Parents resort to magic to explain Santa's Christmas entrance

How do you explain to young children that Santa Claus is coming down the chimney to deliver their presents when you don’t have one? The answer is to explain it away as ‘magic’, according to a survey carried out by FindaProperty.com.

In today’s world of under floor heating and eco-radiators, 40% of British households do not have a chimney so parents have to be creative when explaining how he gets in to fill the family stockings. More than half (54%) of the 740 parents surveyed said they would tell their Santa-savvy children that it's magic to prevent further probing questions.

Other popular explanations were through the window (13%), front door (11%) and back door (10%), with one parent admitting they simply pretend they do have a chimney!

Nigel Lewis, FindaProperty.com’s Property Expert commented:

“Christmas would not be Christmas without the image of Santa Claus haring across the country on his sleigh, sliding down chimneys to deliver gifts. While this image may have been plausible before the days of central heating, today it is a very different story. A number of families now live in homes without a chimney or working fireplace so parents have to be creative when explaining how Father Christmas manages to get to his mince pies and sherry – never mind how he manages to visit the UK’s 21 million households in 24 hours.”