March 14 is Pi Day, giving math lovers all around the world a perfect reason to geek out. Good thing there are loads of hands-on activities available to help you celebrate with your students. We’ve gathered our favorite Pi Day activities that are both infinitely fun and educational to help you get started.
1. Pi Day printables
Kick off your Pi Day celebration with this free Pi Day worksheet bundle. You’ll find print-and-go worksheets covering the history of Pi Day, key vocabulary, student-friendly news and reading practice, art activities, and fraction practice.
2. Learn about the history of Pi Day
Founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw, March 14 was selected because the numerical date (3.14) represents the first three digits of pi. (It also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday—spoiler alert!) Provide your students with research tools and ask questions such as:
- Why is Pi Day celebrated on March 14?
- For how many years has Pi Day been celebrated?
- March 14 is also whose birthday?
- Who tried to find the first calculation of pi?
3. Make Pi Day graph art
Graph the digits of pi onto graph paper using fingers dipped into colorful paint or dot markers. Fun for younger students.
6. Do the math
Provide plenty of circular objects like coffee cans, soup cans, pie tins, paper plates, bowls, CDs, and candles. Then have kids measure the diameter and circumference, divide the circumference by the diameter, and watch their amazement as the number comes out to about 3.14 every single time. You can finish up by measuring some round treats (chocolate chip cookies, anyone?).
4. Make pi necklaces
Using a key designating different colors for each of the digits in pi, have students create their very own pi necklace using colorful pony beads on string.
5. Assemble a Pi Day paper chain
Just like pi, paper chains can be endless in activity time, length, and fun! As a class or grade, create a Pi Day chain with loops of construction paper using a different color for each of 10 digits. Each colored chain link represents a decimal place or a digit. Schools around the country have gotten in on this Pi Day trend and have even attempted world records. How long will your students’ Pi Day chain be?
7. Roll pi digits with dice
Display the first 10 digits of pi on your whiteboard or screen. Then, using Tenzi dice or regular dice, challenge your students to roll the first 10 (or 5) digits of pi, in order. Have them keep track of how many rolls it takes.
11. Play a card game
In this simple card game, kids race to see who can get rid of all their cards as they lay out the digits of pi. You’ll need a deck of cards with 10s, jacks, and queens removed. Aces will represent zero and kings will represent the number one. Or, use Uno cards!
Each player gets seven cards and the rest of the deck sits face down in the middle. The first player is tasked with putting down the first digit of pi, 3. If they don’t have a 3 in their hand, they must draw a card. Play goes back and forth, with each player laying down subsequent digits of pi until they reach 10 total digits. The first player to run out of cards wins!
8. Memorize the digits of pi with a song
Unbelievably, record holder Suresh Kumar Sharma recited 70,030 digits in 17 hours, 14 minutes on March 21, 2015. Use YouTube to find a catchy song that will teach your students the first 100 digits of pi. Play it in the background while your kids work on other projects, and they’ll know it by heart in no time.
9. Make a DIY spirograph
This activity is a fun way to celebrate circles, circumference, diameter … all the things that lead to pi! Make your own DIY spirograph using a large circular shape, like a masking tape roll or the outer circle of a canning jar. For the inner circles, cut circles of different sizes (but smaller than your big circle) from plastic container lids. Punch a few different holes in the plastic circles. To create, simply put the smaller circle into the larger circle, stick a marker through one of the holes on the smaller circle, then rotate it around the edge of the larger circle.
10. Celebrate the story of Albert Einstein
Archimedes may have first calculated pi, but how perfect is it that Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879? Have students research this famous scientist and present facts and artwork to the class. For elementary kids, On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne is our favorite picture book biography of Einstein!
16. Write pi-ku poems
Poems and Pi Day activities go hand in hand. Have your students write their own “pi-ku” poems. Inspired by haiku, these quick poems have a different number of syllables in each line, based on the digits of pi.
First line: 3 syllables
Second line: 1 syllable
Third line: 4 syllables
12. Measure pi with yarn
Discover a magical number present in every circle with just string and scissors. Choose any circular object (an orange, a coffee cup, a roll of tape, a plate) and wrap a piece of yarn completely around the object at its center point. Cut the yarn where the two ends meet—this will be the circumference of the object. Next, use the circumference piece to cut strands the length of the diameter. No matter how big or small your object is, the circumference piece of yarn will be cut into about 3 and 1/7 lengths—pi!
13. Make paper plate pies
Little ones may not be ready to understand the concept of pi itself, but they can get in on the fun with this activity that introduces them to circles and ratios. All you need are some paper plates, construction paper, and a few other basic supplies. Kids mix and match the pieces to make a complete “pie,” learning more about circles along the way.
OK, some of these are going to make your students groan, but we bet you’ll get a giggle or two as well. We put together a list of cheesy Pi Day jokes and puns. See if your students can come up with a few of their own!
17. Measure around
Set out a variety of circular objects. You may have to raid your kitchen, classroom, or even the school gym and music room to collect circles of all sizes. Using measuring tapes, students will measure the length of each circle’s circumference and its diameter and record their work on a chart. Next, they will record their results on a chart with columns labeled: object, circumference, diameter, circumference divided by diameter. See how many of their calculations come out to 3.14.
18. Bake some π cookies
Use a pi-shaped cookie cutter to bake these sweets the night before Pi Day, then have students help you decorate them. You can sell them as part of a fundraiser, or snack on them while you do some of the other Pi Day activities on this list.
22. Dress the part
Every math teacher should consider showing off geeky gear on Pi Day! We love T-shirts that celebrate everyone’s favorite irrational number. Find your favorite online or, if you’re feeling crafty, cut a pi shape out of iron-on vinyl using a die-cut machine or by hand, and then make your own perfect pi shirt.
24. Organize a Pi Day fun run
Did you know that a 5k run is actually just a bit short of 3.14 miles? That makes it the perfect distance to celebrate Pi Day! Of course, it goes without saying … the winners get pie.
19. Create your own pi puzzle
Students write down evenly spaced digits of pi (with space between them) on an index card, filling as much of the card as possible. They then color in and decorate the back side of the card. Cut the card into puzzle pieces. Pair students up and see if they can put each other’s puzzles back together using the number side. If they can’t, have them put the puzzles together using the colored side, turning it over to check their accuracy.
25. Pass out pi pencils
Your class deserves special pencils for completing all these Pi Day activities. You can buy premade pencils with the digits of pi spelled out, or check out our easy tutorial on printing on pencils to whip these up yourself.
26. Create a “stained-glass” pi plate
We love easy crafts with a wow factor, and this one has it for sure! Cut the center out of a white paper plate. Around the rim on the front side, write as many digits of pi as you can. Tape a light-colored piece of tissue paper to the back of the plate, covering the hole. Next, glue circles cut out of different-colored tissue paper to the front side of the light-colored piece, creating a stained-glass effect.
20. Go dotty!
Use a dot marker or create circles with Q-tips and paint for this pointillism art project. Then, have students measure the circumference and diameter of as many of their circles as they can to see if their calculations equal pi.
27. Read Happy Pi Day to You! and make pie plate hats
Happy Pi Day to You! by Bonnie Worth is an engaging and interactive read-aloud to get kids thinking about and measuring circles. For extra fun, grab a stack of disposable pie plates to re-create the Pi Day hats the book’s characters all wear!
28. Learn the secret of pi
This one is especially mind-blowing. 3.14 actually spells PIE when reflected in a mirror! Have your kids write out the number as shown (using a triangular-shaped 4), and then have them hold it up to the mirror.
29. String a pi bracelet
Create a colorful bracelet by stringing pony beads onto a pipe cleaner. Instead of using a key like the necklace activity above, have students string the actual number of beads. For example: 3 red beads, 1 white bead, 4 blue beads, etc.
30. Incorporate pi into your movement break
Need a little movement break? This workout is a fun way to perform simple calisthenics as you make your way through the numbers of pi. For example, 3 jumping jacks, squat jumps, or mountain climbers; 1 deep breath; 4 push-ups, lunges, or squats; 1 deep breath, etc.
21. Graph a pi-line skyline
Using graph paper and colored markers or crayons, graph the digits of pi using a bar graph format. Once the pi-line skyline is created, color in the “buildings” and sky, complete with pi-in-the-sky constellations.
31. Go on a circle scavenger hunt
Make a list of circular objects found in your classroom or around your school, and make copies for small groups. Give each group of two or three students the list and send them off with a time limit to see how many they can find.
32. Plot out pi-inspired art
This is a fun connect-the-dots art activity that will get your students thinking about pi. First, create a color key with a different color representing each of the numbers from 0 to 9. Then, referencing a printout of the numbers in pi, draw colored dots at random to fill the paper with as many digits of pi as you would like. In other words, randomly disperse the numbers of pi on the paper in the form of colored dots. Finally, using the color key, connect the dots to create a cool 3D figure.
33. Have a few laughs
Check out our hilarious collection of pi memes from across the internet, and share a few insider nerdy math jokes.
23. Have a pi word challenge
You don’t need to be a math teacher to celebrate with Pi Day activities. Instead of a pie-eating contest, hold a pi-writing contest in your classroom. Set a timer to three minutes and challenge your students to write as many words as they can that start with “pi.” Ready, set, go! (Hint: pink, pimple, pizza, pick, etc.)
35. Rotate through Pi Day math stations
Pi Day should be a celebration! Set up rotating stations and allow students to circulate with their friends. Recommended activities: calculating circumference, identifying radius/diameter, word problems, puzzle cards, and a quick digital quiz. Set a timer and have groups rotate every 8–10 minutes.
36. Play a roll-and-calculate game
All you need for this math activity is a pair of dice, paper, and pencils. First, students roll dice to generate a diameter. Then, using that number, they calculate a circumference and an area. Add challenge cards for extensions (rounding, unit conversions, etc.).
37. Create pi mandalas
Students use compasses and rulers to create layered circular mandalas, labeling radii, diameters, and angles within the design.
34. Celebrate Pi Day with a tasty math activity
What’s a kid’s favorite pie? Pizza pie! Here’s a fun Pi Day pizza math activity that kids can really relate to.
Give each student a 2-inch wide x 18-inch long strip of paper. Show them how to fold the strip accordion style into 2-inch sections. When the entire strip is folded, label the top square 3.14. On each subsequent square, write the next number in the pi sequence. When they are finished, they can fold the accordion back up, secure it with a paper clip, and pop it in their pocket. A fun tool to use for memorization, speed games, quick quizzes, and more.
39. Build-a-circle challenge
Provide students with an assortment of strings cut to different lengths. Each string will represent a circle’s circumference. Students must figure out the diameter and draw the circle correctly on paper. They can check their answer by using the string as a measure.
40. Hold a pi relay race
Divide students into two teams. Supply each team with a stack of identical increasingly complex pi word problems. On your mark, the first member of each team races to solve the first problem before tagging the next teammate. Continue the process until one team’s players have all finished a problem. Create new teams, mix the deck of problems, and go for the next round.
41. Play True or False: Pi Edition
Read a statement such as “All circles have the same circumference” or “Doubling the radius doubles the area” aloud to the class. Students raise their hands to answer true or false. When chosen, have them give the answer and defend it with mathematical reasoning. This can also be a partner or small-group activity.
