Pi Day at the Exploratorium: Math Activities for Kids

Pi day is celebrated on March 14th because the date resembles the first 3 digits pi (3.14). It also happens to be Einstein’s birthday.

The tradition was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The Exploratorium celebrates one of math’s most favorite constants with pi crafts, pi activities, a pi parade, and of course a slice of pie.

Last year we chose to celebrate Pi Day at the Exploratorium and they cannot wait to participate in math festivities again. Pi Day falls on a weekday this year, but I think the experience is worth missing a day of school.

Pi Activities at the Exploratorium

Pi Day Bracelets – Kids make a bracelet that represents the digits of pi by using different colored beads to represent numbers 0-9

Pi Calculation – Kids can calculate pi themselves by measuring the diameter and circumference of different round objects.

Pi Day Lecture – Exploratorium guests give a talk about the history of pi and how it is used in the modern world.

Pi Day Parade – Everyone in the museum gets to line up with a digit of pi and walk around the Exploratorium’s pi shrine.

Exploratorium Exhibits – Most if not all of the Exploratorium exhibits are open during the Pi Day celebration and provide many other engaging opportunities to learn about math and science.

Pi Parade

At 1:59 PM (the fourth, fifth, and sixth digit of pi) a parade is led out of the Exploratorium to walk around the pi shrine outside of the museum 3.14 times. After the parade everyone gets a free slice of pie.

My preschoolers loved participating in the pi parade. Everyone in the parade is given a numbered stick that corresponds with their place in the parade. I feel like this would be a really fun activity to do with elementary aged kids at a school or in a co-op, but I haven’t heard of anyone attempt it.

Thoughts on Pi Day at the Exploratorium

I highly recommend celebrating Pi Day the Exploratorium. If you like math and science and live in the Bay Area, I feel like experiencing the event once is a no brainer. It brought me such joy to see the connection and amusement all of my kids made between circles and pi at this event.

Most of the parents I talked to on Pi day had their kids in a traditional public school, but brought their kid to the Exploratorium on a weekday to teach their kids about math in a fun and unexpected way.

If you don’t live near the Exploratorium, don’t worry! I will be posting fun Pi Day resources and activities that can be done at home or school.