Pi Day Activities for Little Kids

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 (because the date is 3.14, the beginning of the number for pi), and it’s a great time for kids of all ages to craft with circles, play with numbers, and maybe even eat some actual pie.

If your kids are younger but you still want to have some fun with this holiday, read on. (Activities for older kids to come!)

To introduce the idea of pi to younger kids, explain that it’s a number that expresses the relationship between a circle’s diameter (the measurement across the center from edge to edge) and its circumference (the measurement of the outside edge, all the way around).

Pi is an infinite number and the same digit never repeats (meaning there are, for example, never two 3s in a row).

Since pi is about circles you can make circle prints, cut our circles, use circles in art projects, eat round snacks. Go on a circle hunt! Play ring around the Rosie, or follow the leader in a circle. So many easy ideas.

Pieces by Polly talks about making fraction plates, repeating patterns with pies, making art with circles and making tiny snack pies.

Tinker Lab has a cute pi day printable art challenge. Can you use three colors to decorate the grids with different patterns in 14 minutes?

Royal Baloo has a fun printable pi board game where you collect cards with the goal of getting as many digits of pi as you can.

Teach Beside Me has a printable pi puzzle that goes together to show 25 digits of pi. It’s not as easy as it sounds because the digits repeat.

And this free pi poster from Cindy Lam at Teachers Pay Teachers can be filled out with one child or a whole classroom and includes fun things like listing your favorite thing that’s a circle or words that have the letters pi in them.

Last month I shared a collection of beach crafts that used items from the beach like seashells and sand. This month’s collection is all about beach animals and things you might see at the beach that don’t require beachy materials to make. In fact you’ve probably got what you need to make most of these beach crafts in your house already.

How about paper plates? With a paper plate you can make this cute watercolor seashell from The Educator’s Spin on It, or an adorable seagull like this one from Glued to My Crafts.

Add some white beans and you can make paper plate sand dollars like Crafts by Amanda. Or use a paper plate as a frame for a sweet beach scene like this crab and turtle one from Artsy Craftsy Mom, which includes a downloadable template and instructions to make it super easy.

Or grab a paper plate and some bubble wrap to make a jellyfish like this one from Happy Toddler Playtime. If you have paper bowls instead of plates, you can also make a jellyfish from one of those, like Natural Beach Living did.

Use your stash of craft sticks and googly eyes to make crabs, fish, sharks and more with this craft idea from The Keeper of the Cheerios.

I love this little crab made with a cardboard tube from Hunny I’m Home. With this same idea I’ll bet you could make lots of different creatures.

Grab some construction paper to make the loopy tentacles on this watercolor jellyfish from Craftsy Hacks. Or make a stained glass jellyfish like this one from Life Anchored.

Make easy puffy paint to make these fun fluffy starfish from I Heart Crafty Things, or use cupcake liners to make cute little crabs (also from I Heart Crafty Things).

Turn an old pool noodle into some super cute fish with this tutorial from Happy Toddler Playtime.

And if you’ve got some leftover yarn lying around, make pompoms and turn them into turtles like these from Craftsy Hacks. (And check out my post on different ways to make pompoms if you need a refresher!)

Have you read?

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