How to Introduce the Clock to Elementary School Children

Children are typically taught how to tell time when they begin elementary school in kindergarten. Reading a digital clock is introduced first, followed by the more difficult analog clock. In order to read a clock successfully, a child must be able to count to 60, since there are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute. By using a variety of educational tools to introduce the clock, learning how to tell time can be a fun accomplishment for a child.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Talk about the different ways to tell time. Show examples of an hourglass, pocket watch and stopwatch. Discuss how to use the sun and shadows to tell what time of day it is.
     
   • 2
     Show examples of clocks. Display a digital clock and an analog clock that are both set for the same time. Ask the children to describe the differences between the two and explain how they are similar. Have the children read the time on the digital clock and ask if they can guess what time it is on the analog clock.
     
   • 3
     Understand the parts of the analog clock. Explain the differences between the hour, minute and second hands of the clock. Ask them to point to the big numbers on the clock and tell them when the short hour hand is pointing to one of the numbers, that is what hour of the day it is. Show them the tick marks in between each number and explain to them when the long minute hand moves from one tick mark to the next, one minute has passed. Ask them what activities they can do in one hour and that they can complete in only one minute.
     
   • 4
     Have the children guess how long a minute is. Ask children to close their eyes and instruct them to raise their hands when they believe one minute has passed. Let them know you will clap when a minute has passed. Put their hands down if they are too early. Have them watch the second hand on the clock for one minute and then ask them to try again.
     
   • 5
     Have the children create a paper plate clock. Write the numbers 1 to 12 on the edge of the plate as on an analog clock. Attach construction paper hour and minute hands with a brad fastener to the center of the plate.
     
   • 6
     Play a game. Call out a time and ask the children to move the hands on their clock to display the correct time. Give a prize to the first child who does this correctly. Children may also be divided into teams and awarded points for their team for correct answers.