Help Your Child Learn: Telling Time (Part 1)

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Welcome to Part 1 of our interactive series on telling time. This is for younger children who are new to the clock and time. Part 2, for older children, covers telling time to the nearest five minutes.

Learning to tell time can be difficult for children because it’s a new concept that’s not like anything else in math. Time also has its own new language so this resource is designed as a verbal 1-2-1 activity for parent and child. It will guide parents step by step though telling time.

Step 1 - Times of the day

Watching the feature video together will give you some ideas for discussing time. First you can talk about the times of the day:

• What are the different times of the day?  (Morning, afternoon, evening, nighttime)
• What do you do in the morning?
• What happens in the afternoon?
• What happens in the evening?
• What do we do at night?
• When does lunch happen?
• When does breakfast happen?
• When does dinner happen?
• Don’t forget your own examples... 

Step 2 - Hours, minutes and seconds

There are several different units for measuring time. It’s important children get a feel for how long a second, minute and hour are. You can talk about the units of time (seconds, minutes, hours):

• How long does it take to brush your teeth?
• How long does it take to bounce a ball?
• How long does it take to eat dinner?
• How long do you sleep?
• How long does it take to watch a movie?
• Don’t forget your own examples... 

There are lots of opportunities to talk about time in daily life. You can:

• Play guess how long a minute is (ask kids to sit with their eyes closed and raise their hands when they think a minute has passed)
• Start a stopwatch when your child is brushing their teeth and see how well they can estimate two minutes.  
• Get an analog clock app for your phone and have it easily accessible on your lock screen or home page so your child gets used to seeing how time is told in this way.

The more often you mention it in real life the better your child will grasp it. 

Step 3 - Making a clock

This guide will show you and your child how to make your own practice clock using household items. It can take around an hour or so but it's a great learning activity so is well worth the time!  

Step 4 - The clock

Watch the video together. It introduces the clock and the idea of measuring time. At this stage there’s no need to explain everything in the video.

Ask your child if they know any times when something happens. You will probably have to prompt them and provide an answer to the nearest hour. For example:

• School starts at ..... 9 o’clock
• School ends at ..... 3 o’clock
• You go to bed at ..... 8 o’clock

The clock has a face and two hands. The small hand points to the hours and the big hand points to the minutes.

Now open this clock example and ask the questions below. (Remember - examples always open in a new tab / window so read the questions first.) 

• Where is the clock face?
• How many numbers does it have?
• Which number does the small hand point to?
• Which number does the big hand point to?
• Can you read all the numbers on the clock face?

In this exercise ask your child: which hour number or numbers are hidden?

• Example 1  (3 is missing) 
• Example 2  (12 is missing) 
• Example 3  (6 is missing) 
• Example 4  (9 and10 are missing) 
• Example 5  (1 and 2 are missing) 
• Example 6  (6 and 7 are missing) 
• Example 7  (9, 10 and 11 are missing)
• Example 8  (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are missing)

Step 5 - Telling the time - the o’clocks

In this exercise ask your child: what’s the time?

• Example 1  (three o’clock)
• Example 2  (seven o’clock)
• Example 3  (nine o’clock)
• Example 4  (six o’clock)
• Example 5  (one o’clock)
• Example 6  (ten o’clock)
• Example 7  (four o’clock) 
• Example 8  (eight o’clock)
• Example 9  (eleven o’clock)
• Example 10 (twelve o’clock)

Step 6 - Telling the time to 30 minutes

First watch this video with your child. 

Then with your child, say...

This is four thirty.  
Can you see where the long hand is pointing?
Yes, it’s pointing to six.
And can you see where the small hand is pointing?
It’s halfway between four and five.

And here’s your clock at four thirty.

In this exercise the clock is shaded so you can clearly see that the long (minute) hand has moved halfway around the clock. 

Ask “what’s the time?”

• Example 1 (two thirty)
• Example 2 ten thirty)
• Example 3 (five thirty)
• Example 4 (twelve thirty)
• Example 5 (nine thirty)
• Example 6 (six thirty)

In this exercise we’ve removed the shader:

• Example 1 (three thirty)
• Example 2 (eleven thirty)
• Example 3 (four thirty)
• Example 4 (seven thirty)
• Example 5 (one thirty)
• Example 6 (six thirty)

Step 7 - Telling the time - o’clock and thirty

Now here’s a mix o’clocks and 30 minutes:

• Example 1  (six o’clock)
• Example 2  (twelve thirty)
• Example 3  (one o’clock)
• Example 4  (two thirty) 
• Example 5  (ten o’clock)
• Example 6  (eleven thirty)
• Example 7  (four o’clock) 
• Example 8  (seven thirty)
• Example 9  (eight o’clock)
• Example 10 (ten thirty)

Now let’s try to tell the time with only the small hour hand:

• Example 1  (two o’clock)
• Example 2  (twelve thirty)
• Example 3  (twelve o’clock)
• Example 4  (one thirty)
• Example 5  (nine o’clock)
• Example 6  (eleven thirty)

I hope you found this interactive article useful. Komodo math covers telling the time in more detail with more focus on independent learning. In part 2 of this series we'll move on to look at telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes.

I'm Ged, Co-founder of Komodo, ex-math teacher and dad. If you have any feedback or questions please get in touch.

About Komodo - Komodo is a fun and effective way to boost K-5 math skills. Designed for 4 to 11 year olds to use at home, Komodo uses a little and often approach to learning math (20 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week) that fits into the busy routine. Komodo helps users develop fluency and confidence in math - without keeping them at the screen for long.

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