Happy Pi Day

Today we celebrated Pi Day with our friends. For those not in the know, today's date corresponds to the first 3 digits in pi (March 14 = 3.14). We feasted on pizza pie, lemon pie and apple pie. We also had snacks to share in circular dishes.

For a little circle fun, I had each of the kiddos search for a stick. Our family did this a little over a year ago with another group of friends. The results were similar. Discovering how to make the final circle didn't take as long, since a few of the children caught on quickly or were told by those who had done it in the past. 

I shared a few books on circles and pi with everyone. Our family really enjoys the Sir Cumference series (for today we focused on Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi ) for its wit and creativity. Each story deals with mathematical principles and involves a quest. The characters enjoy names such as Sir Cumference, Radius and Lady Di of Ameter. Eamon has read them all several times, yet he picked one up again today to read. They really are enjoyable.

Books shared space with necklace and bracelet making. Each colored bead represented a number, With string in hand, several kiddos diligently strung beads corresponding to the digits in pi. They marveled at the random sequence. We talked briefly about non-repeating decimals and the unique characteristics of this "magic" number. (The colorful pi wheel shown here was crafted by one of our homeschooling friends. She created a visual for everyone that showed the equation circumference/diameter = pi).

Soon everyone scattered wearing their bead jewelry to enjoy the park, chalk and the beautiful weather.