14 Fantastic Ways to Celebrate Pi Day

I wish every day of math was as much fun as Pi Day! Take a break from the norm, and celebrate with these 14 fantastic Pi Day activities for cool kids of all ages!

Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14th (3/14), is a day to celebrate the mathematical constant pi (π), which is approximately 3.14, and often involves eating pie. We have enjoyed celebrating Pi Day over the years with a group of friends, as well as at home all by ourselves. I prefer a small group to celebrate with, mostly because of the yummy “π buffet” of fun snacks and pies!

Our family has tried and enjoyed many of these 14 fantastic Pi Day activities over the years. They require minimal prep and are mess free. There’s no wastin’ a good pie by throwing it here! If you’re doing these 14 activities with a group, or even with your smaller family, I suggest setting up stations to keep things free of clutter and confusion. Prepare a little spot or station for arts and crafts, writing, math, movement, and of course, food.

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Pi Day Arts and Crafts

• Pi Skylines Aside from eating pie, art is my favorite thing to do on Pi Day! These Pi Skylines are a hit! All you need is graph paper, markers or crayons, and of course, the number pi (out to at least 30 digits or so to make a nice skyline). Check out the video and give it a try! There is also a Lego variation of this fun activity.
• Circle Art – So simple, but so fun. Creativity can really shine with this one. Simply draw a sheet of circles then turn them into something unique. Donuts, a basketball, a tire, a globe, the face of a clock – it’s fun to see what your kids can come up with!
• Collage – Grab a stack of magazines, scissors, and glue and find numbers. Glue them (in the order of the number π) to cardstock, and enjoy your very own piece of pop art, just like modern pop artist, Michael Albert. Detailed instructions can be found here.
• Beaded Bracelets – A great activity for younger or older kids! Check out The Homeschool Scientist for instructions. I recommend seed or clay beads for the older kids, rather than pony beads. Just be sure you have 11 different colors (0-9, and a decimal).
• Paper Chain – Decorate your Pi Day with paper chains! Similar instructions as the bracelets, but with construction paper. RedTed Art has tips for setting up your chain station.

Pi Day Writing

• Piku Poetry –  Rather than the traditional 5-7-5 syllable haiku, try 3-1-4 poems! The subject of your poem can be something related to π or math, or not!
• Pi Story – The idea is to use the number π as a unique mathematical writing prompt. Compose a story using words that have the same number of letters as each digit in π. For example, since pi begins with the digits 3, 1 and 4, the first word in the story would contain three letters; the second word would contain one letter; the third word would contain four letters, and so on. This could be quite an interesting challenge!
• Word List – Set a timer to 3 minutes and 14 seconds and make a list of how many words you can think of that begin with the letters pi. There are actually quite a few!

Pi Day Math

• Buffon’s Needle – A surprising way to calculate π is using the laws of probability. Check out this experiment!
• Measuring Pi – Gather a variety of cylindrical objects, such as plates, coins, drinking glasses, soda and soup cans, tape rolls, and toilet paper rolls. Have students measure the circumference and diameter of each object by using a string and a ruler. Next, challenge students to divide the circumference by the diameter and watch the solution come out to be close to 3.14 every time!
• Pi Day Card Game – Try this Race to Pi Card Game. It is very simple to play, and will appeal to a wide range of ages. All you need is a deck or two of cards!
  

More Pi Day Ideas

• Recall – Do you have what it takes to memorize 100 digits of Pi? Maybe so! Challenge your kids, or even yourself with this fun song. Your friends and family will be impressed!
• P.E. – Try this pi themed workout after eating the pie…or maybe before eating the pie. Maybe both, hahaha!
• Scavenger Hunts – Scavenger hunts are so much fun! For younger students, have a scavenger hunt for circular objects around the room. Older students who like trivia and technology may enjoy an internet scavenger hunt.
  
  

Pi Day Party Favors

Kids (and even adults) love little prizes! Here are a few I found on Amazon that aren’t junky.

• Pen and bookmark set – There’s 100 in this set for a big Pi party.
• Pen, bookmark, and key chain set – There’s 20 in this set for a smaller Pi party. I love the neutral bamboo – no arguing over colors!
• Pi Stickers – What’s a party without stickers? Ohhh, check out these holographic ones!
• Pi Balloons – A party is not complete without them!
• Pi Napkins – Themed napkins are an inexpensive decoration for the pie buffet.
• Pi Puzzle – I love puzzles, and this one looks like a doozy! It would be great for another Pi station for older kids, or to give as a grand prize.
• T-shirt – How about a gift for the party host (which may be yourself)!

The PIE!