How Atheist Parents Let Their Children Enjoy Santa Claus

When Sabrina was little, she had a vivid imagination, like most children. (She still does!) We all had a lot of fun pretending, playing games with imaginary creatures and friends. That is a healthy part of learning and growing. Rather than tell Sabrina that the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus were lies, we told her that we were pretending they were real, just like characters in a book or cartoon. She never had to go through the process of unlearning Santa or the Easter Bunny. We figured that this would allow her to have the fun of childhood imagination, not deprived of anything that her friends might have, yet not having to deal with the thought that her parents had deceived her. She “got it” from the very beginning.

Tell the child we are "pretending" there is a Santa Claus and Easter Bunny, let them in on joke so there is nothing to unbelieve.