What your child's Christmas card design says about their future

A new study has revealed that Children's homemade Christmas cards could offer some interesting insights into their future career paths.

As the nation's children start to bring home their handmade glitter and glue Christmas cards from school or nursery, parents are invited to pay a little more attention to what they've drawn on the front as it could say more about their future than you think.

According to researchers, what your child chooses to adorn their Christmas card with could have a direct correlation to their future lives thanks to its key insights into child development.

The study, commissioned by Vodafone to mark their Christmas Light Up campaign with Barnardos, discovered a host of traits in adult life which directly correlate to our typical Christmas drawings as children.

Child psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, commenting on the research said, “The time I've spent working with children has led me to believe that the toys they play with and the pictures they draw can reflect how they are feeling at that moment.

“Drawing can really give parents insight into a child’s personality. This fun survey links the illustrations children draw to their future careers - but one thing is for sure, whatever your child ends up drawing on their Christmas card this year, the reason they have made you a card is to show you how much they love you."

So what are the key Children's Christmas card design findings?

1. Snowman:

According to the report, if your child is inclined to draw a snowman, they are most likely to end up working in administration (28 percent) and are most likely to have a happy relationship (45 percent).

2. Christmas Fairy

Yet kids who choose to draw a Christmas fairy are most the likely to go on to have a career in medicine and healthcare (20 percent). They are most likely to have carefully coloured in their card (93 percent) and likely to have over 1,000 social media followers (29 percent).

3. Abstract

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those children who favour abstract patterns in their drawings are the most inclined to end up working in in the arts (19 percent), are least likely to have carefully coloured in their card (67 percent) and least likely to be confident - just 5 percent claim to be confident people.

4. Nativity scene

According to the findings, if your child has drawn the classic nativity scene, they are more than likely to grow up to work in catering and hospitality (15 percent).

5. Father Christmas

According to the research, Brits who as kids chose to draw Father Christmas are the highest earners with many now bringing home more than double the average UK national wage of £31,000 and are most likely to be a vegan.

6. Non-Christmas:

Those who decorate their card with a non-Christmassy image, like a dinosaur or rocket ship, are most likely up as the most self-assured adults (32 percent). It shows they are least likely to enjoy Christmas, most likely to be ambitious in their career (28 percent) and most likely to admit to being unsociable (32 percent).

7. Robin

While young artists who prefer to sketch a simple robin on the front of their festive card are likely to end up as straight-talking grown-ups (37 percent). They are least likely to be a gym bunny (5 percent) and likely to appreciate thoughtful messages in Christmas cards (53 percent).

8. Christmas tree

And those who were mad about drawing Christmas Trees grow up to be the biggest fans of the festive season, with 43 percent saying they just LOVE Christmas and are likely to be very sociable.

Child psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer added, “Making something that is so appreciated is wonderful for children’s confidence as the feedback they get from the people who receive the cards will show them how valued they and the card are.

"As with all artwork, it can be interesting to look beneath the surface to try to get insight into the child behind the card, their personality and feelings. It’s fun to think that the drawings children do can reveal something about their personalities and it can be a great way to start a conversation with them about how they express themselves through their artwork and how different people have very different styles."

And it's a creation which can be treasured for years to come, and makes a fun thing to do with kids.