When is Recess? In a Minute… How Long is a Minute?

If you’re a year 1 classroom teacher, you have heard that same series of questions a thousand times over the year. When is lunch, when is recess, when do we go home? Whether you respond with ‘in a minute’ or ‘in five minutes’, you will likely get the response…How long is that? 

If this sounds like your daily classroom conversations, you need to dive into time estimation concepts with your students! The ability to estimate time is a critical skill to learn early on as it helps with planning, motivation, and time management down the road. If students don’t understand how long a minute is, then any attempt at managing their time later on will likely fail.

Estimating Time Maths Sheets for Year 1

This printable resource pack is designed to help students understand the difference between subjective time and measured time. The time estimating activities included have students estimate the time they’ll need to complete a given task and then measure the actual time it takes. Did it take longer? Shorter? Why?

We have included three versions of this activity for you to choose from, featuring a variety of fun movements, actions, and tasks to estimate time in seconds and minutes. The worksheets included are

• What Can You Do in 10 Seconds? Maths Sheet for Year 1
• What Can You Do in 1 Minute? Maths Sheet for Year 1
• What Can You Do in 5 Minutes? Maths Sheet for Year 1

Download Your Math Sheets for Year 1

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the editable Google Slides resource file or the quick-print PDF version.

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a Teach Starter Collaborator.

Even More Games and Maths Sheets for Year 1

Don’t stop there! Your lesson plan wouldn’t be complete without these activities and teaching resources too: 

teaching resource

How Long Does It Take? – Seconds, Minutes & Hours Worksheets

Estimate the duration of time it takes to complete an action with a pair of Seconds, Minutes, or Hours? Cut and Sort Worksheets.

teaching resource

When Does It Happen? – Sorting Activity

Identify activities that happen in the morning, afternoon, and at night with a Time of Day Sorting activity for Foundations students.

teaching resource

Units of Time Poster

A poster highlighting how we measure time in days, weeks, months and years.