upworthy

Kat Hong

Parenting

Parents put on a makeshift art show for their 4-year-old’s creative works

Hors d'oeuvres and smiles were included.

Photo credit: Canva

Celebrating a child's art can be fun for all.

Have you ever read “The Artist’s Way”? Written by Julia Cameron in 1992, it’s a wonderful workbook that teaches you ways to unlock your creative potential. There are the “morning pages,” a daily ritual in which you wake up, then log three free-written pages by hand, tossing whatever ideas come from your mind onto the page. The weekly “artist date,” which sees you out in the world, enriching your creative soul. And the rotating lessons, each centered around a specific “block” you may have concerning your creativity.

For the uninitiated, this may all sound a bit “woo-woo.” But the core idea is that, unknowingly, society stifles our creativity in a million and one ways. Teachers who were mean and cruel, mocking your attempts at art. Distracted parents, more concerned with grades than anything else. Existence within a culture that prizes financial stability and success over creative outpourings of the soul.

Luckily, the daughter of TikTok user @abigail.ellesociety will never have to worry about any of that. In a joyous viral video (that’s racked up 4.2 million views, 945,000 likes, and over 109,000 shares), Abigail shares the art show she threw her four-year-old daughter. Besides the three-foot-tall host, the video depicts a trendy scene that would look at home in any gallery in Los Angeles or Manhattan.

woman in white long sleeve shirt and blue denim jeans sitting on brown wooden tableIt's never too late (or too early) to unleash your inner artist. Photo by Matthieu Jungfer on Unsplash



“You throw your four-year-old an art show”

Welcome to @abigail.ellesociety’s art show. The video begins with the four-year-old artist in residence dressed in a chic, all-black outfit. She sports a sleek, pulled-back hairdo (no surprise, given that her mom is a hairstylist and owns Elle Society Salon in Troutdale, Oregon) and welcomes admirers, patrons, and fellow peers into the space. Some even arrive with flowers.


children standing next to art exhibitPeople online are loving the four-year-old's art show. Photo credit: Canva

Her art is proudly displayed on the walls. There's Pikachu, depicted in watercolor. Hand-drawn rainbows and purple butterflies. Minions scowling; minions lifting weights. Minions wielding a lasso. (The artist’s affinity for the “Despicable Me” henchmen did not go unnoticed, with the official Illumination’s Minions account commenting, “She’s an artisté ✨”. The official Barbie account also chimed in, commenting, “to be loved is to be seen 💓”.) Peckish guests enjoyed a delicious spread of finger foods, including pigs in a blanket and pinwheel turkey wraps.

In the comments, TikTok users gushed over the four-year-old’s art show, with @zee_nicolee writing, “This new generation of moms are really healing so many of us 🥰🥰 Great job, Mama 🥰”.

@astoldbyawa said, “I’m literally gonna be this type of mom idc.” While @uncancelable.sahra chimed in, “Can you imagine seeing her art in a museum one day?”


How to honor your child’s creativity

The benefits of supporting a child’s art are endless. Beyond the creative realm, honoring their art is a significant step toward fostering self-respect, confidence, and self-expression. Here are 4 ways to celebrate your child’s inner artist.

  1. Take their art seriously. The beauty of the art show is how free it is—it’s not an art show “for kids,” it’s a real, bonafide art show! The artist—and her work—are taken seriously. Have your child sign and date everything they make (and like!) on the back. Save these treasures, either digitally or physically, to create a living record of their artistic journey: a lovely portfolio for them and you!
  2. Create a cork wall display. For a natural, “artsy” feel, constructing a wall-to-wall (or even extremely large) corkboard could provide the perfect canvas for a budding artist’s portfolio. For inspiration, check out this one posted by @florenceandhenri on Instagram, which shows rows and rows of neatly organized child artwork held up by pushpins. It’s an easy way to rotate pieces in and out, and is a nice alternative to the ubiquitous chalk wall. “[A cork wall] helps with acoustics,” writes @florenceandhenri. “It’s tactile and brighter than a wall full of black.”
  3. Repurpose as stationary. This technique saves money—and the planet! Turn artwork into writing cards, thank you notes, and letters by writing on the back. It’s a personal, homey touch that many recipients will appreciate. If you want to go the extra mile, try your hand at the Japanese art of origami and fold the artwork until it becomes an envelope.
  4. Save art in a collage. Although these are precious artifacts, physical copies of a child’s art can accumulate quickly—and if you’re not an archivist, saving them can feel more like a chore than a celebration. Turn those works into a collage, either digitally or physically. You can even get creative with the design, like a collage that looks like your home state or a collage using the letters in your child's name.

Remember, honoring your child’s art is supposed to be fun. If you get trapped in a "do it perfectly" mentality, just refer back to the original art show video. In it, everyone is relaxed and having a good time. The art is hung nicely (but not overly styled or organized). The four-year-old artist is excited to share her work with others. And there are heaps of pigs in a blanket. Those always help. For more inspiration, check out the full art show TikTok below:


@abigail.ellesociety

🧑‍🎨🎨

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Love Stories

Newlyweds land paid job living for free on gorgeous, uninhibited Irish island

They beat out 80,000 other applicants for the job of a lifetime.

Camille Rosenfeld; Alice Hayes

It's their dream of a lifetime.

What’s your dream job? President of the United States? A famous influencer with millions of followers and brand partnerships? A former NBA player who now cruises the airwaves with his besties, à la Charles Barkley? No? Well, what about this: Moving to a remote, uninhabited island in Ireland where there’s no running water, no hot showers, and no electricity? Sound enticing?

While that may not exactly sound like “heaven” to most folks, for newlywed couple Camille Rosenfeld (26) from Minnesota and James Hayes (37) from Tralee, Ireland, this version of the island life is exactly what they signed up for. From April 1 to September 30, the newlywed couple will become the caretakers of Great Blasket Island, a remote and uninhabited island off Ireland’s coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

stone homes near the ocean The beautiful, brutal Great Blasket IslandGreat Blasket Island

Once there, they’ll be trading modern conveniences for candlelight and the constant company of seagulls—an existence not terribly dissimilar from the one depicted in Robert Eggers’ 2019 movie, The Lighthouse—and the couple couldn’t be more delighted.

“Oh my gosh…it seems like such a dream come true,” Rosenfeld gushed to CBC Radio. “You wouldn't even think it would be a possibility. We feel really lucky that we were chosen.”

But make no mistake: this is not a vacation. Like Jack Torrance in The Shining, Rosenfeld and Hayes will become Great Blasket’s live-in caretakers, tasked with attending to the principal island of the Blaskets in County Kerry, Ireland. They will live in a small stone house on a windswept hill overlooking the gray, stormy seas at night. By day, they will run five holiday cottages and a coffee hatch for day-trippers visiting the island. “I genuinely think we will fall in with the rhythm of our new life and sense of freedom,” said Hayes, who has been to the island once before. “We won’t have the responsibilities of our jobs or day-to-day life, so it’s a chance to live a simpler life.”

“It looks like something from The Wizard of Oz”

Located about a mile off the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Great Basket Island— or in Irish, An Blascaod Mór—is a place of stunning natural beauty, where emerald hills glisten and below the cliffs lie sparkling turquoise waters. “It’s just so green, the greenest grass you’d ever see,” Rosenfeld said. “During a few weeks in the summer, there’s these beautiful purple flowers that bloom all across the fields. It looks like something from The Wizard of Oz.”

seals on beachHello, seals Start Travel

Once a flourishing fishing and farming outpost, Great Blasket Island was previously home to a tight-knit Irish community. For centuries, residents ate wildly caught fish and rabbits and harvested potatoes. In its heyday, the island nurtured a vibrant literary culture, with voices like Peig Sayers, Tomás Ó Criomhthain, and Muiris Ó Súilleabháin immortalizing the raw beauty and hardship of life there. However, by 1953, the island’s remaining inhabitants were forced to evacuate due to dwindling numbers and the lack of emergency services there during storms. Now, the island is a living museum of Gaelic heritage and a place where wildlife thrives.

While the island may not have many humans these days, Great Blasket Island is home to a great number of marine life: Gray seals (also known as “horseheads”) are the island’s star attraction, with their short flippers and hidden ears (gray seals lack ear flaps). During the late spring, thousands of gray seals come to Great Blasket to congregate, where they can be spotted among sharks, dolphins, whales, and seabirds. “We have no fears of anything around island life, not even the large number of seals that make their home on the beaches there,” the couple said. “We will deal with any issues as they come along.”

Landing the job

Billy O’Connor and his wife, Alice Hayes (no relation to James), who own the small collection of holiday cottages Camille and James will soon oversee, first advertised the live-in position in 2020. Initially, they were awash with over 80,000 applicants. Now, for their own sake, they’ve capped the number of applications to a mere 300. To deter hopefuls looking for a pleasant holiday, Billy and Alice try to stress the grueling nature of the job: “First, we try to put them off because if anything, it is quite romanticized,” says Alice. “But during the season, it can be quite intense for the caretakers. Most people, when they finish work, go home to their safe haven and relax. But I often say to people going out there that they won’t have that. You close the half-door where you were serving coffee, and you are home.”

Camille and James, on the other hand, are excited to trade a life in the fast lane for one that's much simpler. The two met in 2021 at the Burren College of Art, where Hayes was in residency as a visual artist, and Rosenfeld was studying abroad at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she studied art and business. They’d actually applied for the caretaker position the year before, but the timing didn't work out because of their scheduled wedding.

couple, selfie by the waterMeet your new stewardsCamille Rosenfeld

When they reapplied the following year, Alice and Billy were ecstatic. "When we saw that Camille and James had applied again for the positions for this year, we were delighted as they are just so enthusiastic and committed to outdoor life," says Alice.

Stewardship: A growing interest in Europe

Besides being an excellent adventure for a newlywed couple, this hands-on approach to land stewardship is part of a growing trend in Europe. Land stewardship is increasingly being recognized as a practical and rewarding tool for nature and biodiversity conservation, often found at the intersection of environmental protection and sustainable economic practices. In the United Kingdom, for example, such land trusts play a significant role in managing protected areas and sites of natural importance. Ahead of their new jobs, Camille and James reflect on the part they’ll play in this larger context. "I think both Camille and I feel that we have been living our lives on aeroplanes travelling over and back to the US and out of suitcases with no set familiarity to our lives over the past three years and longer," James explains. Camille adds: "It will provide the time to take stock, immerse ourselves in island life and start the next chapter or new book of living our lives together in one place.”

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Animals & Wildlife

London Zoo shows off miraculous baby pictures from 6 endangered species

They called the 'baby boom' a huge win in the fight against extinction.

London Zoo

Golden lion tamarin primates

Yes, we’re entering the age of the baby boom. No, not our beloved home-owning generation that remembers listening to music on vinyl records and watching the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” ever aired. No, this time, there’s a new baby boom at the London Zoo. It’s a heartwarming moment for the world’s oldest scientific zoo (which opened in 1828) because six tiny, pint-sized additions were recently born there.


Sign of London Zoo's entranceLondon Zoo! Photo credit: Canva


If you visit the London Zoo, you’ll see that many animals are part of its conservation breeding programs. This means that they participate in a unique initiative to save their species, hoping to return them to the wild someday. And there’s more good news: London Zoo conservationists have already successfully bred and reintroduced various species back into the wild, such as the Partula Snail, Northern Bald Ibis, Fen Raft Spider, and many others.

So, while very cute, the zoo’s latest additions also play an essential part in each species’ survival and the zoo’s overall conservation efforts. Many of the newly born species are at high risk of extinction because they can no longer survive in their natural habitats due to deforestation, habitat loss, and climate change. Thus, their captive breeding becomes a vital “safety net.” For example, Darwin’s Frogs, one of the many endangered species at the London Zoo, are safe in their Regent’s Park digs from chytrid fungus. This deadly fungal disease is responsible for decimating amphibian populations worldwide.

These births also provide a safe opportunity to study animal behavior, reproduction, and health in controlled environments—insights that can be applied to conservation strategies worldwide.

But what are these elusive endangered species? And are they really that cute? Let’s dive in.


Two twin Golden lion tamarin primates

Say hello to London Zoo’s newest Golden Lion Tamarin twins, Pomelo (male) and Clementine (female). Born last spring, they joined their older brother, Kumquat, with all three primates named after citrus fruits, an ode to their distinct, vibrantly orange fur.) Golden lion tamarins, or Leontopithecus rosalia, are native to Brazil but, unfortunately, face severe survival threats due to habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. In the 1970s, it’s estimated that their wild population dropped to as few as a record-dropping 200, but has since improved.


Rainforest image from London ZooThe rainforest habitat that Clementine and Pomelo reside inPhoto credit: Canva


Both parents love and care for Clementine and Pomelo, who are safe at their home at the London Zoo. As is typical for the species, their father, Fabio, takes care of the little ones most of the time and periodically passes them to their mother for feeding, one at a time.


Fia, the White-faced saki monkey

Alongside the tamarins, a ten-month-old white-faced named Fia has also joined the rainforest habitat.

Fia joins her mother, Kaituma, her father, Milagre, and her older sister, Maya. In 2023, the small family moved to the London Zoo from Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England.


Fia, wrapped up in her mother's warmthFia, wrapped up in her mother's warmthLondon Zoo


Fia and her family live in the zoo’s “Rainforest Life,” a high-profile exhibit that educates visitors about rainforest ecosystems and the importance of preserving biodiversity. White-faced sakis, or pithecia pithecia, are found in the rainforests of northern South America, including Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela. They live almost completely in the trees and almost never come down. They are named for the male’s appearance, which is black, except for the head, which is white or reddish. Females, meanwhile, are primarily brown or brown-gray.


Two Asian short-clawed otter pups

Then, there are the two Asian short-clawed otter pups. Born in January, they are too young to be named, and their genders have yet to be determined. Their mother, Midge (who joined London Zoo from Newquay Zoo in 2024), has been dutifully nursing the pups in their nesting area alongside their father, Siyam.

Also known as Aonyx cinereus, Asian short-clawed otters (or Asian small-clawed otters) are the world’s smallest otters, ranging from just 4 to 11 pounds. Its short dark brown hair is relatively short, and the whiskers it sports help detect changes in water current and pressure.

This shallow-water otter lives in freshwater wetlands, mangrove swamps, and fast-flowing, rocky streams throughout southern India, southern China, and parts of Southeast Asia. However, human development and pollution are destroying the wetlands where they live.


Alaotran gentle lemur

Last is London Zoo’s two-month-old Alaotran gentle lemur, who was born to parents Hazo and Rocky. Unnamed so far, the baby lemur has already begun to explore its outdoor environment, nibbling leafy greens alongside its mother and jimping around.



With fewer than 5,000 lemurs remaining, the Alaotran gentle lemur, or Hapalemur alaotrensis, is considered critically endangered. This species is endemic to the papyrus marshes surrounding Madagascar’s largest lake, Lake Alaotra, and is the only primate that lives exclusively in wetland environments. Their marshes face severe threats from habitat destruction due to illegal burning for rice farming and invasive species in Madagascar.

These six births extend far beyond a high-profile attraction for the London Zoo: they are significant steps in safeguarding species on the brink of extinction while teaching the public more about the importance of habitat preservation and biodiversity conservation.

Plus, they’re pretty darn cute, aren’t they?


Excited Anna Kendrick GIFGiphy

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