There's not a child around who doesn't know that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole... where it is freezing cold. And that he works very, very hard alongside his elves getting toys ready for the annual sleigh ride around the world on Christmas eve But when he hangs up his big red suit for another year, what does the jolly old gent do in summer? That's the question The Royal Gazette posed to an assortment of primary boys and girls at Saltus Cavendish and West Pembroke School. While some had to really think about putting their mental image of Santa into another a verbal context, others let their imaginations roam.: Justin Tucker and Caitlin Lawrence are sure that after Mrs. Claus feeds Santa he goes to the beach. Kye'zha also believes he relaxes in the sun, and wears a red bathing suit.

Not so, says Philip Couto.

"He wears Santa shorts and red ankle socks. He has everything red on his body. That's why he's Santa Claus.'' Ny-rory Daniels, on the other hand, doesn't believe Santa goes to the beach at all.

"He can't swim because he doesn't have the space,'' she says, which prompts Chelsea Weeks to offer to teach him herself.

Marcus Smith, Kiandae Laws, Kiyahna Furbert and Neelesh Singh insist Santa carries on making toys. Antoinette Webb agrees, but notes that he also wraps them up, and Dominic Brown is another who sees no let-up in Santa's workload.

"He has to work every single day until Christmas because that's how long it takes to make the toys,'' he explains.

One child believes Santa makes only purple things in summer, which just happens to be his teacher, Mrs. Alicia Swan's, favourite colour.

Cyronna Ratteray, on the other hand, has no doubt that Santa uses the summer to get his big list together, while Charitta Mallory says he passes the time giving out presents to the children in his neighbourhood.

Among those who are certain Santa spends his days relaxing and swimming at the beach are Amber Wilson, Tarja Ming, Kinn Crippen, Errin Tankard and Grant Rivers. Their visions vary, however, on location and lifestyle.

Tarja says Santa swims at Shelly Bay, while Kinn insists he can be found doing belly flops from the dock at Admiralty House Park. Amber thinks he lays on a blow-up chair in the water, while Grant worries that crabs will pinch his beard while he's signing autographs.

Kyle Smith, Peter Rose, Jr. and Kye'zha have no doubt that Santa is a movie buff, though they don't concur on his taste.

"He watches Ninja Turtle movies,'' says Kyle.

"He loves to watch Power Rangers movies,'' counters Peter.

"Santa watches Christmas movies,'' Kye'zha insists.

Acknowledging that Santa is fat in winter, the boys and girls of Mrs. Swan's class agree that he loses weight in summer through a combination of diet and exercise.

"He doesn't eat much and he rides his bicycle,'' says Ashanti Trott, while Ny-Rory Daniels maintains it is because he eats a lot of rice and practises going down the chimney.

So how does he get fat for Christmas? "By eating a lot of junk, like candy,'' was the consensus.

Or is it because "he sits around and waits until the next Christmas'', as Keanu Wilson suggests, or simply "goes to sleep'' for the duration, as Ehbone m maintains? As for the elves and reindeer, Mark Dimanno says the former spend the summer making toys, while Raequan Rochester, Danielle Bean and Marcus Samuels all believe the latter practice flying through the sky with the sleigh.

The boys and girls of Saltus Cavendish are equally certain that they have the right answers to what Santa does in summer. Here is what the five to seven-year-olds have to say: Emma Grant maintains that he helps Mrs. Claus to do her housework, while Ryan Powell thinks he assists the elves in making Christmas presents.

"Then he wraps them, and sits on the bed and drinks cocoa,'' says Rupert Lang adds.

"He tells his elves to work while he watches TV','' Leonard Williams asserts, while some of his classmates beg to differ. They see Santa as disciplined but humane, and a real gentleman.

According to Leonard William, "He goes on vacation to a place like the Bahamas, where he bathes in the cool waters and rests on the luxurious beaches''.

Lee Simmons, however, thinks Santa is an all-round sportsman.

"He does a lot of exercise, goes hiking up the mountains, rides the snowmobile, goes snow boarding, and drinks coffee,'' the youngster maintains.

Kalaina Johnson says the bearded one can be seen swimming at Clearwater Beach, St. George's, while Ryan Powell thinks he rides the reindeer.

At least two others -- Sarah Daniels and Aisling Gorman -- believe he combines work with pleasure. Not only does he check up on whether children are being naughty or nice, and work to get the Christmas presents ready, but also he plays monopoly.

For Christopher Sposato, however, there is only one answer to what Santa does in summer.

"On the other side of the world they have Christmas in the summer, so he's going all around the world delivering presents then,'' he explains.

Illustrations by Corrina Rego It's a lifestyle thing: The jury is out at West Pembroke School, with analysts from the primary-one class divided over Santa's summer schedule.