The Magic of Hiring a Professional Santa for Christmas Photo Shoots As the festive season…
Santa Performance Tips
Our Santa’s are hired to give a child the illusion of pure magic and try to make them feel special. You must treat children maturely, they understand more than you think. You may be booked for a one off visit or booked to work in a grotto so below you will find:-
- Santa etiquette
- How to perform in a grotto
- Suggested Santa stories
- Santa jokes
We hope you find this useful.
Santa Etiquette and Communication
There are a lot of you working in Grottos and sometimes, especially if Children are quiet and shy it can be difficult to think on your feet. So below are some ideas (and please feel free to reply with any you have that work well for you) that may help you overcome those awkward pauses :-
Things to Talk About
• Ask them what they want for Christmas, then be careful not to commit in case you provide a false hope. Example if a parent is there when child says ‘I’d like a 3DS’, then say something like ‘The Elves haven’t finished everything yet, so I’m not sure; and try to glance at said parent. With luck they’ll give you a quick shake or nod of the head, and which point you can add ‘I’ll see what I can do.’ or ‘I don’t know about this year.’ Never fully commit in case you’ve misread the body-language!
• Have a key as a prop tell them you use to open doors when there’s no chimney.
• You can ask the children if they have a real fire in the living room. If they say ‘yes’ ask who lit the fire on Christmas Eve last year. Then make a funny show of telling them because you came down their chimney and got covered in soot.
• Learn all the reindeers names and ask the children how many they know. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen!
Things you must NEVER do :-
– Ask a child to have a photo taken without the permission of the parent/guardian
– Do not ask anything too personal such as ‘where do you live’, etc.
– Never remove your beard if it needs adjusting do it discreetly
– Never let an adult leave you alone with a child
– Never make inappropriate jokes/comments with adults even if there aren’t any children in the room
How to perform Santa in a Grotto
Things to do:
• Assume a majestic, detached, yet benevolent air.
• Occasionally jot notes in a red-velvet-covered notebook (or any note book but needs to look a bit special).
• Make casual references to familiar North Pole characters.
• Remember the children’s names.
• Sit in one spot and let children approach you.
• Occasionally jot notes in a red-velvet-covered notebook (or any note book but needs to look a bit special).
• Make casual references to familiar North Pole characters.
• Remember the children’s names.
• Sit in one spot and let children approach you.
Things not to do:
• Don’t say boring adult stuff like, “Give us a smile” or “Are you shy?”
• Don’t insist kids sit on your lap.
• Don’t touch children who seem fearful or nervous.
• Keep an eye on your beard. A good idea is to have a mirror so you can check it out esEpcially if working in a grotto.
• Avoid alcohol and spicy foods the day before performing as Santa (may want to keep some mints handy too).
• Don’t insist kids sit on your lap.
• Don’t touch children who seem fearful or nervous.
• Keep an eye on your beard. A good idea is to have a mirror so you can check it out esEpcially if working in a grotto.
• Avoid alcohol and spicy foods the day before performing as Santa (may want to keep some mints handy too).
If you are an experienced Santa we are sure you will have your own performance locked down but it is always useful to get some new ideas.
Suggested Santa stories to read to children
The Day the Reindeer Flew Backwards
There once was a Christmas unlike any the North pole and myself had ever seen. It is known as the slow year. For you that don’t know what that means, it was the year when the elves became waaaaaaaay behind their toy-making schedule. It got so bad that a rumour began to spread amongst the villagers in the north pole.
The rumour was that I was going to reschedule Christmas. Can you imagine?
Luckily, this did not happen. The elves managed to get all the toys made in the nick of time. But there’s something else you should know about this day because what happened was very funny. Remember I told you it was known as the slow year? It was also known as the backward flyering reindeer year. That year you have heard of, I can see. Well let me tell you a little bit more about it.
It was the most strangest of sites.
Buddy the Elf, a good personal friend of mine, who saw himself as a bit of an expert in flying my sleigh, was up in the sky with the reindeer practicing his landings, fancy twists and turns and other fun stunts. As you can imagine, just like everyone who drives any kind of vehicle, it takes practice to be good at anything. Flying magical sleighs takes extra practice!
Every year for the Annual North Pole Christmas show, Buddy and the magical reindeer show off their flying skills. This particular year he and the reindeer perform barrel rolls, loop-d-loops, figure eights, and the famous Upside Down Double Nut Roll-A-Way. Very entertaining to watch!
One night, during an extra- long practice session, Buddy accidentally steered the reindeer directly over the Earth’s Magnetic North Pole, which is the top of the world!
After flying through this magnetic zone, the reindeer and Buddy had begun to fly backwards. For the villagers they thought Buddy had trained the reindeer to fly backwards and applauded his amazing skills. It wasn’t until they landed, in backward fashion, and started walking backwards to the reindeer barn that the villagers knew something weird had happened! What made this worse, was that their speech was also backwards! Instead of saying “Hello Santa” they said “Atnas Olleh”. Instead of “Ho, ho, ho” they said “oh, oh, oh!” Can you imagine?!
The North-Pole villagers decided that they needed to figure out how to fix this, and quickly!
The elves tried all kinds of treatments, but nothing worked! The elves were very worried and upset, and they all stopped their work while trying to think of what could be done. This is why they were so behind with making toys!
Luckily, I was there boys and girls, and I knew exactly what to do.
I ran straight to Mrs Claus, my lovely wife, and asked her to whip up a special batch of cookies called the ‘Seikooc Samtsirch Drawkcab’ cookies. Can you guess what that means? It means the ‘Backward Christmas Cookies’. It’s a magical cookie that can help with backwards flyering reindeer.
I gave some to Buddy and the reindeer and within seconds it worked wonderfully and just in time to finish those toys to bring you here today!
That’s right – the year of the backwards flyering reindeer in 2017!!
The Good Children
Long long ago, two little children, (POINT AT TWO CHILDREN) just like you… and you, were sitting by the fire on a cold winter’s night. They were talking about how excited they were for Christmas day. They couldn’t wait to open their presents, eat turkey and play games.
Whilst they were talking, there was a sudden knock at the door and George ran to open it. There, outside in the cold and the darkness, stood a child with no shoes on his feet and all he was wearing was thin, ragged clothes. He was shivering and coughing. He was so cold he could barely speak. Before he even had time to ask if he could come inside and sit by the fire, George and Danielle invited him to join them.
They took the little stranger to their warm seat, gave him a blanket and offered him some hot chocolate and marshmallows, which their friend Ainsley had made them. They spoke for hours and hours, giggled and giggled until it was time for bed. Danielle ran upstairs and made their little friend a bed with fresh sheets and comfy pillows whilst her and George slept on the floor. They knew that he needed comfort more than them. When the clock stroke midnight, there was a bright light that awoke George and Danielle. As they sat up, their new friend was stood by the door. He didn’t look cold anymore, and his clothes were no longer ragged.
He was now surrounded by a bright light. His soft voice said: “I was cold and you took me in. I was hungry, and you fed me. I was tired, and you gave me a place to sleep. I wish to thank you for your kindness with this gift.” Once the light had dimmed, George and Danielle could now see a red suit, with a white furry trim, a big belly and a jolly man. It was me, boys and girls. I was the little boy that they had so kindly taken in. I thanked George and Danielle for their kindness and gave them their gifts and returned to my sleigh to give the other lovely boys and girls gifts.
As you may know children, only good children receive gifts, so I hope you have done something kind this year to someone whether it’s a friend or family member. There is still plenty of time.
Santa Jokes
Where does Santa stay when he’s on holidays?
At a Ho-ho-tel!
At a Ho-ho-tel!
What do you get if you cross Father Christmas with a duck?
A Christmas Quacker!
A Christmas Quacker!
Who delivers presents to dentist offices?
Santa Jaws!
Santa Jaws!
What smells most in a chimney?
Santa’s nose!
Santa’s nose!
What does Santa like to have for breakfast?
Mistle-“toast”!
Mistle-“toast”!
What does Santa use when he goes fishing?
His north pole!
His north pole!
Who delivers Christmas presents to pets?
Why, Santa Paws of course!
Why, Santa Paws of course!
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