Tasked with writing a profile of one of the world’s most famous people, it would have been easy to phone up any number of scholars or professors to find out exactly who Santa Claus is.
But when profiling someone, why not talk to the people who love that person most? In the case of Santa, that means children.
The students in Mrs. Yakimik and Mrs. Anderson’s Grade 1 class at Keenooshayo Elementary School are very excited for Christmas. On the day they were interviewed – Thursday, Dec. 6 – Sinterklaas had paid a visit before they got to school, leaving candy in their shoes.
They have all learned quite a bit about Santa and did not hesitate to share what they know. In groups of three, the students sat down and, without reservation, gave the real scoop about one of their favourite people in the whole world.
Who is Santa?
There was consensus among all on the basics of Santa’s identity – he brings presents to people at Christmas. But some of the details varied from person to person.
William: He’s this guy with a hat and he wears red and white that’s very furry and he rides a sleigh and the reindeer pull it and in the sleigh there’s a whole bunch of presents.
Lana: He’s really fat and has a big beard.
Katie: Santa Claus is Mrs. Claus’ husband.
Kiera: He’s a person who really likes to give gifts to people to show how good it is to give, probably.
Where does Santa get the presents?
Again, almost every single student agreed Santa has elves that somehow help him in assembling presents. But there are a few grey areas.
William: He steals things from stores but he’s not a robber.
Arianna: He doesn’t go to stores. He doesn’t rob anything.
William: But then how does he get the metal and all that stuff? Maybe he comes down to Earth when people are sleeping and maybe he just has this potion that makes him a human and a voice like a human and he buys stuff.
Keira: Santa tells the elves to make the presents and to put the labels on them. Like the labels, “From Santa, To Kiera.”
Madalyn: I thought he did that.
Keira: No, it would take way too long.
How does Santa deliver the presents?
There is a sleigh and there are reindeer that pull it. Santa also puts all the presents in a sack. How the reindeer fly, how big the sack is and sleigh alternatives, however, are open to interpretation.
Isaac: For the reindeer to fly, in the back trunk, they have some yellow sparkly stuff. I learned that from Madagascar 2.
Arianna: He has magic flying reindeer. They use this magic dust, this yellow dust. It’s in his sleigh.
Lana: He puts (the dust) on the reindeer so they can fly.
Keira: The reindeer help fly the sleigh. They can fly the sleigh because they believe in Christmas spirit.
Channing: I think Santa might, sometimes, if the sleigh is dropped, he might ride in a space ship. A jet space ship.
Elise: The chimney is so small, so how would Santa get in, I wonder? I think he’s magic.
Davis: I think he uses his magic to go in the house instead of a door or chimney.
Elise: But he’s a human. How would he be magic if he’s human?
Davis: Maybe he gets it from the snow. Snow is a little bit magical.
How does Santa know what to bring people at Christmas?
There is no agreement here. Different children believe Santa has different ways of finding out what you want.
Grace: When we say what we want, he can hear probably.
Christopher: There’s a special thing that when they are sleeping he has a special hand that goes up and takes all the dreams.
Lana: The elves have glasses and they can look in your list wherever it is.
Katie: We go to the mall and tell him.
Maren: He can just hear us from way over there or over there.
Katie: No, he can just see with his own eyes like God. God’s a wizard.
Keira: Because he can see us and we probably ask for our mom to bring us stuff and then Santa might bring us stuff and he probably sees our mom wrapping it and if he sees none of our gifts are that one, he brings the gift.
How does Santa know if you’ve been good or bad?
Each child has his or her own ideas about how Santa knows whether they have been naughty or nice.
Channing: He has a special chronometer and they can tell kids are being good or bad.
Christopher: He has a telescope that sees every single kid and watches the kid and sees how they’re doing.
Lana: He has this big bucket and he has a little picture of every kid and he puts it in this big tip thing and it tips which way they are, good or bad.
William: He has super vision and he can see if kids are bad or not.
Isaac: He knows because the person, I think, turns out on the naughty list or good list.
Katie: He has a telescope that can go from the sky to the bottom. But he doesn’t live in the sky. He lives across the ocean.
Keira: Probably cameras.
Madalyn: I think he has a humongous globe and he looks down.
Arianna: He left me a note saying I was very good and he left one for my brother saying he was very bad because he kicked me in the eye.
How old is Santa?
There is so little agreement on this point, individual responses can’t be listed. Santa, according to the students, is anywhere from one to “50-hundred.” The average age range, however, appears to be between 70 and 500 hundred years old.
Where does Santa live?
Without reservation, every child answered “the North Pole.” Where that is and what it’s like are still a little fuzzy.
Madalyn: There’s not very many grocery stores there. It’s at the top of the world or the bottom of the world.
Keira: The top, I’m guessing, because he flies down.
Channing: It’s snowy and it’s on top of the north pole. I mean Antarctica. It’s on top of Antarctica.
Lana: It’s the top, not the bottom of the world. If he lived on the bottom he’d be walking upside down.
Isaac: The north pole is a very far place on Earth. It has some penguins and polar bears.
Maren: His house is like a little cottage made out of wood so it’s a wooden door and then there’s a small wooden chimney with smoke coming out of it.
Is Santa a person like you and me?
Yes, Santa is a person — none used the expression “jolly old elf” to describe him. But he’s a little different from the rest of us, children think.
Dylan: Yes, but fatter.
Grace: And there’s Mrs. Claus. If Santa is sick, she would take over for Santa. And she would take care of Santa and make him drink tea.
Christopher: And if Mrs. Claus was sick, Santa would do all that.
William: He’s a magic person.
Lana: He’s not a wizard though.
Davis: The elves are probably just kids.
Does Santa have a mom and dad?
This question required some thought and discussion, but generally, the logic follows that Santa would have to have parents. He has other relations as well.
Elise: I think he does have a mom and dad because everyone has a mom and dad.
Channing: There’s only one Santa in the world.
Christopher: There will be another if he has a baby. But there’s also a thing called Mrs. Claus.
Maren: He lives with Mrs. Claus and the elves because the elves are his children.
Davis: I think Mrs. Claus is Santa’s mom.
Dylan: I think she died, his mom.
Keira: Everyone has to have a mom and dad.
Madalyn: Not God. I have no idea if he does or not.
