The old familiar game of Bingo is a fun tool to use when teaching students to recognize the different ways ordinal numbers are represented. Create Bingo cards on which are written a variety of ordinal numbers, some as digits and others as words. Include especially those that tend to cause confusion like, "8th" and eighteenth," "fourth and "fortieth," "sixth and 16th." Provide cards and small discs for covering squares. The first student to complete a row across, down or diagonally, wins. The class judges whether the winning card is valid.
Make a paper hat with the words, "Where am I?' written on it. Explain to the class that they're going to play a number game and the person who's "It" will wear the hat. Arrange students standing or sitting in a straight line and have them count off, left to right, using ordinal numbers. Select a student to don the hat and step behind the line. The student chooses a place to step back into the line between two other children and the teacher asks, "Where is _________?" The first person who correctly identifies the student's position, using an ordinal number, takes the next turn.
Children stand in a large circle. Toss a ball to someone and say an ordinal number. The person who catches the ball must identify the ordinal number that comes next. If he's right, he throws the ball to another student while saying any ordinal number he chooses. If an incorrect response is give, the catcher must sit down. Continue until the last child is standing. For older children, increase the difficulty by requiring ball-catchers to provide ordinal numbers two more or two less than the number called.
Divide the class into teams of two and give each one 20 cards, 10 with ordinal digits on them and 10 with ordinal words. Cards must be shuffled and laid in a checkerboard pattern in front of the players. The first player turns over a card and then turns it back. She turns over a second card and, if a match is made, keeps the cards and takes another turn. Play continues in this way until all cards have been claimed. The player with the most matches, wins.