Telling time games

Telling time games for kids

Reading an analog clock is one of the trickiest things children learn in elementary school: two hands, two kinds of numbers, and words like "quarter to". These telling time games break it into steps. First the hour hand alone, then half past, then quarter past and quarter to, then every 5 minutes, and finally the exact minute. In the main game the child drags the hands to show a time; in the second one they read a clock and pick the right answer.

When children learn to tell time

Following the Common Core, 1st graders tell and write time in hours and half hours, 2nd graders to the nearest five minutes using a.m. and p.m., and 3rd graders to the nearest minute, including how much time has passed (elapsed time). In England, telling the time runs through KS1 into KS2: Year 1 starts with o'clock and half past, Year 2 adds quarter past, quarter to and five-minute times, and Year 3 reads clocks to the minute, including Roman numerals and 12- and 24-hour times.

The two hands

Children mix up the hands more than anything else. The short hand shows the hour and moves slowly; the long hand shows the minutes and goes all the way round in an hour. At 7:25 the hour hand is between 7 and 8 - not on 7 - which is a good way to check the reading.

Clock games and worksheets

Choose the level with the chips: hours, half hours, quarter hours, 5 minutes or 1 minute. The game says each time in words and digits ("half past 3", 3:30), so children learn both ways. Print the telling time practice sheets for paper, and the "make your own clock" sheet to build a clock with moving hands - of all telling time activities, it is the best one for the first week.

A tip for parents

Teaching time works best with the real day: "We leave at quarter past 8 - where will the hands be?" A wall clock in the kitchen, at a child's eye level, helps more than any app.