Pi Day – celebrated on March 14 or 3/14 – is filled with challenges and activities celebrating the mathematical constant pi (π). Some schools focus on celebrating at 1:59 pm for a more accurate pi number of 3.14159. Pi-day is generally in schools where countries use the month/day format because it represents the first three digits of pi.
The idea is to have a better understanding of pi while partying with fun activities instead of a traditional math lesson.
In 1988, at the San Francisco Exploratorium Science Museum the “Prince of Pi,” Larry Shaw, started pi-day. In 2009 Pi-Day became a national event when the House of Representatives passed Resolution 224.
In addition to dividing pies before eating it, there are interesting Pi-Day activities math students can participate in. I’ve broken them out by categories – if you have more ideas or resources, please leave them in the comments below.
Pi Songs and Lyrics
- Pi-Day Sing-Along. Song lyrics were written on the tune of familiar songs for all ages.
- American Pi. Based on the tune of American Pie. These lyrics won an international songwriting contest.
Pi Card Games and Puzzles
- Race To Pie Card Game. The object is to play all your cards in your hand by playing the next digit of the number pi.
- Pi Day Sudoku. Download the Sudoku or puzzles from previous years provided from Brainfreeze.
- Pi Day Scavenger Hunt. Solve geometry problems to get pieces of the pie.
- Pi-Day Investigation. Hands-on investigation for 4th graders to high school to discover the value of the number pi.
- Pi Day Trivia Game. Pi-related questions to test your history and mathematics knowledge.
Pi Day Art
- Pi Skyline Math Art. Create graphed skylines with any series of pi digits.
- Pi Day Art. Create pi art with dots and dashes.
- Happy Pi Day. Download a fun activity worksheet with multiplication to 20 colors.
- Spring Tree Coloring Page. Cover the tree with circles measuring 0.3 inches, 0.1 inches, and 0.4 inches.
- Pi Day Grid Art. Use 3 colors and design in 14 minutes 15 boxes.
Pi Day Craft Activities
- Pi Day Bracelets. Combine math and crafting by stringing colored beads according to Pi digits to create bracelets.
- Pi Day Belt. Make a belt with webbing. Two D-rings and transfer paper.
- Paper Pie Gift Boxes. Make gift boxes that looks like slices of pie and fill it with nice things to give to someone you care about.
- Pi Day Necklace. Use 100-300 beads to make a pi necklace using the pi digits as a guide.
Pi Day Foods
- Pi Themed Food. Bring pi-themed food to celebrate Pi. Pie isn’t the only pie themed food.
Online Pi Day Activities
- Online Pi Day Celebration. Celebrate Pi Day with online activities related to pi and its history.
- Pi Fight. Hit Okta, the octopus, by using radians and degrees. The app is downloadable on desktop and tablets.
- Pi Quest. The quest is to search for pi on this website by learning about its history and use.
Preschool and Elementary Pi Day Activities
- Introduction to Pi. A simple activity with yarn explaining pi to a 7-year old.
- Preschool Pi Day Activities. Five fun Pi-Day activities from tracing and cutting out circles to racing around and eating pies
Middle and High School Pi Day Activities
- Pi Day Pi Problems. A free download with five pi word problems that require students to find circumference and area.
- Pi & Fibonacci An interesting video on how pi appears in nature.
- Activities for Pi Mathematics. Problem solving activities for middle schoolers to learn about pi.
More Pi Day Activities
- Pi Day Contest School District of Philadelphia created Pi day contests for grade levels K to 12
- org Pi Day Activities. A list of pi day activities including crafts, contests, food, songs, and arts.
- Pi Day Comic. A Pi vs Pi comic with words and picture Grant Snider.
- Pi Day Activities. A list of activities and useful links about pi.