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A little reason to celebrate

Santa's List Day

Seasonal · Fun · December 4

Santa's List Day is about the famous list of who has been naughty or nice, and the lists, letters and wishes that come with the holiday season.

Santa's List Day falls on Friday, December 4, 2026. That is 38 days away.

Somewhere in the folklore of the season sits a list. Santa Claus, the story goes, keeps track of every child and sorts them into naughty or nice, then checks the list twice to be sure. Santa's List Day gives that list its own moment.

The idea is older than most of the songs that mention it, and it has a pleasing practicality. A gift giver with a long night of deliveries ahead would want things organized. Children, for their part, keep lists of their own, writing out what they hope to find under the tree and mailing letters addressed to the North Pole.

Families mark the day in simple ways. Kids write or draw their wish lists, and parents tuck them away for later. Some households use it as a check-in on kindness, talking about good deeds from the year or planning a few more before the holidays. Adults often borrow the spirit too, writing gift lists for friends and relatives so nobody is forgotten.

The list itself has become a familiar image: a scroll long enough to unroll across a workshop floor, written in careful script, with a quill nearby. Plenty of children have tried to picture where their own name falls on it.

A list made with care is useful long after the season ends. Old letters to Santa, saved in a drawer, turn into some of the most cherished keepsakes a family has, misspellings and all.

Ways to celebrate

• Help a child write or draw a letter to Santa.
• Make a gift list for friends and family.
• Write down a few kind deeds to do this season.
• Save this year's wish list in a keepsake box.

Dates

All national days on December 4

Also on December 4

• National Cookie Day
• National Dice Day
• National Sock Day
• Wear Brown Shoes Day

Categories: Seasonal daysFun days