Pi Day is March 14th, 3.14! Do you know all about Pi. I had fun learning some new things about Pi and sharing them with my son. You can keep Pi really simple for young kids and still have fun and teach a little something too. These easy to set up geometry STEAM activities for Pi Day. He really enjoyed our last geometry activity with shapes. These geometry STEAM activities are a great way to explore, play, and learn with circles. STEM activities can be simple and amazing for kids.
Geometry STEAM Activities for Pi Day
CELEBRATE STEAM AND PLAY WITH Pi
My son is in kindergarten so explaining Pi in it’s entirety is not really practical. However, I did find some easy ways to talk about Pi with him while we played and colored. These simple little geometry STEAM activities can be made as simple as you like for young kids or they can be made a little more challenging for older kids too.
SO WHAT IS Pi?
Some for the things we discussed for our Pi Day:
Pi is a ratio. What is a ratio? A ratio is the relationship between two numbers. How many times does the lowest number go into the highest number. Pi is the circumference/diameter.
Pi is a constant. All circles will have the same ratio of circumference to diameter which is Pi or 3.14.
Pi is a really long number with no repeating pattern. You can even find your birthday in it I have read.
What is the circumference of a circle? The distance around the outside of a circle
What is the diameter of a circle? The distance across a circle. The radius is 1/2 the diameter.
All circles, no matter how big or small, with have the same ratio of diameter to circumference. Why not collect circular objects around the house and test it out. We used a measuring tape and a calculator to find the Pi for each circle. This activity was a little over his level but he enjoyed being a part of it and checking out if Pi was the number we got on the calculator. You can also put the circles in order of size and point out again that no matter how big or small you still get the constant, Pi!
We used containers, cups, lids, and bottle caps. Add a calculator, a small tape measure, and your items to a small bin with pens and paper and you have a geometry STEAM kit for Pi!
SO WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO TO PLAY WITH Pi?
How about a little STEAM fun? We took the items we found and traced their outlines on paper. Add art to your STEM for STEAM by making Pi doodles! We colored them. We created patterns. We talked more about Pi. We had fun together.
I do not have an art or drawing little boy until I find something that interests him! He loved the idea of Pi.
HOW ABOUT MORE GEOMETRY STEAM ACTIVITIES FOR Pi?
Add LEGO. Can you graph Pi? We used basic bricks and the first 8 digits of Pi including the decimal point to graph Pi on a baseplate. He even built two rows of it! He said it looks like city buildings. I bet we could expand on that another time.
So that’s Pi for young kids. I hope you found something fun to try out with your kids. Even if you just simply play with the idea of Pi, you are still introducing a great math concept. Hands-on play is the best learning tool for early childhood.
Easy Geometry STEAM Activities for Kids
CHECK OUT MORE Pi CELEBRATIONS
Spring Tree Coloring Page (Pi Inspired) from Planet Smarty Pants
2D and 3D shapes with Magnatiles from Go Science Girls
2+2=5 Math Magic Trick from AvyTubeHd
Spring Tree Coloring Page (Pi Inspired) from Mama Miss
Pi Day Play Dough from Left Brain Craft Brain
Marian
March 17, 2016 at 10:37 amThanks for your blog! I found it really helpful. As a maths teacher (primary school), I’m constantly on the lookout for new educational tools that can facilitate my students’ learning. I do ‘Math Play’ week regularly, where I introduce a new resource, iPad game, or cool new DIY trick for my kids to pick up math in a more visual and practical way, as I find variety motivates them. I’ve also been using Zap Zap Math… Highly recommend you to test and review the math app yourself, as it’s helped my students a lot. Some features I’d like to point out include:
– The app’s got really engaging graphics, characters and game play, so students don’t realize how much they really learn while engaged in ‘play’
– The math practice worksheets are rich with a universe of educational content, and the app has new exciting math games being added to it every 2 weeks!
– It’s aligned with Common Core standards and learning modules. My students get their foundation right before progressing to higher levels, and they’re addicted to getting higher scores, in and outside of class
– I’ve just signed up for the Virtual Assistant Dashboard at https://www.zapzapmath.com/user/signup, where I can easily keep track of ALL my students’ individual progress, from any place, anytime—parallel to their independent learning. I can identify ‘which’ of my students need help, and ‘where’. Eases my burden of marking and reporting work, which I still have to do right now… I hope someday, heavy paperwork will be totally eliminated from this planet with more connected learning apps like this, built-in with automatic performance analytics!
Zap Zap Math can be downloaded across all devices here: http://www.zapzapmath.com/downloads. Hope you and your readers find it useful, as I have for my students.