Santa’s workshop was first placed at the North Pole by an 1800s American cartoonist named Thomas Nast, who drew Santa for a magazine and needed a home for him. He envisioned a winter wonderland that never melted, somewhere no one could visit and prove otherwise.
I see a deeper, symbolic reason that choice stuck. Santa sits at the top of the world because he represents the highest part of ourselves, and just as the North Pole holds an invisible magnetic pull, Santa’s spirit pulls at something inside every one of us, century after century, quietly tugging us toward generosity and compassion.
That workshop was never really hidden at the top of the world. It’s a symbol for the Christmas season activating our highest self, when we feel inexplicable, unseen forces pulling us to give without expecting thanks or anything in return. When we check our list twice to make sure we’ve gotten a gift for everyone, when we draw and write handmade cards, craft homemade gifts, or search for the perfect item to bring someone joy, Santa’s workshop is alive and well.
Santa’s workshop comes alive wherever people devote their time, creativity, and hard work to crafting joy. That workshop lives within everyone, including you. You can use your own heart and imagination to secretly bring joy, make dreams come true, and give simply for the joy of giving.
I want children to remember this:
“Magic doesn’t happen to you. It happens through you.”
That’s the whole point of my newest book, The True Story of Santa Claus. None of the seemingly random details surrounding Christmas and Santa are arbitrary, and none of it is baseless. Like the best oral traditions, passed down from generation to generation, it is history, wrapped in wonder.
Every detail was once someone’s choice, an artist, a storyteller, a tradition keeper, adding one more piece to a story that was centuries old, a story meant to inspire children to be generous and kind, but somewhere along the way got pulled toward commercialism and consumerism instead.
Next up: why does Santa wear a red robe and hat?
A free way to start the conversation now
You don't need the book or to be ready to answer the question yet to start teaching your kids that they have the power to create magic, miracles, and joy for others. I made a free companion printable, the Miracle Maker, that walks kids through the same idea in the book: Magic doesn't happen to you, it happens through you.
It includes:
A page where your child plans their own "Secret Miracle": who they'll help, what they'll do, and how they'll keep it a secret
Conversation starters for grown ups and kids to brainstorm ideas together
A list of trusted, kid safe places to send cards, grant a child's Christmas wish, or give to a charitable cause
A Miracle Log and an official Miracle Maker certificate
Print it out, grab your kids, and let them decide how they'll make an ordinary day extraordinary for someone else. That's how Santa’s spirits continues to be real. That’s how his miracles and generosity have continued and will continue for millennia. Not because we tell kids to believe, but because we show them how to become the reason someone else does.