Telling the Time Teaching Resources
Browse telling the time worksheets, clock games and templates and more teacher-created resources to help your students learn how to read digital and analogue clocks.
Aligned with Australian maths curriculum standards, this collection is stocked with everything you need to build lesson plans that engage your students and make it fun to learn all about how we tell time. Each resource has undergone careful review by a member of our teacher team to ensure it's ready for your classroom and your students!
New to teaching students how to tell time or just looking for some fresh ideas? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look at whether or not kids should learn to read analogue clocks and some of our teacher team's favourite activities and tips for teaching kids to tell what time it is.
What Is 'Telling Time?' A Kid-Friendly Definition
Your students have likely heard people talk about time countless ... well ... times in their young lives. Still, it can be helpful to kick off your time-telling unit with an explanation of what it actually means to tell time.
Here's one from our teacher team that's just for kids:
Telling time is understanding what the clock is showing us so that we know what time it is.
Teaching Time With Analogue Clocks vs. Digital Clocks — Which Is Better?
Maybe you have an analogue clock in your classroom ... then again, your students may have never even seen an analog clock! So, do you really need to teach students how to read one?
The answer is yes!
Kids should certainly learn how to tell digital time. But even as cellphone clocks and digital watches have become ubiquitous, knowing how to read an 'old-fashioned' analogue clock remains an important skill and a standard in the Australian curriculum!
Benefits of Reading Analogue Clocks
There are myriad benefits to this, and not just because it ensures kids will be able to tell time if they're in a situation where the only clock available sports hour and minute hands.
- Counting by 5s — as you do when reading an analogue clock — is a skill that will help students when they begin to learn multiplication.
- Analogue clocks reinforce the concept of a difference between two numbers.
- Traditional clocks help our students grapple with the concept of elapsed time as they provide a visual representation.
5 Parts of an Analog Clock to Teach Your Students
Teaching students how to read a clock typically begins by teaching kids about the different parts of a clock — from the face to the various hands. Here are the four main parts of an analog clock or watch:
1. Clock Face
The 'face' of a clock is the area that is marked with numbers and sometimes marked with small lines to represent the minutes.
2. Numbers
Most clocks and watches are marked with numbers that represent the hours. The space between them is divided into minutes.
3. Hour Hand
Most clocks have at least two 'hands' on the face. The hour hand is the shortest and thickest hand, and it points to the hour.
4. Minute Hand
The minute hand on most clocks or watches is the part that points to the minutes. It is longer than the hour hand, and it is thicker than the second hand.
5. Second Hand
Some — but not all — clocks and watches featured a thin third hand. Just as the name implies, the second hand is the hand that points to the seconds.
How to Teach Kids to Tell the Time — Activity Ideas for Your Classroom
Looking for more tips on teaching kids to tell time? Our teacher team has stocked this collection with plenty of resources to help kids learn the difference between a minute and an hour, how to use a.m. and p.m. and more, but we didn't stop there!
Here are a few favourite activities and tips that you might want to try in your classroom!
- Build telling time into your classroom routines. For example, you might say, 'We have 20 minutes to do this. What time will it be when we're done?' or 'We will have tea at 11:40. Where will the hands of the clock be?"
- Give your students plenty of practise with writing the time by making it part of your daily maths warm-up.
- When you provide times for upcoming events, don't just provide the literal time but also what it would look like on the clock. For example, 'In 15 minutes, when the hour hand is on the 1 and the minute hand is on the 7, we will line up for recess.'
- Hang two clocks in your classroom to make a two-step process out of learning to tell time. One clock can display the hour hand, while the other displays the minute hand!
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Free Telling Time to the Minute Worksheets
A worksheet for telling time to the minute and converting between analogue and digital times.
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Analogue Time to the Half Hour – Worksheets
Practise telling time to the half-hour with a fun set of printable Telling Time Worksheets for Grade 1.
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Telling Time - Year 1 Maths Colouring Sheet
Practise telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Colour By Code maths worksheet!
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It's About Time! Introduction to Time PowerPoint
Introduce your students to the concepts and history of time and for investigate the relationship between units of time with an interactive teaching slide deck.
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Roll and Write - Telling Time Dice Game
Have fun learning how to tell time with a Roll and Write Telling Time Dice Game!
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Telling the Time Poster
Help your students learn to tell the time to the hour, half-hour, quarter, and minute with a printable Telling the Time anchor chart PDF.
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Telling Time to 5 Minutes - Activity Sheets
Tell time to the nearest five minutes with a pack of printable cut-and-paste telling time activity sheets.
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Telling Time Worksheets - Differentiated Maths
Practise using analogue clocks with this set of differentiated tell-the-time clock worksheets.
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Telling the Time Worksheets- Quarter Hours
Tell and write time to the nearest quarter-hour and half-hour with printable telling time cut and paste worksheets.
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Year 2 Telling Time Game - Hour and Half Hour Ice Cream Match
Create a maths centre to practise telling time to the hour and half hour with a printable ice cream matching game.
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Blank Digital and Analogue Clock Templates
Practise writing the time in digital and analogue form with this set of blank clock faces.
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Blank Digital and Analogue Clock Worksheet
A blank analogue and digital worksheet to use when teaching students about time.
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Analogue Time to the Quarter Hour
A worksheet to use when teaching analogue times in o'clock, half past and quarter past/to.
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Clock Reading & Elapsed Time Quiz
Assess your students' knowledge of telling time to the minute and working with elapsed time with this 2-page Telling Time Quiz.
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Telling Time to the Nearest Minute Test
Assess your student's abilities to tell time to the nearest minute with a Telling Time to the Minute Unit Test for Year 3.
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Telling the Time Clock Template
Start telling time to the nearest five-minute increment with a hands-on printable clock template.
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Time to the Hour and Half Hour - Maths Mazes
Engage your students with exciting telling time practise activities with a set of printable Time to the Hour and Half Hour Maths Mazes.
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Following Directions Worksheets - Reading a Clock Review
Practise telling time to the half-hour, quarter-hour, and five-minute mark with a pack of printable Following Directions to Tell the Time worksheets.
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Telling the Time Bingo – Hour, Half-hour, Quarter To and Quarter Past
Play a few rounds of Telling the Time Bingo to practise telling the time to the quarter hours.
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Telling Time Puzzles – Hour and Half-Hour Times
Practise reading analogue clocks, digital clocks and time in word form with a set of printable time puzzles.
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Telling the Time Bingo – Mixed Times
Thirty-two different bingo cards using analogue clocks.
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Roll and Cover – Telling Time to the Minute
Practise telling to the minute with this roll and cover game
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Time by the Minute - Year 3 Maths Interactive
Practise telling time by the minute with an interactive Time-telling digital learning activity.
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12 Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive 12 hour clock that displays hours, minutes and wording.
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Telling Time - Story Problem Comprehension Worksheets
Practise reading comprehension and telling time skills with a printable pack of Telling Time Maths Story Worksheets.
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Telling Time Year 2 Worksheets
Practise telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time Year 2 worksheets.
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Four in a Row - Tell the Time Clock Game -Hour and Half Hour
Play a Four in a Row Telling Time Game to demonstrate the ability to tell time to the nearest hour and half hour.
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Clock Worksheet Cut and Paste– 5-Minute Intervals
Use a clock worksheet to cut, paste and build a clock with five minute increments.
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Telling Time Knockout
Practise telling time to the minute by reading analogue and digital clocks with this competitive whole-class game.
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Telling the Time Bingo – Hour and Half-hour
Thirty different bingo cards using analogue clocks.
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Time After Time Mathematics PowerPoint
Introduce your students to the history of the clock, time zones, and telling time with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Hunt & Find - Telling Time Clock Game
Tell time to the nearest minute with a Tell the Time Clock Game for Year 3.