In 2019, House Method surveyed more than 4,500 families across the United States, and found the overall average age for no longer believing in Santa Claus is 8.4 years old. (But it varies by state: Kids in Mississippi generally believe until they're 10, while kids in Oregon stop believing at 7.)
"It's not an overnight shift in thinking," says Laura Lamminen, Ph. D., a pediatric psychologist at Children's Health℠, "and there's no set age where children should know the truth about Santa Claus." Dr. Lamminen says each family and each child within that family will be ready to talk about Santa at different ages.
While everyone is different, according to a recent poll by House Method, the average age kids in the United States stop believing in Santa Claus is 8.5 years. So, chances are good that somewhere around then is the right age for your child to learn the true story about Santa Claus.
Most Americans (67%) stopped expecting Santa to shimmy down their chimney by the time they entered seventh grade. Half (49%) of Americans say they stopped believing in Santa before the age of 10 – with a quarter (23%) reporting that they lost sight of him between the ages of seven (10%) and eight (13%).
"There is no such thing as being too old to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy," Kelman tells Yahoo Life. "Letting kids figure it out on their own is preferable to parents breaking the news to them.
There isn't a right or wrong age to tell kids the truth
And it occurs to them that flying reindeer and a guy coming down the chimney might be a little far fetched. So don't be surprised if your child starts asking questions.
While there are many benefits to protecting children's belief in Santa, it's not OK to lie to children about his existence. Most children have a positive reaction to their Santa discovery. Discovering the truth about Santa is part of growing up and a sign that the child is developing critical thinking skills.
Believing in Santa is not only harmless fun, it can actually help children as their brains develop, experts say.
A study published in 1978 in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry found that the number of children believing in Jolly Saint Nick sharply dropped at age 8. At age 4, 85% believed. At age 6, 65% still believed. At age 8, only 25% still believed.
Adults should not lie to children about Santa. When a child asks the question as to whether Santa is real or not, they're already at a developmental stage to distinguish between reality and fictional characters.
While kids may no longer look for reindeer on Christmas Eve, your tween might be ready to embrace the spirit of Santa Claus and spread the joy of giving in their own special way. Helping do so guarantees that in your child's heart, Santa will live forever and that he is, in fact, very real.
It's just morally wrong.
Just because someone is gullible is no reason to lie to them, and children have a right not to be deceived like everyone else. You can make a case for some "white lies" but the Santa lie is not a white lie.
As for when the shift starts to happen, it's different depending on the child, but expect the questioning to get serious somewhere between the ages of 7 and 10.
Once your child stops believing in the man in the big red coat, invite them to be part of the tradition and to play the Santa role. The transition from believing in Santa to being a Santa helps to avoid any issues with sharing the news with other kids who aren't ready to hear it.
What do you call a kid who doesn't believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus.
According to historical records, Santa is real. Santa is real in the sense that he was an actual person. Otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, his story goes all the way back to the 3rd century. He was a monk who was born in 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey.
In a recent article in the Washington Post, the University of Texas at Austin child psychologist Jacqueline D. Woolley said, “There is no evidence that belief, and eventual disbelief in Santa, affects parental trust in any significant way.
And for all intents and purposes, the Elf on the Shelf is real. It's a real doll, after all. The real question is, though, do you think the Elf on the Shelf is real? And I'm here to tell you that, yes, it is.
Santa and his reindeer have wrapped up their Christmas journey for 2022 after delivering more than 7.6 billion gifts, according to NORAD's Santa Tracker. WASHINGTON — Santa Claus has wrapped up his journey this year to deliver presents to homes across the globe.