Help your child at home: with telling the time

Children need to know and recognise all the numbers from 1 to 12

Introduce a number line which contains the numerals one to twelve. Bend the number line into a circle to resemble a clock face. Provide a worksheet with a large circle. These are the hours in each day.

Help the children put the numbers on the sheet as above

Now put the hands on the clock. Make 1 o’clock.

Now introduce the small hand in red which points to the hour and the minute or long hand in blue. Make the hands read o’clock.

Use the worksheet above to introduce all the o’clock times. Read and talk about what happens at these times e.g. school starts at 9.00 o’clock, home time is 3 o’clock, bedtime is 7 o’clock etc

Play ‘What time is it Mr Wolf’ with the children.

It is now time to introduce half past the hour!

If the big hand at 12 o’clock tells us it is ‘o’clock then the big hand at the number six tells us it is half past the hour.

Make the hands read half past the hour.

Use this sheet to reinforce all the half hour times. 
Play games to reinforce telling the time.

Let children try this worksheet to reinforce learning

Draw the same time on the clock as you see on the watch to which it is linked.

It is now time to introduce a quarter to the hour!

To read a quarter to the hour the big hand must point to the number 9

Make the hands read quarter to the hour. This can be written in 2 ways

Quarter to the coming hour or 45 minutes after the previous hour.

e.g. 45 minutes after 2 o’clock or a quarter to 3 o’clock

Use this sheet to reinforce all the three quarter hour times.  Play games to reinforce telling the time 

It is now time to introduce a quarter past the hour!

To read a quarter past the hour the big hand must point to the number 3

Make the hands read quarter past the hour. This can be written in 2 ways

e.g.      15 minutes after 2 o’clock or a quarter past 2 o’clock

Use this sheet to reinforce all the quarter hour times.  Play games to reinforce telling the time with games.

Remember when the big hand is at 6 it is half past

When the big hand is at 3 it is quarter past.           

30 Minutes or Half-Past                      

15 Minutes or Quarter-Past

Using both the Big Hand and Little Hand lets us know exactly what time it is:           

2:30 or Half-Past Two                  

5:15 or Quarter-Past Five

 Write the correct time in the boxes

Now to introduce the rest of the time practice counting in 5’s

5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 o’clock

Print out this clock using two straws and a paper clip pin a big hand and a minute hand on the face. Hang it up so that children can reach it and practice arranging the hands to various times. E.g.

School starts at 8:45                            Lunch is at 12:25

Playtime is at 10:15                              Afternoon school is at 1.20

We leave the playground at 10:25          Mum arrives at school at 3:10

This clock can be printed out mounted on the wall and children can use it to help as they are learning    

At what time do you get up, does school start, do you eat lunch, do you play in playground etc.

IUse this clock by printing and cutting out, pasting onto cardboard and attaching cardboard hands. Move hands to 5 minutes past, 10 minutes past etc. t is useful to have several of these clocks and put the children into small groups so that they can test each other on saying /reading the correct time.

Allow children to match the clocks below;

Some clocks display the time in a digital form. Below the top clock show the time using hands which is called analogue display.

The clock underneath displays the time in digital form

The digital clock uses the 24 hour clock like the famous one below.

Platform clock at King's Cross railway
If you look there are two times for the hours. It could be 1o’clcok or 13.00 hours, 2.00 o’clock or 14.00 hours etc.

Now look at the two worksheets below and see if you can match the correct times

This second worksheet shows the time with hands and the digital time display

 Time Worksheets

We have shown below a small selection of our time worksheets. There are many more on the Time Worksheets page.

What time is it Mr Wolf?	What's the time Mr Wolf?	Draw the hands in for each half hour	Time worksheet 1
Real life problems-a bus timetable	Time game	Time questions for KS2	12 and 24 hours timetables

                                                                                         

Teaching Clock from Dillons Toybox

This sturdy wooden teaching clock from Pintoy is an attractive way to teach the concept of time. Recommended for 3+, I would like to see it in a younger child's room so they become familiar with the clock. There is a brightly coloured wooden circle for each 5 minute segment, with a clear numeral and the number in words. Under each are the words eg quarter past to help with those concepts - this is useful as children can find these challenging. An additional use is for colour, size (the circles are different sizes) and number recognition. This is a good value product - durable and well made, witb  a really satisfing feel and lots of play options. "Dillon's Toybox is family run business based in St Albans Hertfordshire. Our vision is that all children have real childhoods. Our Mission is to realise that vision by sourcing and offering high quality well made wooden toys that will last and inspire both children and parents to learn and play together." They feature traditional toys - the sort of toys that have enduring appeal and can be passed on through the generations.

What's the Time, Mr Wolf from Child's Play, illustrated by Annie Kubler