How to Teach Children to Tell the Time

Learning to tell the time is a vital milestone in childhood. In fact, even with current and developing technologies, it is still important for children to learn how to tell the time on an analogue clock for many reasons. But how do I teach my child to tell the time? Keep reading to discover the key steps plus some handy tips and tricks.

What Age Should I Teach My Child to Tell the Time?

Every child develops at a different pace, so there are no set rules and you should adjust the following guidelines accordingly. Having said that, there are certain times that developing children need to work on new skills to keep up with the day-to-day life around them.

This is why it is widely recommended that your child should have a basic understanding of time and clocks when they start school. The truth is that children need to know the basics of telling the time when they start school to help them understand the passing of the day, breaks, lunch, and how long they have to be away from you for! Many children will pick up their knowledge from their older brothers and sisters, nannies, relatives or teachers, as well as their parents and teachers.

However your child learns to tell the time, it doesn’t happen overnight. It is an incremental process that you can build on over time. You may find that you can introduce different levels of knowledge about clocks and time at different ages in your child’s life to suit their development levels, with certain key goals for each age group.

Learning Time at Ages 5-6

Children should aim to be able to comfortably read the hour hand on a clock by this age, as well as the half hour markers. They should also be able to draw the corresponding clock faces.

Learning Time at Ages 6-7

Children should be able to tell you the number of minutes in an hour and hours in a day. Children should be able to tell and draw time in five minute increments. Children should also understand the concept of a quarter to/a quarter past.

Learning Time at Ages 7-8

By this age, children should have a strong understanding of time. They should be able to read an analogue clock, a 12 hour clock, a 24 hour clock and understand basic roman numerals. Children should be comfortable using time-related vocabulary such as ‘o’clock’ and am/pm. Children should also be able to compare times by hours and minutes.

How to Teach Children to Tell the Time

Counting to 60

Once your child is ready to start learning to tell the time, the first tool they are going to need is the ability to count to 60. They will need this understanding to tell the time at all hours of the day, especially when they start using minutes too. You can use a variety of counting methods to help them learn. This might include writing the numbers down or reciting them from memory. If your child isn’t quite advanced enough to count to 60 yet, try investing in a magnetic maths chart to help them learn the basics of counting.

Counting in Fives

The next step is teaching your child to count up to 60 in multiples of 5. This is to help them understand the minute increments we often see on clock faces. This will also help them when they start to learn the concept of periods of time, I.E: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes etc.

The Concept of Time

The concept of time can prove to be a tricky one to comprehend, especially for young children. In fact, even as adults we rarely think about the fundamental nature of time. To first introduce this radical idea to your child, you can start by asking a lot of ‘When’ questions. These help your child learn to associate changes and activities in the day with certain times. For example:

• When do we eat breakfast?
• When do we brush our teeth?
• When do we read our bedtime story?

Functional Practice

To build on this comprehension, it’s important to boost your child’s functional practice of telling the time. Connect time to your child’s daily routine by clearly labelling morning, afternoon and nighttime. Tell your child the time that you are doing things or going places (using o’clock) so they can start to consistently navigate time and learn the basics.

Handy Tips and Tricks

• Focus on analogue clocks before making the jump to digital.
• Focus on learning the numbers and counting before you move onto clock faces.
• Make learning how to tell the time fun and hands on with a fun toy or game!

Fun Ways to Teach Time

Telling the Time Toys

Don’t feel like you have to utilise technology for everything! A classic toy or fun activity is much more memorable for your child. Toys are great for children’s cognitive development as well as fun, so by integrating a fun telling the time toy like this Magnetic Tell the Time Chart into your child’s time education, you are helping them stay engaged, learn to tell the time effectively and boosting their cognitive skills! Toy clock faces and charts can be extremely helpful when teaching your child the time, and the fun side of learning is sure to make them keep coming back for more.

Key Features of Fiesta Crafts Magnetic Tell the Time Chart:

• Make learning how to tell the time far easier
• Magnetic Teaching Clock with rotating moveable hands
• Also contains 58 magnetic pieces and a dry-wipe pen.
• Children can learn both 12/24 hour time format, and traditional/digital.
• Write out different times with number/word pieces or with dry-wipe pen.

You Might Like: The Best Non Electronic Toys That Are Fun & Educational

Telling the Time Games

And of course, where would this guide be without the old classic - What’s the time, Mr Wolf? This game was a staple in most of our childhoods, so why not pass it on to our children? Though it doesn’t specifically teach time-telling to children, it helps them comprehend the idea behind time and gets them using the word too! Anything you can do to get your child using the language of time is helpful. Plus, creative and engaging games are a quick win to a child’s heart, especially when you’re trying to help them learn.

Looking For Creative and Educational Toys & Activities?

At Fiesta Crafts, we specialise in creative and educational toys for children. Whether that’s toys to help them learn to tell the time, build social skills or otherwise boost your child’s development, we’ve got you covered. Check out our full range of educational toys today!