Give each child a piece of paper with a big ladder drawn on it. The number of rungs it has depends on how many problems you want them to do. Once every child has his ladder, put a list of numbers on the board and have the kids start the race. The directions are simple: the first two numbers are to be written on the top two rungs. The children are to add them, putting the sum on the third rung. Then they take the next number from the board and place it on the fourth rung. They subtract this number from the previous sum. The answer is written on the fifth rung. Play continues, taking a number from the board and alternately adding or subtracting the number from the previous answer. The winner is the first student to reach the bottom rung with the correct answer.
Racing to solve a problem is exciting for children. They love to see who is fastest at accomplishing a goal. So give them oral problems, using whatever math they are learning--addition, multiplication, subtraction, division, fractions or decimals. When they've finished, they raise their pencils. The first one finished, with the right answer, wins. For a real challenge, read a word problem to them, but read slowly so they can take notes.
This can be done as a race or simply as an individual puzzle game to solve. On paper, draw a simple grid for the student as follows: Draw a row of four boxes. On top of this row, attach two more boxes, centered over the second and third box of the longer row. Then below the row of four, put two more centered boxes, making a total of eight touching boxes. Have the student place the numbers from 1 to 8 inside the boxes with the rule that no two consecutive numbers can be in touching boxes. This means that consecutive numbers, such as 2 and 3, cannot be in boxes that are next to each other either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Not even the corners of the boxes can touch. While there is more than one solution, the puzzle will challenge younger children. Let several students race for solutions or let them simply puzzle it out on their own. When the child produces an incorrect solution, simply point out where he has consecutive numbers touching and let him try again.