Some holidays are just for fun. Pi Day is for fun and math. Every March 14th, teachers across the country turn one extraordinary number into an unforgettable classroom experience. This year, we asked our own team of former educators to share the Pi Day tips and Education.com resources they swear by. From cookie measurements to pie-baking at home, here’s how to make March 14th a day your students or kids will never forget.
Heather Stokes
Curriculum Designer
Pi Day tip: The cookie activity
Heather’s go-to activity is equal parts math lesson and sweet treat.
In my math classroom, I celebrated Pi Day with a cookie activity where students solved for the value of pi. Each student received a round cookie and measured its circumference by wrapping a piece of string around the edge. Students then found the diameter by measuring the distance across the center of the cookie. To solve for the value of pi, they divided the circumference measurement by the diameter. This activity led to great conversations and solidified their understanding of the relationship between these measurements. Students also enjoyed their sweet treat at the end of the activity!
Heather’s favorite Education.com Pi Day resource
Graph the Frequency: The First 100 Digits of Pi is my favorite Edcom Pi Day resource! I love this worksheet because students examine the value of pi while also creating frequency tables and bar graphs. This worksheet is a great way to explore pi while also practicing graphing and interpreting data.
Ariel Cocciardi
Senior Curriculum Designer
Pi Day tip #1: The Pi recitation contest
Ariel’s school took Pi Day school-wide with an assembly that had students buzzing with excitement and friendly competition.
Every year on Pi Day, my school held an assembly for students who were interested in reciting as many digits of pi as they could from memory. Education.com has some great resources to help students prepare for the event, such as this worksheet and this worksheet! The student from each homeroom that could recite the most digits of digits of pi was rewarded with a pie that they could smash in the face of their math teacher.
Pi Day tip #2: Pi Day baking at home
Not every Pi Day celebration needs to happen in a classroom.
I have young children at home who aren’t ready to fully understand pi and its significance. But that doesn’t stop us from having some pie-themed fun and exploring some early math concepts! Every year on Pi Day, we make a pie together. As we’re baking, we measure ingredients, cut shapes into the pie dough, and discuss how we’ll partition the pie to ensure that everyone gets an equal share. My kids look forward to our Pi Day tradition every year!
Ariel’s favorite Education.com Pi Day resources
Youngsters who haven’t studied pi yet often miss out on the Pi Day fun. That is why I am excited that the team developed resources to engage students of all ages in activities that have to do with pie! I can’t wait to have my kids complete Decode the Pie: Addition to 10, Pie Memory Match: Uppercase and Lowercase Letters, and Opinion Writing Prompt: Roll-a-Pie to round out our Pi Day celebration.
Amelia Floehr
Senior Curriculum Designer
Pi Day tip: From Pie to Pi
Amelia’s approach to Pi Day is all about building excitement first and letting the math follow naturally.
Pi Day is a great opportunity to get students excited about math! You can hook them in by thinking about pie or other sweet treats, then lead into hands-on explorations. From deriving the value of pi by measuring real-world objects, to competing to see who can memorize the most digits of pi, there are so many ways for students to celebrate Pi Day and discover the joys of math!
Amelia’s favorite Education.com Pi Day resources
One of my favorite Pi Day resources on Education.com is the Probability: The First 100 Digits of Pi worksheet, because it blends probability and statistics with a topic students more commonly see in geometry.
A huge thank you to our talented team of educators at Education.com for sharing their Pi Day tips and favorite resources with us! We hope their ideas inspire you to make March 14th a day full of learning and maybe even a little pie.
Looking for more resources? Check out our entire Learning Library of over 39,000 worksheets, hands-on activities, games, and more!