Preschool Math unit on shapes with homemade snack crafts, games, printables and book connections

Hello my Omschooligans! Teacher Omi, of the Omschool, here with a back-to-school preschool math unit on shapes you're going to love. These math activities features hands-on lesson plans, including geometry themed homemade snack craft projects, games, printables and book connections.  Here's a basic printable math shapes chart. 

Preschool shape math games and printables 

• Shape Up Match Game: Print the chart above to hang in your classroom. Omi has one in the Omschool Tree Fort! Next, use this free printable game, one per student and have them cut out the shape word cards. This make the game do double duty as a math craft to practice fine motor and scissors skills. Or make one, laminate it and use for math learning center tasks. 

• Shape-O: Play this like Bingo by calling out different shapes and have students place tokens on the appropriate objects with that shape. 

• Shape sorting game: Print blank bingo cards and assign students the task of drawing different basic shape objects in each of the squares. They might also cut pictures from magazine or use the shape sorting cards and glue them under the appropriate shape word. 

• Shape Scavenger hunt: Give students a list of shapes have them search the classroom (tree fort!) playground or backyard for items of the shape: 
  
• Shape Up Yoga: provide yoga mats and have children bend their bodies to represent different shapes. 
  
  
  

Shapes snack craft projects

• Watermelon wedges and half slices (triangle and semi-circle)
• Cantaloupe and honey dew melon balls 
• Sailboat sandwiches (favorite sandwiches cut in four triangles)
• Cheese and pepperoni crackers (cheese cut into different shapes) 
• Cheese cubes, grape tomatoes and triangle cut cucumbers on toothpicks

Books about shapes from the Omschool Tree Fort Story Corner 

• Ehlert, Lois. Color Zoo. HarperCollins, 1989.

  • Uses layered die-cut pages featuring basic geometric shapes (circles, squares, triangles) to form dynamic animal faces.

• Walsh, Ellen Stoll. Mouse Shapes. Harcourt, Inc., 2007.

  • Features three clever mice who build houses, trees, and a cat out of colorful cut-paper shapes to escape a predator.

• Dodds, Dayle Ann. The Shape of Things. Illustrated by Julie Lacome. Candlewick Press, 1994.

  • Shows how individual shapes come together to construct everyday scenes like houses, boats, and train cars through rhyming verse.

• MacDonald, Suse. Shape by Shape. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007.

  • Uses die-cut cutouts of various shapes on each page turn to gradually reveal a dinosaur.

• Hall, Michael. Perfect Square. Greenwillow Books, 2011.

  • Demonstrates creativity and resilience by showing how a single square can be torn, cut, or shredded to transform into entirely new, beautiful structures.

Real-World & Environmental Shape Recognition

• Hoban, Tana. Shapes, Shapes, Shapes. Greenwillow Books, 1986.

  • A classic wordless photo-essay that challenges children to discover hidden shapes within everyday urban and rural environments.

• Murray, Diana. City Shapes. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016.

  • Explores geometry through a young girl's bustling city walk, highlighting skyscrapers, kites, and sidewalk tiles.

• Thong, Roseanne Greenfield. Round Is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes. Illustrated by John Parra. Chronicle Books, 2013.

  • Teaches shape recognition through cultural items and foods like tortillas, sombreros, and paletas.

• Sidman, Joyce. Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. Illustrated by Beth Krommes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

  • Focuses on the unique prevalence and beauty of spiral shapes found throughout the natural world.

Interactive & Humor-Driven Books

• Burns, Marilyn. The Greedy Triangle. Illustrated by Gordon Silveria. Scholastic, 1994.

  • Introduces geometry concepts as a dissatisfied triangle keeps visiting a shape-shifter to add more sides and angles.

• Hopgood, Tim. Walter's Wonderful Web. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015.

  • Follows a determined spider attempting to build webs out of sturdy triangles, squares, and rectangles to withstand the wind.

• Bingham, Kelly. Circle, Square, Moose. Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. Greenwillow Books, 2014.

  • A humorous meta-narrative where an disruptive moose continually interrupts a standard presentation on shapes.

3D Shapes & Advanced Concepts

• Murphy, Stuart J. Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes. Illustrated by Damon Mitchell. HarperCollins, 2001.

  • Focuses on three-dimensional geometry (cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres) as a superhero navigates outer space.

• Hoban, Tana. Cubes, Cones, Cylinders, & Spheres. Greenwillow Books, 2000.

  • A full-color photograph collection showcasing three-dimensional objects in real-world settings.

Reinforce lesson plans by having students sit arranged in various shapes for story time! 

Back-to-School Party with snack crafts, craft projects, games, homemade school supplies and printables

Hello my Omschooligans! Teacher Omi is back with more fun activities and lesson plans from the Omschool Tree Fort! Since we're heading back to school soon I thought I'd throw us a back-to-school party with games, snack crafts, craft projects and of course, children's literature connections! These free printable lesson plans are available for non-profit and homeschool use and may be shared with proper attribution. 

Back-to-School themed snack crafts

You know that we in the Omschool Tree Fort love multipurpose educational activities that address several learning objectives (and are fun, must have fun!). So we make edible crafts that are fun to make and eat! They also help us develop food prep, fine motor, kitchen science and following directions skills! Today's craft treats feature school supplies themes. 

Pretzel Pencils: Use the picture above to create these pencil snack crafts! You'll need

• pretzel rods 
• cream cheese, almond or peanut butter or spray cheese (in the can)
• color a bit of cream cheese brown with dark cocoa powder for pencil tips
• or use dark chocolate frosting (see healthier frosting recipe below)
• or use black decorator icing
• pink marshmallows or pieces of watermelon (for the eraser)
• carrot tips (you can "sharpen" these in a vegetable spiralizer.
• cheese slices (optional) 
• plastic knives 

Directions: Set out supplies assembly line style or give each student a plate with all she'll need to make one pencil. Attach marshmallow eraser and carrot tip with nut butter, cream cheese or spray cheese. Cut a 1-inch strip of cheese slice and wrap around pretzel to resemble gold band. Save the rest of the cheese for your next snack craft! You can also use a cheese chunk as shown or use the spray cheese. (Thank you grandson Milo for reminding Omi of this versatile snack food!) Dip tip in black icing or colored cream cheese. 

Book Sandwiches

What better snack to enjoy in the reading corner than a book sandwich? They're so easy to create, too! 

1. Make your favorite kind of sandwich using square or rectangular bread (like Pepperidge Farm): tuna or egg salad, PBJ, cheese and pickle, you choose! 
2. "Frost" the top of your sandwich with any color cream cheese (see tips below for natural coloring dyes) or homemade frosting (for sweet sandwiches). Keep reading for a healthier low sugar frosting recipe. 
3. Frost with yogurt if you prefer. 
4. Place some cream cheese or frosting in a decorator bag and write your book title across the top. Or use Milo's spray cheese idea. Use a known book title or create your own! 
5. You can also use letter pretzels or cereal for shorter titles. 
6. Tuck a strip from your cheese slice in as a bookmark. Or use a Fruit Roll-up. 
7. Decorate cover with fruit or veggie pieces cut like hearts, stars, etc. 
   
   
   
   

Fruit and Veggie Markers and Crayons

What could be better than coloring with crayons? Coloring with edible crayon that's what! Use different sized vegetable corers to create a rainbow of markers you can eat, using fruits and vegetables. Cut tube shapes from pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. Cut and de-string celery into skinny sticks. Use skinny mini cucumbers, rainbow carrots and carrot sticks just as they are. Cut pepper strips to resemble crayons. Serve in pencil cases which can be reused for real markers and crayons, later. Children will enjoy cutting the fruit and vegetables. 

Alphabet snack crafts

• Edib-letters: Reading is so much more fun with edible ABCs! Look for ABC cookies, pretzels and snack crackers at Walmart, Aldi (Benton's), Target, Trader Joe's and Meijer. Check Amazon for letter themed Haribo fruit snacks, Cheez-Its and Earth's Best Organic Sesame Street letter cookies. 

• Alphabet Mak-sheesh: That's what my granddaughter called mac and cheese. So for back-to-school, we'll cook up some letter pasta and make yummy macaroni and cheese. Here's Omi's recipe. 
• Cook one box letter pasta till al dente (tender but not falling apart). While it's cooking...
• Make cheese roux:
• melt one stick salted butter over low heat
• add 8 oz cream cheese cubes or blended cottage cheese and melt
• add 1-2 c. sharp cheddar and melt
• season with garlic, black pepper and celery salt
• slowly add milk you've allowed to warm to room temp (use as much as it takes to get roux to thick, creamy consistency.
• Drain pasta and pour roux over pasta. 
• Gently stir and add a little grated parmesan cheese. 

• Alpha-Veggie Soup: A classic favorite, kids will love prepping this! 
• Cut carrots, red onions, celery and yellow peppers into bite-sized pieces. 
• Shred purple cabbage to make one cup. 
• Sauté in butter with poultry seasoning or umami seasoning. 
• Add chicken broth (without MSG) to make about six cups. 
• Cook pasta in this mixture, slowly. 
• Snip cilantro, parsley and basil and top soup with these. 

• Alphabet pasta salad: 
• Cook pasta, drain and rinse. 
• Add chunk imitation crab meat or canned chicken or tuna.
• Halve grape tomatoes. 
• Cut yellow and orange bell peppers into pieces. 
• Blend with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard to taste. 
• Season with black pepper and dill weed. 

  🌈 Rainbow Edible Playdough

  Safe, taste-tested fun naturally colored with kitchen ingredients!

  Base Dough Ingredients

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option)
  • ½ cup honey or agave syrup
  • 2 cups powdered milk (or oat flour/ground rolled oats)

  Natural Color Tinting Options

  • Red / Pink: 1–2 tsp beet root powder or concentrated berry juice
  • Orange: 1 tsp carrot powder or carrot juice reduction
  • Yellow: ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • Green: 1 tsp spirulina powder or matcha powder
  • Brown: 1 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder

  Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, mix the butter/nut butter and honey together until smooth.
  2. Gradually add the powdered milk or oat flour, kneading with clean hands until a soft, non-sticky dough forms. If too sticky, add a bit more powdered milk; if too dry, add a drop of honey.
  3. Divide the dough into smaller balls for coloring.
  4. Knead your chosen natural color ingredient into each dough ball until the shade is evenly distributed.
  5. Shape, play, and snack! Store unused dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

• 3 tbsp raw honey (adjust to taste)

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• Pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Beat the Base: In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high speed until completely smooth and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

2. Blend Sweetener & Flavor: Add the honey, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt. Beat on medium speed for another 1–2 minutes until fully incorporated and creamy.

3. Chill & Set: For best piping or spreading consistency, cover and chill in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes before using.

Tips & Variations

• Flavor Boost: Add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon or lemon zest for extra warm or bright flavor notes.

• Frosting coloring tips: "Dye" frosting with beet or berry juice, spirulina or spinach powder, dark cocoa powder             

• Storage: Store frosted baked goods or leftover frosting in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Money-saving Apps, Cashback Rewards, Coupons, Educator discounts for teachers (plus FREE stuff!)

 Hello my omschooligans! Here at the Omschool, we're thinking about back to school. Teacher Omi has created a guide to saving money on supplies and materials for your classroom or homeschool. I've linked to cost-cutting apps, cashback and rewards programs, coupon extension and educator discount programs. And keep reading for bonus freebies! 

Comparison shopping, cashback apps and rewards programs

Top Cashback & Coupon Browser Extensions

• Rakuten: Best for standard, reliable cashback percentages across thousands of online retail and school supply stores.

• PayPal Honey: Automatically tests and applies working promo codes at checkout for online orders.

• Capital One Shopping: Great for real-time price comparisons to check if art supplies are cheaper at another retailer before you buy.

• TopCashback: Passes 100% of affiliate commissions back to users, making it a strong alternative for high baseline cashback percentages.

• Coupert: An automated coupon tester and cashback tool with a quick rewards turnaround cycle.

• Swagbucks: Earn cash back and gift cards for online shopping, browsing, and taking short surveys.

• RetailMeNot: A popular destination for crowdsourced coupon codes, printable store coupons, and cash-back offers.

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Mobile Apps for In-Store & Receipt Savings

• Ibotta: Ideal for getting cashback on everyday household essentials, retail goods, and classroom supplies by scanning receipts or linking store accounts.

• Fetch: An effortless rewards app where you simply snap photos of any shopping receipt to earn gift card points.

• Upside: Useful for getting automatic cashback on everyday travel essentials like gas if you are driving to physical stores or supply warehouses.

Shopping sites with educator discounts

• Meijer: Offers a year-round 15% discount on eligible in-store school and home office supplies (including items like paper products, classroom storage, writing utensils, and kids' apparel). To redeem, educators can present a valid school ID at their local customer service desk to receive a paper coupon.

• Staples: Offers periodic in-store educator appreciation discounts (such as 20% off purchases with a valid teacher ID) alongside rotating seasonal welcome offers, free supply kits, or rewards programs. Promotions can vary by location and time of year, so checking local store offers or the Staples app is recommended.

• Scholastic: Provides a 10% welcome discount for new educators who sign up for an account on the Scholastic Teacher Store (valid for purchases up to $500). Teachers also gain access to ongoing classroom rewards, special book collection sales, and recurring promotional discounts like bulk paperback deals. 

• Michaels: Offers a 15% discount on your entire purchase, including sale items, for verified educators (online and in-store via Michaels Rewards).

• JOANN: Provides a 15% teacher discount via a Teacher Rewards program, which covers craft supplies, fabrics, storage solutions, and classroom decor. It is available to verified K-12 teachers, higher-education staff, and authorized homeschool educators.

• Blick Art Materials: Features a Preferred Customer Program for art educators that provides a 10% discount on art supplies, paper, and classroom materials.

• Office Depot / OfficeMax: Offers a "Give Back to Schools" program where schools receive 5% back in credits for qualifying supplies when teachers link their school ID at checkout, alongside periodic high-value teacher coupon events (such as 20% back or percentage-off promotions).

• Hobby Lobby: Offers a 10% discount on select merchandise purchased with a church, school, or organizational tax-exempt form or check.

Ways to Save at Amazon and Walmart

• Seasonal Back-to-School Promotions: Walmart occasionally runs limited-time promotions, giveaways, or temporary teacher appreciation events around the back-to-school season, though these vary by year.

• Walmart Business Account: Educators and homeschool organizations can set up a free Walmart Business account, which provides access to quantity/bulk pricing and tax-exempt purchasing capabilities for classroom needs.

• Everyday Savings Tools: Because there is no standard teacher ID discount code, shoppers typically rely on general platform features like Rollbacks, Flash Deals, or stacking cash-back apps (like Ibotta or Fetch) to lower the cost of classroom and art supplies.

• Amazon Business for Education: Educators, schools, and homeschool operations can sign up for a free Amazon Business account. This provides access to quantity discounts (bulk pricing), multi-user accounts, and tax-exempt purchasing options for qualifying educational supplies.

• Amazon Devices (ID.me): Occasionally, specific sub-departments like Amazon Devices offer targeted promotions or small cash-back incentives for verified teachers through verification networks like ID.me, though this doesn't cover general store-wide items.

• General Deal Stackers: Since standard teacher discounts aren't available, maximizing savings on classroom hauls usually relies on combining everyday platform features like Amazon Coupons, daily lightning deals, warehouse open-box deals (Amazon Resale), or stacking external cash-back extensions and apps.

  
  
  

Value-added FREE money-savers

Here is a list of top websites offering free printable lesson plans, activities, and worksheets for classrooms and homeschooling:

• Share My Lesson: A massive, community-driven platform created by educators and specialists, offering thousands of free, peer-reviewed lesson plans, activities, and downloadable resources spanning Pre-K through high school.

• Teacher Planet: Features a robust collection of free lesson plans, customizable templates, rubrics, thematic units, and printable worksheets for K-12 educators.

• Teachers Pay Teachers (Free Section): While known as a marketplace, TPT has a dedicated free section featuring thousands of educator-created task cards, worksheets, and complete lesson plans.

• The Teacher's Guide: Offers a wide variety of free lesson plans, printouts, seasonal thematic units, and early-childhood/elementary resources.

• PBS LearningMedia: Provides standards-aligned lesson plans, interactive media, and printable support materials across multiple subjects with a strong emphasis on STEM, science, and social studies.

• ReadWriteThink: Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), this site provides completely free, high-quality lesson plans, student interactives, and printable ELA resources.

• Enchanted Learning: Offers thousands of creative craft projects, printable worksheets, and thematic lesson plans designed for early childhood and elementary learners.

• Scholastic: Provides extensive free teacher lesson plans, reading guides, printables, and classroom activity toolkits across all grade levels.

• Free Printable Lesson Plans (this site!): Features a vast selection of Montessori style interactive games, worksheets, crafts, and printable lesson plans for all ages, subjects and content areas. 

• DLTK's Educational Crafts: A favorite resource for educators looking for free, hands-on craft projects, coloring pages, and thematic learning activities that tie directly into early childhood lesson plans.

And the big ta-da freebie

Your best friend for endless free craft supplies, classroom materials and activities is...the recycle bin.

Here's a list of things to save for classroom and homeschool use (washed and clean)

• milk jugs 
• cans (run can opener around edges to smooth, then duct tape to make safe)
• carboard boxes from pasta, cereal, Jello (all sizes)
• spice containers 
• glass jars with lids
• packing materials
• preformed box inserts (from appliances)
• cardboard paper towel and  toilet paper tubes
• oatmeal drums
• colored plastic bags
• paper inserts and envelopes from mailers
• plastic carton from cottage cheese, yogurt, butter, with lids
• pill bottles
• bottle caps
• bottles
• foil and waxed paper scraps
• construction paper scraps
• baby food jars
• plastic trays and baskets
• corks and milk rings
• bread tags and bread bags
• twist ties
• plastic bags
• paper bags

Found household objects to save

• fabric scraps
• yarn and ribbon
• wrapping paper
• bows
• fake feathers 
• silk flowers 
• buttons
• game pieces
• small gumball machine toys
• broken pencils
• crayons
• dried out markers and pens (you never know what clever a kid will reuse this)
• coins
• washers and screws

Free Printable Pizza Math Fractions Lesson Plans with recipes, crafts and activities for Pi Day

Hello my Omschooligans! Today in the Omschool Tree Fort, Teacher Omi here has baked up some pizza math fractions lesson plans, originally written for Pi Day (March 14). But why wait till March? Here are pie fractions activities to teach fun, tasty hands-on math. You'll find math fractions worksheets, games, craft projects, recipes and literature connections for a supreme pizza math unit! 

Pi Day and Pizza Math Overview 

1. Introduction to Pi Day

• Date & Significance: March 14 (3/14) celebrates Pi Day, named after the mathematical constant Pi from the Greek, representing 3.14 (or the fraction 22/7) used in geometry.

• We use Pi to demonstrate the circumference of a circle, so using pies and pizza to show these concepts makes yummy mathematical sense.

 

Pizza math lesson plans with fun baked in! 

Goal: Use hands-on, interactive, and multisensory pizza-themed lessons to help students overcome math anxiety and explore math in lateral thinking ways. 

• Circumference & Pi Craft: The "Pie" Formula Project: Use this activity to explore the significance of Pi. 

  1. Materials Needed

  • A Mini Graham Cracker Crust (or a small round paper plate cut to look like a pie crust)

  • Yarn or String (long enough to wrap around the crust)

  • A Ruler or Measuring Tape (marked in inches or centimeters)

  • Scissors

  • A Marker or Pen

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  2. Step-by-Step Instructions

  • Step 1: Measure the Diameter ($d$)

    • Lay a piece of string straight across the exact center of your pie crust from one edge to the other, passing through the middle.

    • Cut the string to match this exact length. This length represents the diameter ($d$) of your circle.

    • Use your ruler to measure this diameter string and write down the measurement (for example, let's say a standard mini crust diameter is about 4 inches or roughly 10 centimeters).

  • Step 2: Measure the Circumference ($C$)

    • Take a new, longer piece of string and carefully wrap it once all the way around the outer circular edge (the rim) of the pie crust.

    • Cut the string where it meets the starting point. This length is the circumference ($C$)—the total distance around the outside of the circle.

  • Step 3: Discover Pi ($\pi \approx 3.14$)

    • Take your diameter string and lay it end-to-end along your circumference string to see how many times it fits.

    • You will discover that the diameter string fits around the outer edge $3$ full times, with a little bit left over (specifically, about 0.14 of another length).

    • This physical experiment proves the geometric constant: $\pi$ ($3.14$) is the exact multiplier telling us that any circle's circumference is a little more than three times the length of its diameter!

  • Step 4: Math Verification

    • Test the formula mathematically: Multiply your measured diameter by 3.14 ($C=\pi \times d$).

    • Compare your calculated number to the actual measured length of your circumference string to see how close your math craft comes to the true mathematical constant!

2. Preschool Pizza Math 

Teach geometry, shapes, numbers and colors with pizza by making a pizza toppings code. Cut these shapes in these colors to represent different things you add to pizza. 

• Topping Shapes & Colors:

  • Mushrooms: brown semi-circles

  • Onions: White cubes.

  • Sausage: Brown spheres.

  • Pepperoni: Red circles.

  • Colored Peppers: Orange triangles.

  • Pineapple: Yellow rectangles.

  • Cheese: yellow trapezoids and rhombuses.

• Provide each student with an assortment of pizza toppings and a small crust (or tortilla shell). 

• Paper Plate Pizza. Have students cut colored paper shapes. Provide white paper plates. Call out different toppings to add to pizza. 

• Core Concepts: Teach shapes, numbers, and colors by having students discuss topping descriptions, colors, and specific quantities (e.g., placing five circles, two red items, and three green rectangles on a pizza). 

  
  
  

3. Pizza Mathematical Concepts & Lessons

• Sorting and Classifying:

  • Sort pizza toppings into distinct categories by color or shape.

  • Group items by color (e.g., place all orange items in a pile).

  • Sort by food groups (dairy, vegetables, and meat) to create a graph or pie chart.

• Adding and Subtracting:

  • Start by having kids add a specific number of a certain topping, then add more to count the total.

  • Practice subtraction by beginning with larger amounts, taking toppings away, and counting the remainder.

  • Practice skip counting by adding in increments of $2s$, $3s$, $5s$, and so on.

• Fractions:

  • Demonstrate how to divide a pizza into halves, thirds, quarters, eighths, etc.

  • Show equivalencies (e.g., two sixths equals one third; four eighths equals one half).

  • Demonstrate reducing fractions, finding common denominators, and adding/subtracting unlike fractions.

  • Use clean string or yarn to section off reusable pizzas, or utilize a classroom set of pre-divided pizzas.

• Multiplication and Division:

  • Divide pizzas into temporary sections/fractions and distribute toppings one by one per section until all are used (e.g., dividing a pizza into eight sections and distributing 64 pepperoni pieces).

  • Reverse the process for multiplication by placing an equal number of toppings on each section and counting the total.

  • Teach remainders by giving out an uneven number of toppings for kids to divide.

• Decimals:

  • Explain that decimals are fractions with base-ten denominators, where the number of place values after the decimal point determines the denominator (one place = tenths, two places = hundredths, three places = thousandths).

  • Divide a pizza into tenths to teach basic fraction and decimal equivalencies.

• Percentages:

  • Use the pizza as a pie graph where a whole pizza represents 100% and any portion represents a percentage of 100 (e.g., half equals 50% (or .5 or 50/100, one quarter equals 25\%, .25 or 25/100.

  • Teach the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percents (percents are fractions with denominators of 100; decimals are percent without the decimal point, such as 37\% being 0.37 or 37/100).

• Ratios and Proportions:

  • Teach that proportions are fractions (e.g., a proportion of 3 to 10 means three parts out of ten total parts).

  • Teach ratios as comparisons (e.g., a classroom boy-girl ratio of 5:6 means five boys for every six girls).

  • Apply this to pizza by creating pizzas with specific ratios, such as a 3:10 pepperoni ratio or a 2:3 ratio of green peppers to mushrooms.

4. Conclusion & Benefits of Hands-On Learning

• Party Celebration: Once lessons are completed, let students customize their pizzas to taste (removing ingredients they dislike) and enjoy a Pi Day pizza party.

• Special Education & Accessibility: Hands-on, multisensory (smell, touch, taste) lessons make content approachable for special education teachers working with:

  • LD (learning disabled) students.

  • ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) students.

  • CI (cognitively impaired) students.

• General Effectiveness: Interactive learning with food works better for all students because it is real-life, practical, and fun.

• Behavior & Receptivity: Kids often act up when hungry and behave better after eating a healthy snack, making food-based lessons easier to visualize and improving learning receptivity. 

 Recipes and snack crafts for pie math fun

English Muffin "Fraction" Pizzas: Give each child a split English muffin (or a small round tortilla) to serve as a whole circle. Have them use a butter knife or pizza cutter to slice it into halves, quarters, or eighths, and then practice putting the pieces back together to understand parts of a whole before adding their sauce and cheese.

Apple Wedge Fractions: Slice apples into halves or quarters, and have kids use cream cheese or peanut butter as "glue" to reassemble the apple on a paper plate, counting how many wedges make up the whole apple.

Cheese and Cracker Geometry & Graphs: Provide square crackers, round crackers, and triangular cheese slices. Kids can practice geometry by identifying shapes and matching sides, or arrange them into rows to create edible bar graphs and practice simple fractions based on topping ratios.

Celery "Log" Fractions & Counting: Spread cream cheese down the center of celery sticks and let kids arrange raisins or dried cranberries in a straight line. They can then slice the celery log into equal segments to practice division and fraction counting (e.g., cutting a log into 4 equal pieces where each piece represents 1/4 of the whole).

Teacher Omi's Homemade Pizza Recipe

Yield: 1 Family-Size Pizza | Prep time: 30 Mins + Rising

1. Pizza Dough Ingredients

• Warm Water: 1 1/3 cups (warm to the touch)
• Active Dry Yeast: 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• Sugar or Honey: 1 teaspoon
• Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: 3 1/2 cups
• Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons (plus extra for the bowl)
• Salt: 1 teaspoon

2. Sauce & Variety of Toppings

• Sauce: 1 cup seasoned tomato puree
• Cheese: 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• Pepperoni: Red round slices
• Mushrooms: Brown semi-circles
• Onions: White diced cubes
• Peppers: Orange & green triangles

3. Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Activate Yeast: Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
2. Make the Dough: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and olive oil until a dough forms.
3. Knead & Rise: Knead on a floured surface for 5-7 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
4. Assemble & Bake: Roll out the dough onto a pan, spread tomato sauce, add cheese, and customize with your favorite toppings. Bake at 450°F (230°C) for 12-15 minutes until golden brown!

Sir Cumference Book Series Bibliography

Author: Cindy Neuschwander | Illustrator: Wayne Geehan

Featured Math Adventure Books

• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (1997) – Introduces geometry, shapes, and the concept of a circular table.
• Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (1999) – Explores the measurement of circles and the constant Pi ($3.14$).
• Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (2001) – Focuses on angles, degrees, and protractors.
• Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (2006) – Explores the concepts of area and perimeter.
• Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens (2009) – Teaches place value and counting by tens.
• Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map (2012) – Explores coordinate planes, mapping, and directions.
• Sir Cumference Gets Cálculo! (2019) – Introduces early calculus concepts through fun medieval problem-solving.

Teacher Omi's Homemade Pizza Recipe

Yield: 1 Family-Size Pizza | Prep time: 30 Mins + Rising

1. Pizza Dough Ingredients

• Warm Water: 1 1/3 cups (warm to the touch)
• Active Dry Yeast: 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• Sugar or Honey: 1 teaspoon
• Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: 3 1/2 cups
• Olive Oil: 2 tablespoons (plus extra for the bowl)
• Salt: 1 teaspoon

2. Sauce & Variety of Toppings

• Sauce: 1 cup seasoned tomato puree
• Cheese: 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• Pepperoni: Red round slices
• Mushrooms: Brown semi-circles
• Onions: White diced cubes
• Peppers: Orange & green triangles

3. Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Activate Yeast: Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
2. Make the Dough: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture and olive oil until a dough forms.
3. Knead & Rise: Knead on a floured surface for 5-7 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
4. Assemble & Bake: Roll out the dough onto a pan, spread tomato sauce, add cheese, and customize with your favorite toppings. Bake at 450°F (230°C) for 12-15 minutes until golden brown!

Teacher Omi's Story Corner

Book selections for literature based math lessons. 

Sir Cumference Math Adventure Series

• Sir Cumference and the First Round Table (1997) – Cindy Neuschwander (Introduces geometry, shapes, and the concept of a circular table).

• Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (1999) – Cindy Neuschwander (Explores the measurement of circles and the constant Pi).

• Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland (2001) – Cindy Neuschwander (Focuses on angles, degrees, and protractors).

• Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter (2006) – Cindy Neuschwander (Explores the concepts of area and perimeter).

• Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens (2009) – Cindy Neuschwander (Teaches place value and counting by tens).

• Sir Cumference and the Viking's Map (2012) – Cindy Neuschwander (Explores coordinate planes, mapping, and directions).

• Sir Cumference Gets Cálculo! (2019) – Cindy Neuschwander (Introduces early calculus concepts through medieval problem-solving).

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Children's Books About Fractions & Pizza Math

• Full House: An Invitation to Fractions (1998) – Stuart J. Murphy (Uses a strawberry inn and a growing number of guests sharing snacks to teach basic fractions).

• The Doorbell Rang (1986) – Pat Hutchins (A classic story about sharing cookies evenly among friends as more guests arrive, perfect for division and fractions).

• Apple Fractions (2002) – Jerry Pallotta (Uses apples sliced into halves, quarters, and eighths to make learning fractions visual and hands-on).

• Fraction Fun (1996) – David A. Adler (Uses everyday objects like pizzas and candy bars to explain parts of a whole).

• Pizza Party! (2017) – Grace Maccarone (A fun, early-reader book featuring sharing and dividing pizza slices).