How to Help Kids Learn to Tell Time
Learning to tell time is a child's springboard to understanding basic mathematics and life skills. When he recognizes the notion of elapsed time, important sequencing concepts come easier. Telling time enables children to follow family and school schedules, becoming more independent. Young children who can count to 12 are ready to learn the fundamentals of telling time, and can expand their skill as they count on to 60.
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Things You'll Need
- Paper plates
- Black construction paper
- Brass butterfly brads
- Black felt pen or crayon
Instructions
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Tick Tock Let's Read A Clock
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Give an overview of how we use time in our school day. Write the daily schedule on the board. Ask students such questions as: "When is recess?" "What time is language arts?" "Is math in the morning or afternoon?" "What lasts longer, lunch or P.E.?" Explain we can tell time by looking at our watches, wall clocks, digital clocks, computers or cell phones. Point to the round wall clock in the classroom, telling students they will be making their own practice clock.
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Draw a clock on the whiteboard or overhead projector displaying the hours only. Review the clockwise sequence of the hours 1 through 12, and that there are 60 minutes in 1 hour. Add a short arrow pointing to the 12. Explain that this is the hour hand and the longer arrow you will add is the minute hand. Demonstrate 5 o'clock with the hands of the clock. Write 5:00 next to the clock, telling students that this means the fifth hour and no minutes. The colon symbol acts as a separation between the hour and the minute.
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3
Pass out a paper plate, brass butterfly brad and two arrows (one short, one long) made from black construction paper to each student. Instruct students to follow your model and draw the numerals 1 to 12 on the paper plates with a black felt pen or crayon.
Next, they will lay the arrows, short one upon the long one, in the middle of the plate. They can poke the brad through the bottom of the arrows, turn the plate over and secure it in place. Ask students to show you various times you announce and raise their clock above their heads. Their excitement grows as they can now tell time on the hour. Now students are ready to learn about the half hour, quarter hour, minutes and seconds in subsequent lessons. Explain the differences between the analog clock they just made, and digital clocks. -
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Incorporate the time theme into other parts of their day to develop further insight into their new talent. There are several time-themed story books available at your local library or bookstore, such as: "Winnie-The-Pooh Tells Time" by A.A. Milne, "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle, "Game Time" by Stuart J. Murphy and "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle.
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