He may only come once a year to deliver presents - but young children believe in Father Christmas more than ghosts, dragons and aliens. The results revealed children conceptualised four groups for the characters - real, cultural figure, ambiguous figure and fictional. Other characters children scored as real were dinosaurs, such as this MegalosaurusPrincess Elsa was not scored as real by children, but instead identified as a fictional characterWhat characters were included in the study? AdvertisementDinosaurs and The Wiggles scored highest among children, with seven points, followed by cultural figures Santa and the Tooth Fairy, who had six points. Researchers suggested that children may perceive Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy as more real due to indirect evidence from cultural rituals.

Source: Daily Mail June 17, 2020 16:53 UTC