A game that students will enjoy is a simple race. Divide the class into four teams. Read a problem, such as a division with fractions problem, or a percent problem, such as "What is 30 percent of 660?" Set a timer to go off in 15 to 20 seconds (longer if your class needs more time), after the timer goes off, say "Whiteboards in the air!" The teams get one point for each team member with the correct answer.
This game can be played with a classroom full of small whiteboards or on the large whiteboard in front of the classroom. Divide the class into two teams. Set a table at the front of the classroom, if desired, with two whiteboard erasers to serve as "buzzers." Have the students come up to the board at the front of the class two at a time, one player from each team. The rest of the class can work out the problem on their small whiteboards as well, if you desire. The two players who are "up" are read a problem, and then solve it on their whiteboard, or on the big whiteboard in front of the classroom. They must write their answer in its final form, i.e, fractions reduced to lowest terms or decimals in the proper place, etc. After writing their final answer, students must hit the "buzzers," and the first one to ring in with the correct answer wins.
This is a simple game, but it involves lots of critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Divide the class into pairs. Each pair will need one whiteboard between them. Cover the whiteboard with dots: nine across and nine down. Have the students take turns making one line segment to connect two of the dots. The goal is to make boxes. The player who is able to make the most boxes wins. When a student adds the final line segment to a box, finishing that box off, he writes his first initial inside the box so that at the end of the game, the players can tally who created the most boxes. After the entire class has played for 15 or 20 minutes, have the pairs come back together as a group and share their strategies for winning the game.
Show students how to use their whiteboards to play "Connect Four" in pairs. Have them draw circles on the whiteboard, seven across and six down. Then they can take turns using a different colored marker for each child to fill in the circle where they want to place their "piece." Students can color a piece only on the bottom row or on top of a piece that is already colored. The first child to color in four circles in a row -- up, down, across or diagonally -- wins.
This game is best for kindergartners or first-graders. Set a timer for 10 to 15 seconds. Read four digits to your students, such as 6, 9, 3 and 7. Ask students to create the highest number they can using all four digits and the lowest number they can. For older students, give them the option of adding a decimal. This game should be played for a quick few rounds, because students should quickly realize that they place the digits from lowest to highest to make a low number and from highest to lowest to make a high number. But it is excellent reinforcement for number sense and place value. Have the students read the correct answers in the proper format, i.e., "nine-thousand, seven hundred, sixty-three."