The Magic Behind the Santa Claus Parade

— a colouring book —

The Magic Behind the Santa Claus Parade

— a colouring book —

Written By: Caroline Coulson

Illustrations By: Zen Rankin

Designed By:

It was a beautiful clear night in the Far North.

Inside a glistening forest of pines and spruce

trees, a small group of northern friends were

gathering to decide what to do on this perfect

night. Arctic Hare, Polar Bear, Snowy Owl and

Caribou looked up at the moon and dreamed of

all the fun they could have tonight. Polar Bear,

the biggest and bravest of the friends, said, “Let’s

go to see what Santa’s up to. It’s getting close to

the start of the Christmas season so he must be

busy!”

Everyone cheered with joy at Polar Bear’s idea.

After all, Santa and his Elves always took the time

to show the animals around the workshop and

give them a sweet treat.

The forest was covered with a thick blanket of

white snow that squeaked and crunched under

foot. Soon the friends spotted the warm lights of

Santa’s Workshop and a flurry of activity inside.

Their hearts skipped a beat with excitement as

they ran to the windows to look inside.

The four friends peered inside the frosted

windows. They could see Santa checking an

enormous list which made Owl exclaim “Gosh,

there must be so many good boys and girls this

year! Santa is going to be so busy!”

They watched as the elves assembled toys, put

pretty dresses on dolls and added the final

puffy stuffing to snuggly teddy bears.

The animals were so mesmerized by the scene

unfolding in Santa’s workshop that they didn’t

even notice someone walk up to them at the

window.

“Ho, ho, ho! Now who are these Arctic friends?”

said Santa.

All four animals jumped up in surprise and

giggled when they realized who it was.

“Hi Santa!” they shouted together. “It was such

a beautiful night that we decided to visit

the workshop!”

Santa invited the four friends into the warm

workshop where the Elves greeted them with

smiles and waves. With mugs of hot chocolate in

their paws, the animals sat down to hear a tale

from Santa.

“Christmas is almost here and that means we are

busy, busy, busy here at the North Pole. Millions

of toys and gifts are being made for good boys

and girls all around the world. And, of course, I’m

checking my list every day to make sure no one

gets missed on the most special night of the year.”

The animals gazed at Santa with love and watched

him go nuzzle and feed the reindeer. Just then,

Caribou noticed a sign on a door at the back of

the workshop. It read “Mrs. Claus at work”.

Caribou asked, “Santa, what’s behind that door?”

Santa chuckled and said “That is the other very

important workshop here at the North Pole. It’s a

secret workshop that few people know about, but

it’s just as important as my toy workshop.”

The friends stared at each other and wondered,

“How could there be a workshop that we don’t

know about?”

They tiptoed over to the door, tapped gently and

waited.

From behind the door came Mrs. Claus’s friendly

voice. “Come in Polar Bear, Snowy Owl, Caribou

and Arctic Hare.” The animals opened the door

slowly and were stunned at the sight before them.

Inside the room, Mrs. Claus wore a beautiful

red dress with fluffy white cuffs and collar. She

stood in front of the biggest chalkboard the

animals had ever seen. The board was covered

with thousands of names, pictures of floats and

photos. Every image and name on the board had

a line that connected it to one very last picture at

the far end of the board. The animals squinted to

see what that image was and, to their delight, it

was a picture of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade!

“Mrs. Claus, we had no idea you helped out with

the Santa Claus Parade! We love the Parade and

watch it every year! Gosh, you must have a lot of

magic up your sleeve to pull off such an amazing

event. After all, millions of children get such joy

from all the clowns, floats, horses, bands and, of

course, Santa Claus and his reindeer!” squealed

Snowy Owl.

Mrs. Claus laughed. “Oh Owl, it is true that I help

out with the Santa Claus Parade but there are

so many other magical people who volunteer

to make this day such a special part of the

Christmas tradition in Toronto.”

“What does ‘volunteer’ mean?” asked Arctic Hare.

“Good question!” said Mrs. Claus. “Volunteering is

when you do something for others without being

paid. Volunteering is something that anyone

can do no matter what age they are or where

they live. Volunteers help make the Santa Claus

Parade a success every year. Without them, there

wouldn’t be a Parade.”

Mrs. Claus looked at the confused expressions on

the animals’ faces and tried to explain the magic

of the Santa Claus Parade volunteers.

“Millions of people enjoy the Parade on the

streets of Toronto and on television. But in

order to have the Parade, thousands of people

volunteer their time and talent to create the

biggest Santa Claus Parade in the world.”

“There are volunteers to drive the floats, fix

costumes, put on makeup, play musical

instruments, ride horses, help everyone stay safe

and happy, direct traffic, dress up as clowns, walk

upside-down, and some to ride on the floats with

smiles. Thousands and thousands of volunteers

donate their time and special skills to help Santa

Claus host the Santa Claus Parade. Isn’t that

amazing?” said Mrs. Claus.

The animals had always thought that the Parade

just happened magically, but it really was the

“magic” of volunteering that made the Parade so

very special for everyone. The friends smiled at

Mrs. Claus and thanked her for telling them about

the real “Parade Magic”.

Polar Bear let out a massive yawn and smiled

at Mrs. Claus. “Sorry, Mrs. Claus. It’s been a

wondrous night but it’s time for us to get some

sleep. In the morning, I’m going to make a list of

all the ways I can put my talents to work to help

my friends in the woods.”

“Me too!” exclaimed Owl, Hare and Caribou.

“Good for you!”, smiled Mrs. Claus. “Like the

volunteers behind the Santa Claus Parade, you

can make a huge difference and bring great joy

by helping others.”

With that, the animals kissed Mrs. Claus goodbye

and made their way home to their cozy beds

to dream of a Sunday when Santa would, once

again, be coming to town!

220 Children on Floats

1250 Marchers

300 Behind the scenes volunteers (Make up,

Alteration, Miss Canada Delegates, Police

Cadets, Girl Guides, Boy Scouts etc.)

150 Auxiliary Police Officers

60 Drivers

110 Marshals

1000 Band Members Minimum

32 Marketing and Technology volunteers

21 Board members

8 Celebrity Clown Committee Volunteers

8 Special Events Committee Volunteers

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Santa and Mrs. Claus would like to thank all their

volunteers:

3159 volunteers to make a parade occur each

year for millions to enjoy!