What Age Do Kids Stop Believing in Santa?

I love the Santa Claus Movie.... " Seeing is not believing, Believing is Seeing"
Shall I say more ? I think that movie answers a lot of questions for us parents as kids have them. My kids 8,12 believe and enjoy the IDEA of it all.
We too center more on Christ, but it is fun to possibly dream that there is actually a place where this toy thing takes place.

My son is 4 and has been seeking confirmation that Santa is pretend for the past 4-5 months. The magic of childhood? Not with this linear thinker! Luckily he finds joy and magic in things like science! :D

My kids are 6 and 7, and they stopped believing last month. My son asked me in the car with his brother right there if Santa was real. He said the kids at school told him that that he was not and that mom and dad buy the gifts. I was fine playing the game of Santa, but when asked point blank about something I will never lie to my children, so I told them that Santa was just a symbol of the magic of the season, and that yes, mom and dad buy the gifts. They did not think anything of it, and are still telling me "this is what I am going to ask Santa for!"

Mine are 11,9 and 5 and they still believe. Our oldest has questioned it for a while but we are believers...and want to keep it magical as long as we can until he really "gets it" but even then he will keep believing. Believers get gifts in our home! We are trying our best to keep the magic going in our home...even if there is a wink, wink between us someday.

We are even having a friend come over in his Santa suit at midnight to put out the gifts so the kids can "catch" Santa in the act on video.

Santa is a just a small part of the holiday season for our family. We really focus on serving others and the birth of our Savior and fun family time. But Santa is a lot of fun and we keep the magic alive!

Good luck and best wishes!!

My daughter was 6 when she asked me. I had read somewhere that if your kids are asking they've probably already figured it out so I didn't want to lie about it. We had a great discussion about why we give gifts in the first place and how good it feels to see the joy on someone's face when they receive a gift. She is excited about being the Santa for her siblings this year and seeing the joy on their faces when they run out Christmas morning.

I'm sure both of my kids have stopped believing, they are 11 & 14, but neither will fess up b/c they don't want to stop getting presents - cracks me up!!!! Although, I never did either, still haven't. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree :)

My daughter is 16 and of course she does not still believe but you bet she checks her stocking every Christmas morning!!

I am not sure when she stopped believing, she won't admit it. LOL, I guess she thinks her stocking will not get filled and her present will not be displayed for her.

She never would take a picture with Santa after 5 yrs old.

My kids are 6 and 9, and as far as I know, they still believe. Of course, neither one of them is stupid, and I've always said, "Santa only visits children who believe in him!" - so if they don't believe, they're not telling! :)

My daughter is in her first year of college...Santa still comes to my home for her, my ex-husband, my pets and me I guess.

Me, being the super sleuth, figured it out by 5 by the writing on the tags. My daughter loves playing along for her younger cousins (she's the oldest}.

My kids are 8,10 and 12 and though they have each come home saying that a classmate told them otherwise, they still believe or at least they pretend to ;). I wont ever tell them different. Even the adults at our house get presents from Santa. I remember a few years back after my nephew was born sitting around with my mom and brother a few days before Christmas and asking my brother what Santa was bringing my nephew for his first Christmas and his reply was how am I suppose to know?....for a minute we all thought he was serious lol.

I was 6 when some mean boy ruined it for me and I went home upset.

My kids still believe at 6 and 7.

=)

When they heard me in the living room in the middle of the night :(

I remember it well -- my daughter was in 3rd grade. I was surprised it took that long.

This is not silly. My kids were about 9 or 10 and they figured it out for themselves. But really we all still believe.

Depends on the child, and when they're ready to stop believing. I don't remember when our older child stopped... probably around 7 or so.
But my younger one.... 13! I kid you not. And the kicker is, from the time she was a baby we taught her about St. Nicholas, and the way people keep his memory and spirit alive by giving gifts and celebrating "Santa Claus." But she needed to believe in Santa, so she did.

My kids are 5 and 9.
They still believe.
Despite what other kids say.

My 12 yo dtr last year asked me after her classmates said the parents buy the gifts. I asked her what she thought? She said she thinks there is a Santa, so then I said, well, then as long as you believe, there is one. That was the end of that. Now this last week she said straight out, "mom, I know the santa secret, but its ok, I won't tell J and M" (Her siblings). And she is writing out her santa letter with her little brother. =)

My 9 yr old says she believes, but I think she really knows. My 6 yr old has been asking me every day if Santa is real. I ask him what he thinks. He says yes, but with a non-committal tone. My 2 yr old only has an inkling about what it all means this year. I hope the other to don't ruin it for him too soon.

I will tell you how old I was - 6. This was approximately 1970 and the Sunday School teacher at church said "Now, I know that all of you know that Santa Claus isn't real but that wouldn't be nice to tell your younger brothers and sisters." I was crushed. I've rarely seen my mom so hopping mad as she was that day!

My son was 10 when he stopped.

3rd grade.. 8 years old. Me, my husband and our daughter..

I told my daughter at age 8. Because she is very sensitive to trust and social issues, I wanted her to find out from me rather than learn it from school... or worse, have someone at school mock her for believing. I told her I had a big secret that she was old enough to be in on. She was delighted. And now she still smiles and winks at me whenever we talk about Santa around other kids.

My younger daughter is age 6, and is less sensitive. I will probably let her find out naturally whenever that comes.

I think my daughter was 6. A boy in her first grade class said "it's your parents" every day at school. She had questioned us before that, but after that, she TOLD me it was us. But then she backtracked into a question because I think she didn't want to stop getting "Santa" presents, lol.

We still "do" Santa, but this will probably be the last year. They quit sending Santa letters a long time ago (They are 10 and 13). But it is fun to buy different wrapping paper they've never seen and put "Santa" gifts in different paper from everything else, and put surprises in their stockings. Even the dog gets things from Santa in her stocking! And if Gram is here, Gram gets stuff in her stocking! It's just fun.
Much like my own childhood, we've never outright discussed it point blank. But I am sure they know.

I believe I was 10 or 11 when I figured it out on my own. I don't remember anyone telling me at school. But my family's motto is "if you don't believe, you don't receive". My parents did the "santa" thing until we moved out of the house. My daughter is 6 (1st grade) and I hope that no one spoils it for her! The elf on the shelf helps (we actually bought another elf, not the "original" elf on the shelf). I also bought the "elf package" from mamapedia and hope that reinforces the idea to her. If you are on pinterest, there is a pin about how to discuss this with your child when the time comes. Hope this helps you and I hope everything works out for your little one!

Mine still believed til we told them after they turned 11. They were getting teased by other kids because they still believed. It was a bit sad telling them.
Over the years there were times I thought they have figured it out but then they would show through other ways that they did still believe. My youngest just learned this year and he said that he would still believe in the reason even if the person wasn't real.

Well, I'm a first grade teacher and each year it varies on how many children believe in Santa. Some years, almost all of them believe. Other years, only a handful still believe. I always tell my students that if they know something about Santa, they should keep it to themselves.

I, myself, was in 2nd grade when my brother and I were in my moms closet and found all the gifts. We decided to pretend like we didn't know. To this day, my mom still puts gifts under the tree from Santa.

Hi K.-
I sent you a PM in regards to the mixed-grade classroom. Hope to hear back fro you soon. :)
Thanks!