For hundreds of years, little kids have tried to stay awake at night to catch Santa Claus. These attempts usually end with the children falling asleep and missing him because he is, after all, magic. But what if you could set up your video camera before going to bed and wake up in the morning with a video of him delivering presents? Wouldn’t your kids be amazed?

Well, now you can catch Santa in your house. With The Santa Video, you simply need to upload a picture of your home where Santa will be visiting, select from several available video clips and they make the magic happen. Your kids can wake up Christmas morning and see a video of Santa delivering gifts and eating cookies right in their own home!

It’s easy and only takes a few minutes. But parents should pay attention to the details in the videos so they can make a few preparations before Christmas. For instance, Santa is shown eating chocolate chip cookies in the videos, so you’ll want to be sure you actually leave out chocolate chip cookies rather than another type on Christmas Eve. Very little kids won’t notice this detail, but older ones will. In some of the other clips you can choose, Santa takes a variety of packages out of his bag. Your child will be really amazed if one of their favorite gifts is in a box wrapped like one of the packages shown in the video. (Of course, you can always say the other packages shown in the video were for kids at other houses.)

Your kids will love seeing Santa in your house. And you won’t even need to leave the camcorder running all night!

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This fun video features the song Santa’s Stuck Up in the Chimney, by Paul Evans. Maybe it’s time for Santa to take a hint – it’s time to lay off the milk and cookies.

If you’ve been wondering how to tell your kids about Santa, HubPages author lisa42 has some suggestions.

The mom of two kids recently had to ‘fess up to her son and let him know that Santa Claus as we think of him today is only a myth. But she eased the blow by emphasizing what an amazing impact the historical Saint Nicholas, who lived during the fourth century, has had on millions of people around the world. One man has inspired millions to be generous and kind for centuries.

The article offers the following advice for talking to your kids about Santa Claus:

Make sure they’re ready to know the truth – The first time my son asked about Santa, I responded by saying, “What do you think?” At that point, he was still a firm believer, so I waited until he asked again and showed signs of disbelief to explain the entire story. If your child is still on the fence and you want to keep the magic alive as long as possible, you can also check out some ways to keep your child believing in Santa.

1) Tell your child about Saint Nicholas – Let your child know that the real Santa was a man who lived long ago, but he was so kind and generous to others, especially children, that we still follow his example.

2) Talk about the meaning of Christmas – Both Santa Claus and Jesus Christ offer many lessons during the holiday season, so you can use either or both, depending on your religion, to remind your child of the meaning behind Christmas

3) Make them feel honored to keep the secret – Safeguarding Santa’s secret is an important task that is only entrusted to those who are old enough to understand the importance of keeping the secret from littler children.

You can read the full article on HubPages for more thoughts on how to tell your child about Santa Claus.

Just as Santa knows what every girl and boy wants for Christmas and brings different gifts for different kids, he also knows that a letter from Santa Claus is a special gift where a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work. That’s why there are a variety of companies available on the web to make sure you get the Santa letter that’s perfect for your child. Here are three of the best Santa letter sites, all of which offer something special that you won’t find at the others.

Best Santa Letter Site If You Like Options (Lots of ‘Em!)

If you’re the kind of person who likes options, then you’ll love Santa’s Official North Pole Mail. With 20 background designs and more than 40 Santa letters to choose from, including the ability to write your own letter, you’ll never have to worry about two kids in your family having letters that are too similar. And if you want to accessorize your letter, they have options for that, too, with an a la carte menu of upgrades such as Santa evidence kits, Nice List certificates, magic snow and other fun stuff.

Best Santa Letter Site For “Over the Top” Extravagance

If you’re willing to spend money on your child’s Santa “letter,” Package from Santa will turn it into a complete package that goes far beyond anything you’ll get from a company that sells plain ol’ letters. Their Platinum Package is a colorful box of goodies that will impress any child. Inside the box your child will discover magic North Pole snow, an autographed photo of Santa, a sugar cookie from Mrs. Claus in a gift tin, a letter from Rudolph, a personalized Nice List certificate, a Santa Claus window decal, a piece of St. Nick’s suit, magic reindeer food in a tin and, last but not least, a personalized Santa letter. They also include a free video greeting from Santa.

Best Santa Letter Site for Printable Variety

This is a great site for Do-it-Yourself-ers. Rather than just offering the standard printable letter from Santa Claus, as most sites offering print-at-home letters do, Printable Santa Letters.com goes the extra mile and allows you to print extras such as a Nice List certificate, an autographed photo of Santa Claus, and a personalized letter from Rudolph, as well as the standard personalized letter and envelope. They also give you plenty of options for the type of letter you want to send. You can select from eight different letter options, including special letters for baby’s first Christmas and a child’s first year in kindergarten, as well as six background designs, including a Christian theme that goes well with the Christian letter option.

All of these sites offer something that qualifies them as the “best Santa letter sites” for someone’s needs, and all of them can also be considered the best Santa letter sites for another reason – they will all bring a smile to your child’s face.

Adapted with permission from Best Santa Letter Sites by Type

Having one of Santa Claus’ “scout” elves visit during the Christmas season has become a popular Christmas tradition for many families since Elf on the Shelf was published in 2005. Since then, the children’s story written by Carol Aebersold and her daughters, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts, has sold more than 2 million copies. Now kids who love the story of these special elves who help Santa knows who’s naughty and who’s nice can get a chance to see a special movie featuring the special elves.

“Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story” will be aired on CBS on November 25, 2011 and “An Elf’s Story” DVD will go on sale the next day. The 23-minute special will be broadcast on November 25, and the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the special will be available the next day. According to the official Elf on the Shelf and CBS websites, “The Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story” will star Chippey, one of Santa Claus’ scout elves. Chippey’s job is to visit little kids and report to Santa Claus on their behavior so St. Nick knows who has been naughty and who has been nice. Chippey is assigned to a family with a young boy named Taylor McTuttle. The CBS press release says Taylor “struggles to believe in the magic of Christmas.” Chippey’s job is not only to report on the boy’s behavior, but to restore his faith in Christmas magic, too. But when Taylor breaks the rules, Chippey loses his magic powers.

The Elf on the Shelf website says that what happens then is “through the power of love and forgiveness, both of them learn that true belief cannot be taught.” CBS says the special carries the “timeless message that Christmas is something we carry in our hearts.”

Look for Elf on the Shelf: An Elf’s Story on CBS later this year!

As Christmas approaches every year, children work extra hard to make sure they’re on Santa’s Nice List. The fear of finding coal in your stocking rather than great toys and gifts under the Christmas tree is enough to keep most kids on their best behavior. Hopefully, that behavior continues after the holidays, and one great way to both recognize good behavior and encourage it all year long is to make sure your kids know they’re on Santa’s Nice List.

Here are some ways to show your kids that their good behavior has paid off.

The easiest way to let your children know they’ve made it to Santa’s Nice List is to send a personalized letter from Santa Claus with a Nice List certificate enclosed. You can get Nice List certificates from most companies selling Santa letters, or you can save money by creating your own printable Santa letters and Santa’s Nice List certificate at home. Creating your own personalized letters from Santa Claus ensures that St. Nick will say exactly the right things. It also gives you control over when and how Santa’s letter arrives.

Another way to make sure your children know they’ve made it to Santa’s Nice List is to send a free Santa message video in which Santa shows who is on his Nice List. You can can create a free video from Santa at Portable North Pole.

You can also surprise your kids with their own personalized Santa’s Nice List Christmas tree ornaments from Zazzle. Santa loves to leave these special ornaments on Christmas morning when he delivers all the other gifts for good girls and boys.

Kids will love getting these extra goodies from Santa. They remind your kids that Santa always knows when they’ve been bad or good, so hopefully they’ll continue to be good, for goodness sake.