How to teach time doesn’t have to be confusing. Keep reading to get tips and tricks to help make telling time a breeze.
Ever get tired of the “When is snack time?!” question? By teaching a kid to tell time, you are teaching him a valuable life skill and saving yourself some headaches.
But where to start when it comes to how to teach time? Keep reading to find out.
Why Teach Kids How to Tell Time
Kids need to know how to tell time to be able to function in life. For example, the time of day determines meals, activities, bedtime, and appointments.
Time management skills can be taught when a kid knows how to tell time.
For example, if an appointment is at 3 PM and no one is ready to leave by 3 PM, that would be a problem.
Talking about time and time needed to get to places on time is a valuable skill that stems from knowing how to tell time.
How to Teach Time Ideas
This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.
Make a Paper Clock
Make teaching time hands-on by making a paper clock.
Cut out a circle from paper. Write on the numbers and connect clock hands with a brass fastener.
Your little one can move the hands around to different times to practice telling time.
Label an Analog Clock
When it comes to how to teach time, labeling the minutes in increments of five will help your little one to read the clock.
Then, put a sticky note with the minutes next to the number.
For example, place a note with :05 next to the one, :30 next to the 6, etc.
Practice Skip Counting by 5
Your little one will need to know how to count by fives to quickly be able to tell the minutes when reading an analog clock.
Being able to skip count by fives will help your little one be able to read the clock in no time.
Make a Model for the Hour
Create a clock and color between the 12 and the 1 red, between the 1 and the 2 orange, between the 2 and the 3 yellow, etc, so the spaces between each set of numbers are fully colored.
This will help your little one to see that it is still that hour until the hand reaches the next number.
Have a Schedule
Assign times to different things that happen during the day.
For example, if 11:00 AM is lunch, have a schedule card that says Lunch with a picture of food and a clock showing 11:00.
Having these schedule cards near a clock is a more independent way of how to teach time.
Practice, Practice, Practice
One of the biggest tips for how to teach time is to practice with your little ones.
Not only ask them what time it is at random times (start by asking when it is at an hour or a half hour) but make it fun.
Our set of Boom Time Telling Cards help your little one to practice telling time in a fun way. There is a set to practice telling time to the hour and half hour.
Another set practices telling time to the quarter hour. There is also a bundle with both!
Teaching Time
You don’t have to pull your hair out when it comes to how to teach time. Instead, integrate these fun time-telling ideas into your day, and your little one will be telling time in no time.