Ways to Celebrate Pi Day, the Biggest Math Holiday

Ways to Celebrate Pi Day, the Biggest Math Holiday

March 14th is recognized around the world as Pi Day. Our partners at Mathnasium have some ideas on how to celebrate and learn about this very special number, Pi.

So what exactly is Pi?

Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Regardless of the size of the circle, Pi is always the same number. So, for any circle, dividing the circumference by the diameter will give you the exact same number: 3.14159…or Pi.

Pi is also an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a simple fraction. As a result, Pi is an infinite decimal. Pi Day is a always celebrated on 3/14 and this is a way to have some fun with math and teach your kids the fundamentals of an important math concept. We have some ideas on how you can celebrate at home if you can’t make it into one of our centers.

Prove Pi

Wrap a piece of yarn or string around a cylindrical object and then cut. Now find out how many times the circumference string will go across the diameter: Place the string across the diameter of the object and then cut the string. Repeat until you’ve gone through the string. Then amaze

your child by repeating this process on a much wider or thinner cylinder to get the same answer: pi. (Via the Homeschool Scientist)

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Pi Day Craft/Activity

Creating a cityscape skyline drawing using the digits of Pi is a great way to visually represent the long number. Each building in the cityscape represents a number in pi. Using a color code key and graph paper, kids color in each square on the graph paper according to the number in the decimal. Pick a color per number and then fill in columns of the squares for as many digits as the kids wish. (via What Do We Do All Day)



Eat Pi

On March 14th, the answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?” is obviously pizza pie! Cook (or order up) a round pie and use your dinner to illustrate the basic principles or pi around the dinner table. If you are feeling ambitious, you can even serve Pi cookies for dessert!

Read about Pi

At Mathnasium, we know that all kids learn differently and we work with our students to find a way to explain math in a way that makes sense to them! Sometimes creative explanations can help bring a mathematical concept to life. We absolutely love “Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi” by Cindy Neuschwander. We think that this creative tale of the adventures of Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter, and Radius helps kids learn about the magic number that is the same for all circles! (Amazon)

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This math holiday is a perfect example of how you can incorporate math learning into family activities and have some fun along the way.

About Mathnasium

Mathnasium, the nation’s leading math-only learning center franchise, specializes in teaching kids math in a way that makes sense to them. When math makes sense, kids excel—whether they’re far behind or eager to get ahead. The proprietary Mathnasium Method™ is the result of 40+ years of hands-on instruction and research. The experts at Mathnasium can help by conducting a thorough assessment to learn more about your student’s math strengths and weaknesses. The next step is developing a customized plan to get your child back on track or start to get ahead and celebrating math

successes throughout the school year! Reach out to one of the Phoenix-area Mathnasium locations to schedule an assessment for your child. For more information, visit www.mathnasium.com.