Dear Families,

The past few weeks have been filled with exciting exploration and discovery. We have made play-doh, gak, and oobleck, as well as had three fun color mix labs. There has also been a lot of building in the block area, not just little structures but HUGE (or you might hear your children say “tremendous”) structures. We have had some big events: we welcomed Will as well as Mrs. Oakes into our class, had Friendship Lunch with the TK/K, Thanksgiving Soup with the entire school, celebrated Jetty’s 4th birthday, and attended the Book Fair. I have also learned that the PreK class is incredibly flexible and understanding. They took on the challenge of being displaced from our room for a day (because of the skunk) with enthusiasm and a sense of maturity. I am so proud of them.

We have mixed, mashed and squished three wonderful creations – oobleck, gak, and play dough. Gak was by far the class favorite. I hope you all got to play with the gak your children brought home!

For all who asked, here is the recipe:

-two 4 oz. bottles of Elmer’s Glue

– 1 tsp. Borax (found in the laundry detergent section of the store, or ask me for a small bag)

– Water

– Cup

– 1/2 cup measuring cup

– Bowl

– Food Coloring

Begin by emptying the two bottles of glue into a bowl. Then fill bottles with warm water and shake. Empty them into your bowl. Then add some food coloring (I did three to four drops). Add 1/2 cup warm water to your cup. Add 1 tsp. borax to the water and mix until borax dissolves. Then pour this into your glue bowl. Start stirring and you will notice how it starts becoming stringy. Keep mixing by using your hands and squishing around. You will notice after a few minutes that it has become pretty gelatinous and wonderful. Keep playing with it and it will become the perfect gooey consistency.

In the color labs we conducted the children mixed colors in three ways (more to come!). First they were presented with jars of colored water (primary colors), empty jars and pipettes on the light table. They spend the morning mixing colors and sharing excitement when they made a color with friends. Next we put out a tray of baking soda and jars filled with colored vinegar. The children used the pipettes to put the colored vinegar on the baking soda. The fizzy, bubbly reaction of the two substances was mesmerizing to watch. The last color lab we conducted was using whole milk, food coloring and a drop of dish soap. First we filled a tray with whole milk, then we put drops of food coloring in the milk, then a drop of soap in the middle (the fat molecules in the whole milk move away from the drop of soap). The food coloring swirled and danced around in the tray in a very magical way. PreK was so excited to see this reaction… “Look I see a lollipop,” “I see outer space,” “That is the earth,” “I see a mushroom,” “Look, they are dancing,” “I see a jellyfish,” “I see a whale!”

Please enjoy the slide shows posted below.

Love,
Vicky and Kate

Dates to remember:

Wednesday, December 16
8:15-9AM- Head’s Chat for PreK in the Library
1:30- PreK’s Holiday Party!

Friday, December 18
Dismissal at 3, no PM

November pictures:

December pictures: