Using your computer and even your mobile phone, there are a few websites that offer free technological gifts to children (and adults) in the form of videos, phone calls, and letters that involve Christmas and Santa.
The youngest – those who still believe in Santa – are thrilled to get a personalized message from the Chief Elf, and if you have basic computer knowledge, personalizing the message is a simple task of uploading a photo from your computer or typing the child’s name into a box.
While many have limits regarding the number of messages that can be sent, with the obvious hook of getting you to pay for a “premium” upgrade, some offer unlimited use of their free versions. Here are a few of the better ones.
Videos:
Portable North Pole – Offers unlimited free videos in both children and adult versions. Personalized with the senders relationship, recipients name, and photos, Santa offers the message assembled from drop down menus during your creation. Children’s versions are approximately 2 1/2 minutes and adult versions are about 1 1/2 minutes, with adult versions offering comedic observations from Santa, such as farting in bed, cursing too much, and others.
Upon visiting the website, you are prompted to answer a series of questions about your child. Boy or girl? Naughty or nice? And then more detailed questions like how old the child is, what the most requested Christmas gift is and if he or she is working on something in particular, like eating vegetables or stopping thumb sucking. After the questions are answered, a fantastic video is ready that includes a very realistic vision of Santa at the North Pole talking directly to your child about his visit, how the child has been this year and if they’ve made the naughty or nice list.
There are elves and everything you’d think would be at the North Pole on display in this video. The audio and visual accompaniments are very high quality. Both the children and adult versions can be sent via email or posted on Facebook, where the link will deliver you to the video.
Phone:
Call From Santa – ChristmasDialer.com offers a free phone call from Santa to a phone number you designate. Offering different message options it will inform you what number will show on your phone when the call is made (which is almost immediately). Though it stated only 1 free message is allowed, I found that using a proxy server allowed me to place additional calls.
One message may benefit parents. Santa tells the child (who presumably answers the phone) that he has to go to sleep, if Santa is to visit his home that evening.
The paid premium offer may be worth the reasonable cost in this instance. It allows you to schedule the multiple calls and you can purchase credits for the calls, anywhere from $1 for 1 call, to $12 for 25 calls. Credits can be used on their other sites, including a Birthday Dialer.
Leave a message for Santa – Dial 951-262-3062 from your own phone and your child will hear a generic recorded message from “Santa’s Hotline” in The North Pole. The child will be offered the opportunity to leave their own message for Santa, when he is finished talking to them. As if by a Christmas Miracle, you are routed to The North Pole through Riverside, California, so long distance rates may apply.
Letters:
NoellaDesigns.com – Though nobody offers to actually mail your child a letter from Santa for free, there are a number of websites that offer templates of letters you can insert information into and then print the letter yourself. You just have to watch for the ads that are designed to get you to click on them. These ads reside on their pages (they often say, “Download”) in positions that make you think clicking them is part of the process to print your letter from Santa.
One fairly easy template to work with, with a number of nice designs is offered from NoellaDesigns.com. Here too, though, be aware that “download” and similar ads appear on the pages. Ignore them. Scroll down their landing page a little to find the templates.
Simply pick the design of the letter you want. The letter will enlarge and you will be able to edit all or any of the wording in the letter by simply clicking and dragging your pointer within the letter. Once completed to your satisfaction, the letter can be printed using the printer icon on your computer.
A little Christmas entertainment for you:
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
