Activities for Pi day, free Pi day resources for lessons, and Pi day celebration ideas for kids! This is a fun holiday to add to your lessons and March activities calendar — a great way to learn math AND make math fun for kids! Fun for elementary ages and Pi Day activities for middle school and up for your math problem solvers!
Activities For Pi Day and Pi Day Facts
Before we get to the Pi Day activities and the best Pi Day activities for the classroom and home school, let’s start with with reasons math is fun and the background of this fun holiday for kids! Here are things to do for Pi Day — add a few to your Pi Day lesson plans or make an entire unit study for march kids activities (or even just use them for Pi Day activities at home)!
How is Pi Day celebrated?
How do you celebrate Pi Day?
- Learn more about Pi and 3.14
- Make pies for Pi Day
- Create a Pi Day paper chain (great for Pi Day for preschool or toddlers!)
- Wear fun Pi Day t shirts or crazy Pi Day outfits (or other Pi Day dress up ideas)
- Play a funny Pi Day game (see our recommendation below or other games about pi)
- See who can memorize the most Pi digits (and award prizes!)
- Learn more about Albert Einstein (since 3/14 is Einstein’s birthday)
- Draw Pi Day chalk art outside
- Make paper plate pies
- Decorate round Pi Day cupcakes
- Have different pi math projects stations
- Write pi-ku poems (haikus based on the topic of pi)
- Host a Pi Day fundraiser and give to a local charity
- Decorate for Pi Day
- Bake a pi day apple pie or have a mini pie eating contest
- Make Pi Day treats (like pizza pie or pi pie)
- Do the Pi Day mirror trick: Write 314 on a paper and reflect it in a mirror to see that it spells PIE!
- Order (or make) a pizza pi
- Do some Pi Day trivia
- Have a circular parade (great for Pi Day for elementary students who are younger)
- Do the math with pi lessons
DON’T MISS OUR FULL LIST OF ACTIVITIES FOR PI DAY BELOW! KEEP SCROLLING FOR FULL LIST OF PI DAY FUN RESOURCES AND CREATIVE PI DAY MATHS ACTIVITIES.
Pi Day Activities For Preschoolers
These are great for preschool ideas or Pi Day kindergarten activities!
Pi Day ideas for preschoolers:
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- Pi Collage: Provide the preschoolers with magazines and catalogs and have them cut out pictures of circular objects. Then, have them create a collage on a piece of paper.
- Pi Walk: Take the preschoolers on a walk around the classroom or outside and have them count the number of circular objects they see (e.g., wheels, balls, etc.).
- Pi Day Circle Activity: Circle up for an outdoor circle activity to find circle shapes in nature.
- Pi Playdough: Have the preschoolers make playdough and then shape it into circles.
- Pi Day Snack: Make a pi-themed snack, such as mini pies or fruit pizzas with circular toppings or other round snacks for pi day.
- Pi Memory Game: Create a memory game with circular objects, such as balls or wheels, and have the preschoolers match the pairs to learn about circles.
- Pi Storytime: Read a story about circles, such as The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, and discuss the concept of pi.
- Pi Puzzle: Create a puzzle with circular pieces, and have the preschoolers put it together while discussing the concept of pi.
- Pi Art: Have the preschoolers create pi-themed art using circular objects, such as cookie cutters or stamps or Dot markers.
- Pi Hunt: Hide circular objects around the classroom or outside and have the preschoolers go on a Pi hunt, counting the number of objects they find and discussing the concept of pi.
- Download bubble letters and make a pi day printable where kids use dot markers to make circles in the letter for a fun Pi Day activity worksheet pdf!
- Grab some Pi Day decorations and have a Pi Party.
Pi Day Party Ideas
Pi party ideas that are perfect for kids:
- Pi Day Bake-Off: Host a baking competition where kids can create and decorate their own circular treats, such as cookies or cupcakes.
- Pi Recitation Contest: Have kids memorize and recite as many digits of pi as they can. Award a prize to the child who can recite the most digits correctly.
- Pi-themed Games: Play games that involve circles or pi like pin the Pi on the circle, or pi memory games.
- Pi Day Scavenger Hunt: Hide circular objects around the party area, and have kids search for them to earn a prize.
- Pi Day Crafts: Set up a crafting station where kids can create pi-themed crafts, such as pi-shaped headbands or circular picture frames.
- Pi Day Photo Booth: Create a fun and silly photo booth where kids can take pictures with pi-themed props, such as giant pi symbols, pizza pie, circular glasses or pi symbols.
- Pi Day Costume Party: Encourage kids to dress up in pi-themed costumes, such as dressing as a circle or wearing a pi symbol costume.
- Pi Day Pizza Party: Serve up pizza pies in honor of Pi Day, and let kids add their favorite circular toppings.
- Pi Cookie Party: Make pi symbol cookies (using this) and have a Pi cookie decorating party.
- Pi Day escape room: create an escape room based on circles and Pi.
All About Pi Day
When is Pi Day?
Which day is known as Pi Day? Pi Day is celebrate March 14th every year because it is the same as the date 3.14, which are the first three digits of the Greek letter pi.
Before we go any further with activities for kids, let’s answer what is Pi Day…
Why is Pi Day celebrated on March 14?
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th because it matches the format of the mathematical constant of pi, with is 3.14, or the he ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. The day of March 14 is also 3/14, which are the first three digits of pi.
How do you explain pi to a child?
Pi is used to find the area and circumference of a circle. The best way to explain pi to kids is to watch math videos about pi or read children’s books about Pi like Happy Pi Day to You (Dr. Seuss) or Sir Cumference book series and Dragon of Pi as an introduction to Pi activity.
What Pi Day Means
Pi Day is the celebration of the mathematical constant of pi, which is 3.14159265359.
Pi Day Symbol
The pi day 3.14 symbol is the lowercase Greek letter π.
Why is Pi Day celebrated?
Pi Day gives mathematicians and math nerds a way to celebrate numbers every year! It celebrates the mathematical constant of pi (π). It’s also a fun way to get kids interested in math. So have fun with Pi Day celebrations!
What are some fun facts about Pi?
- Most people memorize Pi as 3.14, but computers have calculated Pi to 22 trillion digits! (What Pi Day number do you stop at?)
- The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians knew about pi over 4,000 years ago.
- Calculating pi has been a challenge for mathematicians for thousands of years.
- The record for reciting the most digits of pi belongs to Rajveer Meena, who recited 70,000 digits in 2015.
- There is a group called the “Pi Searcher Team” that is dedicated to finding the next digit of pi. They have found over 12 trillion digits so far!
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THIS OTHER FUN MARCH ACTIVITY FOR KIDS:
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When was Pi Day first celebrated?
What year was pi day first celebrated? The first Pi Day was celebrated in 1988 by a physicist named Larry Shaw. March 14th (3/14) was chosen because it is the first digits of 3.14. It also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday! Pi Day became an official holiday in 1999.
According to History.com:
“The first Pi Day celebration took place at the Exploratorium (Shaw’s place of work), a San Francisco-based interactive science museum, and featured a circular parade and the eating of fruit pies.
The festivities have gotten larger each year, and now include webcasts and a virtual party in Second Life (an online virtual world).
It wasn’t until 2009, however, that it became an official national holiday when the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation.”
Who created Pi?
The the Greek letter Pi, symbol π, was first used by William Jones, a Welsh mathematician in the early 1700s. It went on to become popular from the use by Leonhard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and engineer, and also Georges Buffon, a French mathematician.
According to Exploratorium.edu:
“Mathematicians began using the Greek letter π in the 1700s.
Introduced by William Jones in 1706, use of the symbol was popularized by Leonhard Euler, who adopted it in 1737.
An eighteenth-century French mathematician named Georges Buffon devised a way to calculate π based on probability.”
MORE MATH FUN FOR KIDS:
OK!
Enough of those Pi Day facts, right? Let’s get right to the activities for Pi Day, what to do for Pi Day, and how to celebrate Pi Day for kids!
23+ ACTIVITIES FOR PI DAY
Enjoy these Pi Day activities and Pi Day ideas and have fun teaching math! Huge range of activities — preschool pi day ideas, pi day elementary activities, pi day activities middle school/ teaching Pi to elementary students and middle schoolers an up! These are great ideas if you’re wondering what do you do on Pi Day!
Activities, lesson plans, and resources to help you celebrate Pi Day:
- Watch a Pi Day video to learn about pi.
- Search for Pi Day events at local libraries and businesses and participate (or Pi Day events near me).
- Enjoy some Pi Day jokes / math jokes.
- Have Pi Day competitions / Pi Day challenges and see who can memorize the most digits of pi. (Great if you’re looking for Pi Day activities virtual ideas, too!) and then give out Pi Day prizes!
- Did you know there’s a Dr. Seuss book about Pi and measuring circles?
- Dress up for Pi Day (here’s our favorite of the Pi Day shirt ideas).
- Look for Pi Day pizza deals (Get it? Pizza Pi Day!) from your local pizzerias!
- Make a Pi Day pie shaped like a pi (or other Pi Day desserts).
- Have a Pi Toss with this game.
- Host a pie Pi Day bake off (or Pi pie decorating competition).
- Host a Pi Day party (Get Pi Day food ideas and Pi Day recipes that’s not just pie — perfect for Pi Day potluck ideas, too!).
- Sing a Pi Day song.
- Brainstorm pi day poster project ideas and make a pi day poster. (You can even have a pi day poster contest!)
- Complete some Pi Day projects.
- Have a Pi Day scavenger hunt.
- Do a Pi Day challenge from NASA.
- Play Pi Day games (like Roll Pi)
- Grab some Pi Day worksheets.
- Get some Pi Day trivia.
- Do a Pi Day word search
- Do some Pi Day math activities.
- Take a Pi Day quiz.
- Make Pi Day crafts like a paper chain (circles hooked to circles!).
- Create Pi Day art.
- Read Sir Cumference and then complete a circumference of a circle lesson plan.
- Color Pi Day coloring sheets (free printables)
- Do Pi Day STEM activities / Pi Day science activities (great if you’re looking for pi day middle school math activities / middle school math pi day ideas).
If you have any lessons on pi ideas, best pi day math activities, or creative activities for pi day elementary students or middle schoolers (or younger or older), let us know and we’ll add them to the Pi Day list and fun Pi Day activities ideas!
MORE FUN WITH MATH: Fun Worksheets For Math FREE Resources
What’s your favorite Pi Day activity or lesson on pi?
Have fun with your activities for Pi Day and Pi Day celebrations!
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