Seven Founding Hills

I don’t know about you, but I love throwing parties! I love themes, I love games, and I love food! Since I also love science and math, celebrating Pi Day is a no-brainer.

One of the most fun and inspiring school parties I ever attended was for Pi Day. Now that we homeschool, our celebration is scaled down to fit our family of six, but we still enjoy food and activities that give us a hands-on experience with pi.

Here’s my ultimate checklist for throwing a fun and educational Pi Day party for your class or family!

What is Pi Day

Pi (π) is a mathematical constant that represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. No matter the size of the circle, this ratio is always approximately 3.14159. It is an irrational number so it goes on forever without repeating. Pi is an essential number in geometry, engineering, and many areas of science. On March 14th (3/14), math lovers around the world celebrate Pi Day with fun activities, delicious pie, and creative ways to explore this fascinating number!

Pi Day Food

Circle Charchutterie

Create a pi grazing table with circular foods. This food idea is easy to coordinate for a potluck with a sign up list.

Round Crackers: Ritz crackers or Trader Joe’s Pita bites
Round Meat: salami or pepperoni
Round Cheeses: mozzarella, provolone, and brie
Round Fruit: sliced oranges and kiwi, grapes, and blueberries
Round Vegetables: sliced cucumbers and pickles or tomatoes and olives

Pizza

Pizza “pi” is already a party favorite! We usually grab ours from Costco for an easy and delicious option.

Pie

You can’t have a Pi Day celebration without pie! This delightful homophone can be found in most grocery stores or made at home. Last year the Exploratorium served apple, cherry, and cream pie at the end of their Pi Parade.

Pi Day Games

Foxes and Squirrels – A circle game that involves moving a fox (small ball) around the circumference of a circle and trying to hit the fox with a squirrel(large ball) traveling across the circle as a chord

Pi Scavenger Hunt – Look for circular objects around the classroom or items that measure around 3.14

Guessing Jar – Place a regular sized item cylindrical jar. See if students can use the volume of cylinder to correctly guess the number of items in the jar

Pi Card Game – Race to make pi using a deck of cards. First to lose all their cards wins

Pi Day Parade – Have the kids line up and handout the digits of pi in order. They can parade around the school or black top.

Pi Day Activities

Pi Day Bracelet – Make a bracelet that represents the digits of pi using 11 different colored beads.

Pi Day Skyline – Use graphing paper to make a pi cityscape.

Measure Pi with Yarn – Measure the diameter of a round object with yarn or a paper strip and have kids find how many it takes to make the circumference. I love this demonstration for younger kids

Calculate Pi at Home – Measure the diameter and circumference of household objects to calculate pi.

Buffon’s Needle – Estimate pi by throwing sticks at a group of parallel lines

Party Itinerary

Throwing a party can feel overwhelming. I My perfect party formula is to pick a theme, food, and 2-3 games or activities for people to do.

Elementary School

Elementary school teachers have a lot of flexibility in their day because they are with their class all day. Prior to the party I would give a brief lesson on what pi is.

Lower Elementary

In a lower elementary setting after a brief lesson on pi, I would choose a class craft or a class game and then have the kids enjoy party food.

Lower Elementary Sample Itinerary

20 minutes – Read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi

30 minutes – Make a Pi Day Skyline

30 minutes – Go outside and play Foxes and Squirrels

20 minutes – Enjoy Pi Day food inside the classroom or lunch tables

Upper Elementary

In an upper elementary setting I would give a lesson on what pi is and have the kids work in groups of 4-6 to calculate pi themselves.

After the pi day lesson and demonstration I would set up three pi day activity or game stations and let a third of the kids work at each station. I’d let each group work at each station of 15 minutes before they put away their work and move to the next station.

Upper Elementary Sample Timeline

20 minutes – Read Sir Cumference and Dragon of Pi

30 minutes – Group 4-6 kids together and have them calculate pi using round objects

50 minutes – Students take turns at pi skyline station, Buffon’s Pie Toss, and a Pi scavenger hunt. After 15 minutes students switch stations. I would be sure to include time to transition.

Middle School/ High School

In middle school and high school most classes are a 1 hour block. If I only had an hour to throw a party, but they have a greater capacity to work independently. I would set up 3-4 activity centers where students select where to work at.

Middle School/ High School Sample Itinerary

10 minutes – Review what Pi is with students and start allowing them to serve food

40 minutes – Students who have their snack can start working at an activity station. For this age I would set up a Pi Day Card game station, Buffon’s Needle demonstration, and Pi Day bracelet station. I would also set up a estimation jar game for students. The winner can win a prize, extra credit, or some other freebie.

10 minutes – Have students reset activities and clean up food

Friends and Family

Throwing a Pi Day party for family and friends does not need a lot of structure of timelines. I would order pizza and serve Costco pie and set up 2-3 activities for people

What are You Doing for Pi Day?

Last year, we celebrated Pi Day at the Exploratorium, and it was a blast! My kids still talk about the Pi Day bracelets, the Pi Day Parade, and (of course) the pie. We plan on attending again this year.

My middle schooler is starting geometry this month, so I’m especially excited about the educational connections we’ll make. In the week leading up to Pi Day, we plan to:

• Calculate pi using household objects
• Conduct Buffon’s Needle experiment
• Create a Pi Skyline using graph paper

Look for my Pi Day lesson plans next week!

Let me know what your plans for Pi Day are in the comments! I’d love to hear your ideas.