Santa is coming to town! The bearded man was here, Nov. 8-11, and now, via magical Photoshop and talented elves in our studio, he can re-appear in any session that continues to take place in our holiday sets!  Which means, we get an early start at the holidays and getting our Christmas wishes known up in the North Pole!  Here are some tips on making the experience great when meeting with our Santa's live, if you'd like to set that up, we are still able to with minimum orders from $400.

1) Let us know in advance how your kid has been doing this year. Santa can get a heads up from you, and help you out with some friendly advice on "staying nice", whether it's praise or a jolly warning.

2) Let us know what they have been dreaming of and asking for, and Santa can let them know he's been listening.  No promises, of course, just that he has been paying attention.

3) Santa's appearance needs to be a bit anticipated and not a shock. Explain that Santa will be there to have fun and play, and that it is always a good time when you visit the jolly man in red.  Show them pictures of how Santa typically looks, red suit, fur, big beard, and talk well in advance about what to expect when they see him in person. Often it is solely the size and magnitude of all that red that can be overwhelming to young eyes.  If your child is sensitive, he can always take off the coat and go with a holiday shirt and suspenders instead.

4) Practice with your kids "telling Santa what you want for Christmas".  A little practice can go a long way, but if they are shy, a list can be the life-saver.  Many a little one has been tongue-tied once seeing the big jolly guy, so if they are prepared with a list in hand, written out for Santa to go over, they won't have any regrets of what they "forgot" to tell Santa.

5) Let kids know it is ok to touch Santa, including his beard!  We will have natural beard Santas on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and they all expect to have their beards examined, just to make sure Santa is real.  

6) Let kids know that the elves and Santa will be giving them directions and to listen carefully.  We are setting up 'scenes' of Christmas to capture on camera, and these scenes will become your very own storybook of Christmas that you can order and keep for generations to come.

Activities that we will do this year are:

Cookie and Gingerbread house making.

Drawing or creation of a gift.

Communicating with the North Pole and sharing the globe/geography lesson.

Decorating the tree.

Sharing a candy cane, cookie, milk, or cocoa.

Sharing a Christmastime story.

Sewing a stocking.

Wrapping a present.

Taking a ride on a toy (fire truck, motorcycle, sled, or other toy brought in).

Going over the naughty/nice list.

Playing a board game.

Writing a note to the North Pole and mailing it.

Each activity takes a couple minutes to complete for a photo, so even 10 min. sessions can sometimes get 2 or 3 activities completed if they are older kids. We recommend more time for younger kids, and more activities if you would like a storybook created.  This year sessions are anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your prepaid package.  Call us for more details and to create your best timeslot.  Phone: 952-890-7640. 

Holiday cheer, make it amazing!

==The Imagery elves.