In a classroom of third graders struggling with math, point at one child in the room and ask a basic math question, such as "2 + 5." When the child answers the question correctly with "7," point at another child and ask for a value added onto the previous answer, such as "plus 4" to make the answer "11." Each student has only one shot to get the answer right and must listen to each previous answer to be able to answer her own. When a child gets the answer wrong, the game starts over. Keep track of how many consecutive answers the students give so they can compete against previous high scores.
Ask the child who will begin the game to stand up next to the desk of the student sitting behind him. The student sitting in the desk then stands for the competition, while all other students remain seated. Give the children a basic multiplication question from their times table, such as "6X4." Allow the competing students to blurt out the answer as soon as they know it. Whichever child answers the problem first is allowed to continue standing and moves on to stand by the next desk, while the other student sits down and is out for the round. If both competing children get an answer wrong, allow them to keep making attempts until one of them gets the correct answer. The last child standing after every student has competed in the face-off is the winner.
For a fun way to teach fractions where everyone is a winner, pass out bags of small, colored candies to students. Have the students divide the candies into groups of a single color at their own desks. Ask the students to give fractions representing the number of one color out of all of the candies. For instance, ask them to give a fraction for the number of green candies. If there are eight green candies and there are 23 candies all together, their fraction is 8/23. If a child gets his fraction wrong, he must keep trying until he gets it right. At that point, they are allowed to eat that color of the candies and begin a new fraction with the colors left over.
Card games help children in smaller group settings and at home build upon their basic math skills. Play card games like "War" and "Go Fish" to help a struggling third grader more quickly understand number face values. For more challenging games with cards, try a variation on the classic card game "Concentration." Instead of finding matches, have your child find numbers that have a difference of one or can be multiplied together to get an odd number.
Play a board game involving paper money that the child has to count. She will be adding and subtracting constantly throughout the game like she does on any math drill; however, she will be having fun and will not even realize she is learning.