit.