Play a game with students where they have to use their knowledge of place values to write down a mystery number. Think of a number and then express the number through phrases such as "I am thinking of a number that has a two in the tens place." Continue the game, describing the placement of each of the numbers, and see if students have written down the appropriate number.
Split students into two team and give each child in the classroom index cards with the numbers one through nine written on them. On the floor, use masking tape to place index cards labeled with the place values, Create a set of place values for each team. Call out a number, such as 11,482, and have teams race to place the parts of the number by the appropriate place values.
Use money to teach students about place value. Have students collect pennies for a week and bring their pennies into the classroom. Students should count out their pennies in class. For every ten pennies a student has, take the pennies and give the student a dime. If a student gets ten dimes, collect the dimes and give the student a dollar. If a really ambitious student collects ten dollars (1,000 pennies), collect the dollars and give the student a ten dollar bill. After students have counted their money, have them write out how much they have. This will help students make the connection between the different place values.
Remove the face cards from a deck of cards and deal the deck to a class, making sure that each child has at least four cards. Explain to students that goal of the game is to make the highest or lowest number. Call out a place value and have students choose a card from their deck to represent that place value. Continue calling out place values until all cards have been played. Award a prize to the students with the highest and lowest numbers.