International Child Care Foundation

International Child Care Foundation (www.icaf.org)
Fourth World Children’s Festival (WCF)
The National Mall
Washington, DC USA
Friday-Sunday, 17-19 June 2011
Create Your Own World
By Edna Ranck and Jean Simpson
OMEP-USA
Washington, DC
On behalf of World OMEP and OMEP-USA, we express appreciation to the International
Child Art Foundation (ICAF) for managing the quadrennial World Children’s Festival.
As members of an international organization for young children, it was a pleasure for
OMEP-USA to take part in the event on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
What is OMEP?
OMEP are the French and Spanish initials for the World Organization for Early
Childhood, a worldwide membership organization with over 65 countries. OMEP began
in 1948 when early childhood educators led by three women from Sweden, France, and
the United Kingdom agreed to provide a voice for very young children to the United
Nations. In the United States, OMEP-USA provides information about U.S. ratification
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and the occasional disaster
situations that occur, most recently in Southeast Asia and Japan. Region III, including the
Washington Metropolitan Area, is currently supporting the establishment of an early
education division in the Liberian Ministry of Education.
What did OMEP-USA contribute to the World Children’s Festival?
Through its members living and working in Region III that includes the Washington DC
area, OMEP-USA offered an opportunity to young children to create drawings or
collages, using simple and familiar art materials.
What did we do to prepare for the WCF?
OMEP-USA members learned about the ICAF and the WCF by reviewing its web pages.
We submitted a proposal to invite children from age 2 ½-years through 6-years to “create
their world” with paper and drawing materials. We arranged for donations of art materials
from catalog companies and local OMEP Region III members, and recruited Region III
members to help out.
We planned to offer minimum instruction or comment, but provided large sheets of white
paper, two sizes of felt-tip markers, large crayons, pictures cut from magazines and old
calendars, glue sticks and scissors to make collages. We offered a paper scroll for
drawings on the bottom half and a story about the drawing on the top half. We prepared
for a full three-day effort with five hours each day.

Article from OMEP-USA Region III
Ranck & Simpson, co-authors
1 July 2011
Page 2 of 3
Where did our art materials come from?
To provide art materials for the children, we submitted requests to Lakeshore Learning
Materials in California and to individual members of Region 3 of OMEP-USA. Another
company to whom we submitted a request was unable to contribute. Region III
individuals also contributed art materials and another member provided magazines and
calendars from which we selected appropriate pictures.
What events led up to the WCF?
Careful inventory of materials supported the need for tempera paint and brushes. These
were purchased at a local store specializing in children’s materials and equipment.
Shortly before the Festival began, we learned that we had to provide materials only for
two hours of activities – one hour on Friday and one on Sunday. This change in schedule
was caused by many activity proposals and limited space in which to provide activities.
What happened during the WCF?
On Friday, Simpson and Ranck were joined by Martha Llanos, OMEP-Peru member and
a presenter at the WCF; Earla Jones, a Virginia resident, and Martin Fleischer, a
Washington DC resident. During the Friday hour, eight children stopped by, three of
whom stayed over 40 minutes, working on their art projects.
On Sunday, Ranck and Fleischer set up two tables and were immediately joined by a
group of children of many ages. Others came by after the first ones finished. A total of 24
children visited the tent during the hour. Many stayed for most of the hour and many
were disappointed when we had to tell them another project was due to start soon. Most
parents thanked us and told us how much they appreciated the entire WCF. A member of
the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Meade, interviewed Ranck about the WCF and the role of
OMEP-USA. The televised interview was for the interviewer’s files, not for broadcast.
What did the presenters learn from the WCF?
Some left-over art materials were distributed as follows: Approximately one-half were
given to Barbara Ferguson Kamara to take to an early childhood project in Liberia, and
the other half were given to Debra Byrd to distribute to selected child care programs
working toward national accreditation in the District of Columbia and working toward
national accreditation. In this way, many more children will benefit from using the art
materials so generously given by others. Thank-you e-mails were sent to those who had
contributed to the OMEP-USA portion of the WCF.
What did we learn from participating in the WCF?
• We learned that we could have recruited fewer art materials and that we would
request more hours at the next WCF scheduled for 2015.
• We would make and post signs announcing our activity. We would bring
decorations for the tent, such as streamers, and shapes recognized by children,
(circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, etc).
• We would recruit OMEP-USA Region III members well ahead of time to assure
enough assistance.

Article from OMEP-USA Region III
Ranck & Simpson, co-authors
1 July 2011
Page 3 of 3
• We would spread the requests for art supplies among more companies.
• We would set up an art station for each chair at the tables, complete with paper,
markers, crayons, scissors and pictures to fashion into collages. We would make
sure we had as many chairs as we had room at the tables.
• We would give an OMEP-USA flyer to each parent that describes its work and its
connection to the WCF.
• We would alert other OMEP national committees about ICAF/WCF and provide a
list of the OMEP regional vice-presidents to ICAF so they could contact OMEP
leaders.
Above all, OMEP members recognized that the ICAF’s World Children’s Festival is a
worthwhile event in which OMEP members can readily participate. The next WCF is
scheduled for 2015; OMEP’s involvement will be planned well ahead of time so that
more of its members can participate. This event is an excellent opportunity for members
to provide direct services to a locally-based international community.
#####
Brief Bios of Co-authors
Edna Ranck, Ed.D., lives and works in Washington, DC. She is the past president of
OMEP-USA.
Jean Simpson, Ph.D., is the OMEP-USA Region III Representative. She is a project
officer for Head Start in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
C:\Documents and Settings\Edna Ranck\My Documents\OMEP-USNC BOARD DOCUMENTS\ICAF Olympiad 17-19 June
2011\Article for ChildArt_July 2.doc