The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent unveiled a fleece blanket featuring artwork by area children on November 20, as part of the ninth annual Grande Semaine des Tout-Petits, which aims to raise awareness, encourage dialogue, and advocate for early childhood development.
Children and their families, as well as staff from participating organizations and community members, gathered in the lobby for the presentation along with elected officials and representatives from the MRC.
The MRC prefect and mayor of Sainte-Barbe, Louise Lebrun, addressed the children in the room. “Our dream is to make our region a place where you can play, where you can laugh, and where you can grow up in complete freedom and safety,” she said. “With the help of all the great people around you, we’re going to build a region that’s just like you: colourful, happy, and full of life,” she continued, before speaking to the adults present about the importance of helping children to achieve their full potential.
The 13 municipal mayors that make up the MRC’s regional council adopted a resolution on October 16 that proclaimed the week of November 18 to 24 as Early Childhood Week, and authorized the administration to host a special event in celebration of its youngest citizens. Some municipalities also raised the Grande Semaine des Tout-Petits flag outside their town halls.
The MRC approached artist Audrée Bourdeau to lead creative workshops, with children aged zero to five, at six of the area’s early childcare centres – including the CPE Abracadabra in Saint-Antoine-Abbé, the CPE Kaleidoscope in Huntingdon and in Saint-Chrysostome, as well as the Garderie Préscolaire Des Petits Pieds, the Centre de Ressources Familiales du Haut-Saint-Laurent, and Une Affaire de Famille.
Anick Lacroix, the MRC’s communications coordinator, said she and her colleagues were brainstorming when they came up with the idea of creating something like a quilt from a collage of drawings on cardboard squares.
Bourdeau said the workshops lasted between 30 and 45 minutes per group, depending on the attention span of the young artists. In all, she spent over ten hours with the children, and she says that some spent a few minutes on their square, while others were very methodical about selecting their colours and stickers.
At the end of the event, the MRC presented the blanket to the CPE Kaleidoscope in Huntingdon after the early childcare centre was selected during a draw. The five other centres were presented with throw pillows featuring the image on the blanket.