Most writers know that pi is always written lowercase. But even at the beginning of a sentence? Even then, pi is not capitalized. And a preposition is still a word never to end a sentence with.

pi (seen in math as the symbol “π”) is an important number representing the ratio between the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Although it is an irrational number that goes on forever, the first three digits are 3.14.

March 14th (3/14) is Pi Day. But that does not satisfy all pi lovers: Some also celebrate July 22 (the reciprocal of 22/7, a common pi approximation).

There is another reason to celebrate Pi Day: March 14th is also the birthday of Albert Einstein and Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman.

We have creative ideas to celebrate with all ages.

Pi Day Inspiration for Your Homeschool:

• Explore math in literature with the books Sir Cumference or the Dragon of Pi

• Measure out 3.14 inches or feet of string

• Practice making the pi symbol in your quinoa tracing tray

• Select 10 different colored beads; assign each color to a digit from 0-9; string the beads to reflect the order of pi’s digits to create a colorful, math-inspired statement necklace.

• Make the pi symbol with playdough or clay

• Bake a pie - reading and math skills, plus snack all rolled into one! (What more could a homeschooler want??)

• Use a drawing compass to create circles of various sizes

• Montessori matching activity using pi digits

• Work with fractions circles (the ShillerLearning Fractions Kit is a great option!)

• Have pot pie for dinner

• Practice pennmanship writing the digits of pi

• Read about famous mathematicians (Einstein is a perfect choice considering it's his birthday)

• Research how it got the name “pi”

• Make a skyline landscape by making a series of bar graphs to represent each digit of pi
  

• Take a field trip to a local pizza place and get a lesson on spinning the perfect pizza pie

• Check out Pi Day activities at your local library or participate in online pi celebrations (https://www.pidaychallenge.com/ or https://www.piday.org/) 

• Find pi with a variety of circular objects - like that pie you baked or a wall clock (using a sewing measuring tape, measure the distance around the circle to find the circumference, divide the measured circumference by the diameter, and you should get the value of pi)

• Using a roll of paper or strips of paper taped together about the length of the perimeter of your room, write out the digits of pi to use in your homeschool learning space as a wall border

• Host a pi digit memorization contest with family and friends (makes a fun challenge for homeschool co-op too)  

• Create a pop art inspired pi wall decoration

• Write a poem, joke, or limerick about pi (an acrostic could be short but fun)

As noted above Pi Day is not only celebrated on March 14th. Here are alternative Pi Days and Pi Approximation Days:

• July 22nd: 22 divided by 7 equals 3.14

• March 4th: 14% of the 3rd month

• April 5th: 3.14 months of the year have passed

• April 26th: Earth has traveled two radians of its orbit (April 25 in leap year), celebrated exactly on the 41st second of the 23rd minute of the 4th hour on April 26 or the 116th day (In leap year, it is celebrated exactly on the 3rd second of the 2nd minute of the 12th hour on April 25 or the 116th day.)

• November 10th: 314th day of the year (November 9 in leap year)

• December 21st at 1:13 pm: The 355th day of the year (December 20 in leap year), celebrated at 1:13 for the Chinese approximation 355/113

Challenge your child can find another date to tie into pi!

When you post pictures of your Pi Day activities, tag @ShillerLearning. We'd love to see you in your pi glory.