(the month with the most birthdays).  Birthdays are wonderful.  Not only do you get cake, gifts, and the opportunity to add (also known as turning a year older), but you also have wonderful opportunities to infuse math into the celebration.  For example, check out our post about the “Birthday Paradox”.

The DragonBox team, well, it goes without saying — we are huge math fans.  But celebrating math is actually something that can be enjoyed by anyone: as a family, between friends, and in the classroom.  As parents and teachers, we observe numerous holidays and milestones with our children.  So, why not add a few math-related holidays to the calendar?

Struggling math student?  A great way to help build a positive association to math, is to celebrate math.  We don’t mean getting out your calculators and having a party (although that does have potential).  However, honoring mathematics in fun and creative way can help grow a curiosity and interest in mathematics.

Here are just a few math holidays that you can celebrate with your children and students to help develop a heightened interest in mathematics, and create new memories:

1. Halloween

October 31st marks the day of pumpkins, costumes, and extreme candy consumption.  Ok, so we know what you might be thinking.  This is not a math holiday.  But if you take a walk down memory lane...remember all the candy-counting?  Have a competition!  Separate your candies into candy-categories, and count how many of each kind you receive.  Add them up for a grand total! You can really have fun with this one.  Since it’s coming up, Halloween just had to make the list. 

2. Pi Day

Celebrated on March the 14th, this holiday recognizes the mathematical constant of Pi, which is often abbreviated to 3.14 – consequently the date of the holiday.  Have your kids create Pi art or simply eat a piece of pie.  Or why not bake a whole pie together?  What child (or adult) wouldn’t want to eat dessert after dinner? No, that wasn’t a trick question.  Happy Pi Day!

3. Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics Day

Celebrated on March 6th, 2017.  Girls will love this day!  This holiday was inspired by Sonia Kovalevsky, a Russian mathematician, to encourage young women to pursue a career in a math or science field.  #girlpower.  This holiday is a fabulous opportunity to talk to your daughter or niece about math and science career options, and inspire her to follow her dreams.  What does she want to be when she grows up?  What careers require a background in mathematics?  Start a conversation.  Share ideas.  Most of all, encourage her.

4. Math 2.0 Day

This holiday, which celebrates the intersection of math and technology, falls on July 8th.  As you can image, we love this holiday!  This day is a great opportunity to point out the important role math plays in our everyday lives.  Let’s face it, sometimes we take math for granted.  Does your child like video games?  Video game math is a great topic of conversation for this holiday!  To help your kids build an even stronger love of math, bake cookies in the shape of numbers.  Now, that’s a party.

5. World Math Day

Celebrated internationally on March 1st, this holiday recognizes all things mathematical.  We love that.  Recognize this day with your kids by doing math puzzles or other games that involve numbers, like Dominos or Connect Four. 

We hope you and your family enjoy these celebrations.  Please share some celebration pictures on our Facebook page!  We’d love to see the creative ways you celebrate math.  Celebrating mathematics can be applied to many holidays —after all, math is everywhere.  Show your children and students that math doesn’t just stop in the classroom.