Three Fun and Easy Math Activities for Preschoolers on Pi Day

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (March 14, 2019) — In celebration of Pi Day, Save the Children, the first global movement for children, shares tips to help preschoolers become “pi”nt-size mathematicians. 

”Math skills aren’t just good to have, they are essential for helping children reach their full potential,” said Shirin Lutfeali, Literacy and Numeracy Advisor for Save the Children. “Parents can do all sorts of simple things to help their children learn math. And you’ll score major points for making it fun.”

Education experts at Save the Children, which teaches children around the world basic math skills to thrive in daily life through its Numeracy Boost program, offer these easy-to-do activities for parents to help youngsters learn basic math, including patterns, shapes and geometry:

1. Transform your chores or the walk to preschool, by pointing out and naming the shapes around you – such as the square windows or the round wheels and asking your child to draw it in the air. Be sure to talk with your child about the number of sides in each shape.
2. Find patterns in clothing, rugs and other household items. Ask your child to point to the shapes in these patterns. Take a piece of paper and draw a pattern of some of these shapes, then have your child copy it. Have your child create their own pattern using shapes.
3. Allow your child to play and experiment with household objects like rolling pins, pots and pans, buckets and bowls. Ask your child to stack these objects from smallest to largest or sort them by shape or function. Ask which shape is most common and which is least. Ask what would happen if a bowl was not round but square shaped, and if a rolling pin was shaped like a cube instead of as a cylinder.

“The important thing is for parents to engage young children in thinking about math concepts and to increase the amount of 'math talk' — incorporating math vocabulary into their daily lives,” added Lutfeali. “The more exposure kids get to 'math talk' at an early age, the better prepared they will be when they encounter math in the classroom and in the real world.”

Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14 (3/14). Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Some additional numbers to chew on this Pi Day, Save the Children was founded in 1919 which makes 2019 the organization’s 100^th anniversary. Since its founding 100 years ago, Save the Children has changed the lives of more than 1 billion children.

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming the future we share. Our results, financial statements and charity ratings reaffirm that Save the Children is a charity you can trust. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.