What time is it?
Learn about devices for measuring time, clocks, egg timers and calendars.
Wind up your watch it's time to find out about time...
Telling Time Table of Contents
Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com
- How Do you Teach a Child to Read the Clock?
- Picture Books for Learning to Tell Time
- Clock Songs
- Telling Time through Music
- Hickory Dickory Dock the Mouse Ran up the Clock
- Poster and Pointers for Hickory Dickory Dock
- Clock for Teaching How to Tell Time
- Clock Stamps
- Telling Time Bingo
- Jimmie's Math Notebooking Clock
- A Walk Through Time
- Clocks and Time Pieces
- Make a Sundial
- Make Your Own Time Pieces
- Mouse and Clock Crafts
- Hickory Dickory Dock Consonant Clock
- Telling Time Throughout the Day
- Telling Time PE Class
- Hopping 'Round the Clock
- When will we get there?
- Instruments for Measuring Time
- Roman Numerals for Telling Time
- Roman Numerals are often seen on Clock Faces
- Cuckoo Clock
- Cuckoo Clock Learning Center
- Tick Tock: Seconds, Minutes and Hours
- Do you have a lens for helping children learn to tell time?
- Learning to Tell Time
- Time for Telling about Time
How Do you Teach a Child to Read the Clock?
This photo of a child learning to tell time has a Creative Common License.
Teaching a child how to read the clock takes time. Staring when they are quite young I pointed out to my children whenever I was checking the time. You can point out how many more minutes until a favorite activity and show them on the clock where the minute hand will be at that time. You can post clocks that show the time of certain activities such as meals, story hour and bedtime.
Ask your child to be responsible for telling you when the hands get to the right time to leave for the playground. Giving them the responsibility makes them pay more attention to the clock.
Ask you child to help you cook. Setting the timer can be a very important part of cooking.
With time, your child will be telling you what time it is.
- Learning to Tell Time the Unschooling Way
- From reading a book about a clock maker to building a clock and playing a few games to learning to tell time in a couple of days. Take a glimpse into the lives of a family of unschoolers as the five year old learns to tell time.
- Portable Circle Time
One homeschooling family uses poster boards to make a portable Circle Time space. Here is one with a clock for teaching how to tell time.
Picture Books for Learning to Tell Time
Photo Credit: Hickory, Dickory, Dock
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
It's story time so how about taking some time to read about clocks and how to tell time. These books are some of our favorites.
How do clocks help us to measure time?
I have been trying to remember some of the picture books that have a clock in the background that changes page by page as the story progresses. Goodnight Moon is one of those. If you know of any, please leave a comment at the bottom.
Telling Time with Big Mama Cat
Clocks showing the times noted in the text are clearly visible on every page.
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/11/2009) 
Clocks and More Clocks
When the hall clock reads twenty minutes past four, the attic clock reads twenty-three minutes past four, the kitchen clock reads twenty-five minutes past four, and the bedroom clock reads twenty-six minutes past four, what should Mr. Higgins do?
He can't tell which of his clocks tells the right time. He is in for a real surprise when the Clockmaker shows him that they are all correct!
Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 11/11/2009)
It's About Time! (MathStart 1)
Each page shows an analog clock and a digital clock displaying the time, from seven o'clock one morning through the day and night to seven the next morning. T
he illustrations show the child's activities and, in the night, his dreams.
Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 11/11/2009)
Goodnight Moon
Watch the clock change and the moon rise in the sky as the evening progresses.
Amazon Price: $10.52 (as of 11/11/2009)
Clock Songs
Songs for learning to Tell Time
Singing songs always helps children to learn. Dancing helps the kinesthetic learners, the music helps those that learn through music, singing it aloud helps those who are auditory learners and having the words written down or pointing to the numbers on the clock helps the visual learners.
Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com
- Mrs. Jones - Sing Along: The Clock Song
- Sing Along to this easy song with picture clues to help children learn about the minute hand and the hour hand on an analog clock.
The hands on the clock go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The hands on the clock go round and round,
To tell us the time. - Rock around the clock
- 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, rock
4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock, rock
7 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock, rock
10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, rock
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight
123, 456, 789, 10 11 12
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight
Telling Time through Music
Using Rhythm Instruments
The mouse ran up the clock, (jingle bells as you make them "run up the clock")
The clock struck one, (make a "1" with the pointer finger of your left hand)
The mouse ran down, (run down the "clock" with the bells in your right hand)
Hickory, dickory, dock. (jingle bells three times, on hickory dickory dock)
Hold up two fingers of your left hand (the "clock") and sing: Hickory, dickory, dock!
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck two,
The mouse sneezed "AH-CHOO!" ("sneeze" loudly and jingle your bells)
Hickory, dickory, dock!
Hold up three fingers of your left hand and sing:
Hickory, dickory, dock!
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck three,
The mouse said, "Wheee!" (sing "Wheee!" in a high squeaky voice while Hickory, dickory, dock! making the bells "slide" down the clock)
- From: 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children
101 Rhythm Instrument Activities: for Young Children
Product Description
The perfect book to introduce rhythm instruments to young children. The activities bring music into the classroom and offer ways for children to participate in the music experience, using rhythm sticks, sand blocks, bells, shakers, and more!
Children make the sound of the ocean waves using shakers, pretend to be a train using sand blocks, create a rainstorm with rhythm sticks and perform circus tricks with jingle bells.
Plus, they learn to play the instruments along with their favorite songs. 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities is perfect for parents, early childhood teachers and music teachers who work with toddlers through age six.
Abigail Flesch Connors is an early-childhood music specialist. Her programs include singing, dance, rhythm instrument activities, literacy/music activities and listening games.
Amazon Price: $10.76 (as of 11/11/2009)
Basic Beat 5 Sleigh Bells on Wooden Handle
5 jingle bells riveted on a leather strap; strap riveted to a wooden handle.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/11/2009)
Hickory Dickory Dock the Mouse Ran up the Clock
Hiccory Diccory Dock the Mouse Ran up the Clock
"Hickory Dickory Dock" or "Hickety Dickety Dock" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6489.
Poster and Pointers for Hickory Dickory Dock
Write the words to Hickory Dickory Dock on a large posterboard and laminate it.
We have a pointer with a hand on the end that we like to use for pointing to the words as we read the poem. It helps the children keep their place and focus on the words that they are reading.
Hickory Dickory Dock leads us into a study of clocks and learning to tell time.
Hickory, Dickory, Dock! 20x30 poster
Amazon Price: $15.40 (as of 11/11/2009)
Learning Resources Hand Pointers, Set of 3
Amazon Price: $10.95 (as of 11/11/2009)
Hickory Dickory Dock the Mouse Ran up the Clock
- Hickory Dickory Dock
- Alphabet Soup: Activities for young children including ideas for learning to tell time.
- Hickory Dickory Dock in Spanish
- When you know a poem very well in English it is fun to learn it in Spanish. Knowing a second language has been proven to help improve grades.
¡Jícara, dicara, doj!
Un ratón trepó al reloj.
El reloj marcó la una.
El ratón gritó: - ¡Aceituna!
Y del susto se cayó.
Tickedi tickedi tack,
Die Maus läuft die Uhr auf und ab.
Die Uhr schlät eins,
Die Maus rennt heim!
Tickedi tickedi tack.
Mouse and Clock Salt and Pepper Shakers
Mouse and Clock Manipulatives
I added the mouse and clock to the doll house and soon found that the children were acting out the rhyme of Hickory Dickory Dock. Later on a couple of children were using the mouse and the clock to teach the dollhouse children how to tell time.
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Clock for Teaching How to Tell Time
Photo Credit: Math Manipulatives for Teaching Time
on Flickr, Creative Commons.
There are many play clocks for teaching how to tell time but only on that is geared to moving the hands accurately will truly help children understand the concept of the minute and second hands.
Learning Resources Big Time 12-Hour Student Clock
Hidden gears maintain correct hour and minute relationships as you demonstrate time telling concepts. Twelve hour plastic clock is 13 1/4" high with easy to read hour and minute markings, removable stand and teaching guide.
Amazon Price: $7.50 (as of 11/11/2009)
Clock Stamps
Set up an office in your classroom with a stamp and stamp pad for turning in papers. Teach the children to stamp each paper with a clock stamp and fill in the time that they turn the paper in. This provides constant practice in telling time as well as lots of fun.
STAMP SET 3 CLOCK 5-MIN./60-MIN./HOUR NUMERALS
Use this set of three rubber stamps to make time task cards or have students create their own clock faces.
Set includes three circular faces about 2" diameter.
One shows 12 five-minute and minute divisions only, the third one shows 12 five-minute divisions and the hour numerals.
Amazon Price: $8.64 (as of 11/11/2009)
Telling Time Bingo
Games to Practice Telling Time
Telling Time Bingo (Math Bingo)
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 11/12/2009)
Time BINGO
Matching analog and digital time and telling time to the quater-hour.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/12/2009)
Jimmie's Math Notebooking Clock
Jimmie uses a Clock for more than just Telling Time
Jimmie had her daughter create the paper clock. It was a review of fractions -- dividing the circle into 12 parts. And of course, they did x5 facts. See the manipulatives there too.
Thank you, Jimmie, for sharing the creative ways you teach.
Telling Time and Clock Related Activities
Worksheets and Coloring Pages for Learning to Tell Time
- Clock Puzzles
- Color and cut out clock puzzles. Perfect for Lapbooks or Literacy Bags.
- Time Poems
- Telling Time with My New Dog
At seven o'clock I woke up late.
I put my clothes on inside out.
At eight o'clock I spilled my milk
and caused a mess that made me shout. - Telling Time Worksheet
- Fill in the hands and write the time.
- Hands all Around
- Write the numbers and count by fives to learn the minutes around the clock.
- The Clock 1-12 Dot-to-Dot
Hickory, dickory, dock!
The mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck one,
And the mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock!
A Walk Through Time
- Earliest Clocks
- Not until somewhat recently (that is, in terms of human history) did people find a need for knowing the time of day. As best we know, 5000 to 6000 years ago great civilizations in the Middle East and North Africa began to make clocks to augment their calendars.
Elements of a Clock
1. A regular, constant or repetitive process or action to mark off equal increments of time.
2. A means of keeping track of the increments of time and displaying the result.
Clocks and Time Pieces
Clock for Learning to Tell Time
A teacher in a class of 3 year olds made this clockface and attached it to a regular clock. She never taught a class on how to tell time but would answer what time it was any time a child asked. 3 children now know how to tell time. Click on the picture to learn more.
Telling Time (Dk Readers. Level 2)
Telling Time is an engrossing history of timekeeping, from obelisks and sundials to the atomic clocks of today.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/12/2009)
Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude
The life of John Harrison, the village clockmaker who invented the chronometer--an accurate "sea clock" that allows captains to ascertain their longitude and avoid veering off course--and then spent decades fighting for recognition.
Amazon Price: $13.64 (as of 11/12/2009)
Make a Sundial
Sundials are for Telling Time
As a homeschooling family with children of varying ages, making a sundial at on a day at the beach or on a family picnic would give you enough time to watch the shadow move as the day goes by.
Set up in the back yard or on the school playground would allow you to judge the accuracy of your sundial over time.
- Sundial
Make a sundial with the children. Find a sunny place outside. Push the stick in the dirt so that it stands up straight. Draw a circle around the stick. Use a big rock to mark the place on the circle where the shadow falls.
Go outside and mark the new location of the shadow every couple of hours. Lead the children to understand that the shadow moves with the passing of time.
Tell the children that people used sundials before watches and clocks were invented. Show the children a clock and call their attention to how the big hand moves around it just like the shadow moves around the circle.
Telling Time Activities
Hands-on Activities for Understanding the Concept of Time
By doing rather than filling in the blanks, children come to truly understand the concepts being taught in this case the concept of telling time.
These are two of the very best books for your money. I keep these books handy for each new unit study and each time we need to look for a new way to explain a concept.
Count on Math: Activities for Small Hands and Lively Minds
Amazon Price: $18.96 (as of 11/11/2009)
Janice VanCleave's A+ Projects in Astronomy: Winning Experiments for Science Fairs and Extra Credit
Amazon Price: $32.50 (as of 11/11/2009)
Make Your Own Time Pieces
Two Potato Clock
the Two Potato Clock works by capturing electricity created by a chemical reaction inside of the potato.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/11/2009)
Potato Clocks and Solar Cars (Raintree Fusion: Physical Science)
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 11/11/2009)
Water Clock
This amazing clock is sure to attract attention! -- With power generated by water, toothpaste, soda, or even ketchup, this clock requires no batteries to tell time.
A fun addition to any home or classroom, the water clock offers a unique lesson in electricity. The clock's internal converter simply extracts electrons from the liquid's molecules and produces an electrical current.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/11/2009)
GearUp Round Glass Wall Clock
See time in motion as gears turn in this stunning timepiece! True mechanical timepiece, this GearUp clock represents the progress of time.
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 11/11/2009)
Mouse and Clock Crafts
Craft Projects about Time
- Clock and Mouse Craft
- free directions and printable template for a clock and mouse, hickory dickory dock craft
Hickory Dickory Dock Consonant Clock
The Mouse Learns to Read on the Clock
- Hickory Dickory Dock Consonant Clock
- Invite children to recite the rhyme as they make the mouse run up the
clock by sliding it up the pipe cleaner. Then have children make the
mouse climb slowly and read aloud each new word that forms.
Telling Time Throughout the Day
When Do We Need to Tell Time?
- Education World ® Lesson Planning: It's About Time: Teaching Students to Tell Time
- It's About Time: Teaching Students to Tell Time
How many times during the day do you use the word time?
What time is it?
It's time to pack up.
You're wasting time.
It's time for music.
Be sure to hand in your work on time.
We're out of time for today.
It's lunchtime.
If I have to tell you one more time%u2026
Buy at AllPosters.com
Then there are all those famous quotes about time%u2026
A stitch in time saves nine. (Proverb)
Time heals all wounds. (Geoffrey Chaucer)
Better late than never. (Lu Hsun)
Take time for all things. Great haste makes waste. (Benjamin Franklin)
Time and tide wait for no man. (William Bradford)
Here today, gone tomorrow. (John Calvin)
Time flies. (Proverb)
To every thing there is a season; and a time to every purpose under heaven. (The Bible)
Telling Time PE Class
Learn to Tell Time on the Playground
Everyone sings the song Hickory, Dickory Dock...
Then they run to the top of the jungle gym, or a staircase, or a hill etc.
They set their clocks to the time stated.
When everyone has the right time they sing the next part:
The mouse ran down...
At the bottom a new time is picked.
Classroom Clock Kit , Additional Set (LRNLER2202) Category: Learning Guides
Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 11/11/2009)
Hopping 'Round the Clock
Learning to Tell Time on the Playground
- MontessoriMom.com - Telling Time
- Hours/ Minutes clock game
This can be played outdoors with chalk and a large space.
Make a large circle on the playgroup or driveway-
Make markings on the clock 1 through 12.
Have someone call out either "minutes" or "hours"
The person who is "it" hops from number to number , clockwise, counting by ones- 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 for each hour if "hours" is called.
If "minutes" is called the person hops from number to number counting by 5's-Jumps from number 12 to 1and counts out "5," then from 2 to 1 counts out "10", (2 to 3) "15," (3 to 4) "20" and so on.
Advanced game: Do this game counterclockwise and count backwards.
When will we get there?
How long does it take....?
Another aspect of learning to tell time is having a sense of how long it takes for things to happen. How long does it take to tie your shoes, brush your hair or drive to the library?
I have a can of tongue depressors that I write such questions on. Sometimes when we are waiting in line I pull out one of these and ask those kids that are already to time themselves to see how long it takes.
As homeschoolers there are even more opportunities to experiment with the game of How long does it take...?
Check the time on the clock or your watch. Start the stopwatch. How long does it take to....
Please add your suggestions of things to time:
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Instruments for Measuring Time
Clocks, watches, stopwatches, egg timers etc.
ACCUSPLIT Survivor Stopwatch with Clock and Extra-Large Display
Amazon Price: $9.45 (as of 11/11/2009)
Harold Import 16 Egg Timer
Amazon Price: $4.31 (as of 11/11/2009)
Learning Resources - Time Tracker
Amazon Price: $27.19 (as of 11/11/2009)
Roman Numerals for Telling Time
Photo Credit: Telling Time with Roman Numerals
in the Public Domain
Roman Numerals are often seen on Clock Faces
Learn to tell the time with Roman Numerals
-
Roman Numerals, I to MM
-
Roman Numerals may be found where you least expect them. Look up at the clocks on public buildings and down on the cornerstones. Check out the copyright date of your favorite movie or book. You might even find roman numerals on your watch. Learning...
Cuckoo Clock
What can you accomplish within an hour?
Three Children Admire the Cuckoo Clock
Bennett, Harriet
Buy at AllPosters.com
One day I brought a Cuckoo Clock into class. Everyone was instantly paying attention. What does it do and how does it work?
Children are always excited about something new and the Cuckoo Clock was no exception. After carefully looking it over and discussing everything we knew about Cuckoo Clocks I posed the question: What could we learn from a Cuckoo Clock?
To my surprise one of the children suggested that we could find out how much we could accomplish before the cuckoo strikes again. As we had just 10 more minutes before the next hour and that was the time we usually used to clean up for lunch at 12 noon we decided to see if we could beat the cuckoo.
The goal was to pick up the room without running and come back to the rug and stand quietly while waiting for the cuckoo to strike the hour.
What I love about my Cuckoo Clock is that it makes a whirring noise, then strikes the hour before the cuckoo finally comes out. This gives the children a warning that their time is running out.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byCuckoo Clock Learning Center
Cuckoo Clock
1. Print, color and laminate the picture of the Cuckoo Clock and the bird.
2. Extend the tab on the bird so that there are 12 sections. Write a number, 1 to 12, on the squares below the bird.
3. Color, cutout and laminate the bird.
NOTE: If you cut the bottom of the tab double the width you can make it so that it is difficult to pull the tab all the way out.
4. cut a slot at the bottom of the window and insert the bird.
Children practice making the sound of the cuckoo striking the hour and setting the time on the clock. Sometimes we use dice to decide what time it is. Sometimes your partner picks the time and you trade off roles.
- Cuckoo Clock to Color
- Make a Cuckoo Clock with a bird that pops out.
Tick Tock: Seconds, Minutes and Hours
Clocks Measure Time
Do you have a lens for helping children learn to tell time?
The best time related lenses will be featured.
It's Turkey Time!
Learn to tell time with a turkey theme...1 point
Learning to Tell Time
-
It's Turkey Time!
-
Wild Turkeys nearly became extinct in the 1930's but times have changed and turkeys have benefited. Now turkeys are often found in fields and on the edge of the woods. In this unit you will learn about Wild Turkeys, read turkey facts and stories, pl...
Time for Telling about Time
How did you learn to tell time?
Teddi14 wrote...
You always have such great stuff for education. Love it. I have never seen the clock stamps. Very cool. Thanks for tweeting this link. 5*'s
Posted April 23, 2009
Rewards4life wrote...
Again, lovely lens! When I'm going to have kids, I'll have to print all your lenses for the reference! LOL!
Posted April 14, 2009
SherryHolderHunt wrote...
Wonderful lens, wish it had been available when my son was little! 5*s
Posted April 14, 2009
SherryHolderHunt wrote...
Wonderful lens, wish it had been available when my son was little! 5*s
Posted April 14, 2009
debnet wrote...
Super lens Evelyn. Of all of the tasks I'd done in school, helping children tell the time was one of the most challenging!! Very informative and helpful :)
Posted April 11, 2009
groovyoldlady wrote...
I have 4 children. My eldest is 25 and is an accomplished writer and can read literature that is WAY over my head with fabulous comprehension. However, she absolutely CANNOT tell time on an analog clock face. I thought it was all my fault and I was a bad teacher, etc. Turns out she has dyscalculia - a form of dyslexia. She figured this out herself while writing a research paper for college. You can read more about this odd learning disability here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia
Not surprisingly, my daughter was horrible at math. She struggled so much that we ditched our efforts at "higher" math and just had her study consumer math, where she managed Bs and Cs. Oddly, she had no problem whatsoever with her 2 accounting courses - aced them! She said that's because accounting involves organizing, not actual mathematics.
Posted April 10, 2009
tandemonimom wrote...
Great lens! I especially love the clock face stamps, very nice! 5* and lensrolled to The Cycle of the Seasons.
Posted March 31, 2009
About the Author of this Lens
Find out what I'm up to when I'm not teaching how to tell time:-
Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher
-
My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...
by Evelyn_Saenz
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