Celebrate Pi Day
Pi Day on March 14th is celebrated around the world as a day of math, learning, and of course, delicious pie! Pi, or the Greek letter “π”, refers to a mathematical constant often used in geometry. It is approximately 3.141592, with digits continuing infinitely and without pattern. No matter how you slice, you don’t want to miss out on these fun Pi Day activities!
Memorizing Pi Digits Competition
Pi is a never ending string of numbers calculated through trillions of digits. So, see how many digits of Pi you can memorize, and hold a competition with your friends and family! Furthermore, whoever accurately recites the most numbers gets a prize, or maybe the largest slice of pie at dessert. Look up the digits and start memorizing!
Bake a Pie to Celebrate Pi Day
There’s not a more delicious way to celebrate Pi Day than by baking a pie. Choose your favorite seasonal fruit, some flour and sugar, and get baking. Try creating a pie crust from scratch, or get creative with the shape of your crust! Remember that baking inherently involves math and science, so you can review fractions and conversions while you measure out the ingredients.
Celebrate Einstein’s Birthday
March 14 is not only Pi Day, but also the birthday of one of the most famous mathematicians and theoretical physicists, Albert Einstein! Celebrate the Nobel Laureate’s birthday by sharing your favorite Einstein quote or hold an Einstein look-alike contest. In addition, learn about his most famous findings in mathematics.
Take a 3.14 Mile Walk
We know the benefits of physical activity are incredibly important, so lace up your sneakers and take a leisurely walk, jog, or run for 3.14 miles. Enjoy the fresh air and challenge your body to go a little bit further than your average walk. Furthermore, you can make it a game and see who can run the full 3.14 miles fastest, or set up a 3.14 mile obstacle course through your neighborhood!
Tell Some Math Jokes
Celebrate Pi Day by sharing your favorite math pun, or try and come up with one on your own! For inspiration, here are a few of our favorites!
- Why wasn’t the geometry teacher at school? Because she sprained her angle!
- What did the triangle say to the circle? “You’re pointless.”
- Why was math class so long? The teacher kept going off on a tangent.
- Why did Pi get its driver’s license revoked? Because it didn’t know when to stop.
Hold a Pie Eating Contest
After baking your delicious pie, turn up the heat by organizing a pie eating contest. Give everyone a generous slice (or their own whole pie!), tie their hands behind their back, set the timer for 3 minutes and 14 seconds, and see who can eat the most. Then, whoever wins the competition doesn’t have to clean up the inevitable mess you’ve made!
Watch a Movie Celebrating Math
Wind down from an exciting day of activities and pieces of pie with a movie inspired by the wonders of mathematics. Turn on the 2014 film “Theory of Everything,” a movie that follows theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s life starting at University of Cambridge. You can watch the 1997 classic “Good Will Hunting” following a 20-year-old math genius in South Boston. Or check out the 2001 drama “A Beautiful Mind” which recounts the life of Nobel Laureate John Nash.
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