Telling Time Teaching Resources
Browse telling time worksheets, clock games and templates and more teacher-created resources to help your students learn how to read digital and analog clocks.
Aligned with both TEKS and Common Core math 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 analog clocks and some of our teacher team's favorite 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 Analog Clocks vs. Digital Clocks — Which Is Better?
Maybe you have an analog 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" analog clock remains an important skill and a standard in most places — including states that make use of the Common Core Curriculum.
Benefits of Reading Analog 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 analog clock — is a skill that will help students when they begin to learn multiplication.
- Analog 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 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 favorite 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 have to be at lunch at 11:40. Where will the hands of the clock be?"
- Give your students plenty of practice with writing the time by making it part of your daily math 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!
- Free Plan
Free Telling Time to the Minute - Worksheet Pack
Practice telling time to the minute by writing the digital time and drawing the hands on analog clocks.
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Roll and Write - Telling Time Dice Game
Practice telling time and have fun learning how to tell time with a Roll and Write Telling Time Dice Game!
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Blank Digital and Analog Clock Templates
Practice writing the time in digital and analog form with this set of blank clock faces.
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Parts of a Clock Anchor Chart
Familiarize students with the analog clock face, hands and other parts of a clock with a printable poster created for the primary classroom.
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Roll and Cover – Telling Time to the Minute
Practice telling to the minute with this roll and cover game
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Order Up! Elapsed Time Puzzles
Practice determining elapsed time with a printable pack of nine ‘Order Up! Elapsed Time Cut and Paste Puzzle Strips.
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Time Matching Game - Hour and Half Hour Ice Cream Cones
Create a math center to practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a printable ice cream themed time game for first grade.
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What Can You Do? 1st Grade Time Printables
Help your students understand time increments with a pair of cut-and-paste math worksheets for first grade.
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Telling Time - Worksheets
Practice telling time on a clock with a set of 5 printable telling time worksheets.
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Telling Time to the Nearest Five Minutes - Interactive Activities
Read different clock faces to the nearest 5 minutes.
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Blank Digital and Analog Clock - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice telling time.
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Time in Minutes - Math Maze Worksheets
Tell time to the nearest minute while finding your way through this set of 2nd/3rd Grade Telling Time to the Minute Math mazes.
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Time to the Minute - Color by Code Worksheet
Review how to tell time to the minute with a fun Color By Code 3rd Grade math worksheet.
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3rd Grade - Time to the Minute Quiz Game
Practice telling time to the minute with an engaging 3rd Grade Telling Time Quiz Game.
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A.M. or P.M.? 2nd Grade Time Game
Differentiate between events that occur in A.M. and P.M. times with an interactive self-checking digital learning game.
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Telling Time to 5 Minutes- Color By Number PDF
Tell time to the nearest five minutes and have fun with a Telling Time Math Coloring Page.
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Day or Night Sorting Activity
Help your little learners understand and apply the concepts of day and night with this fun sorting activity.
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Tarsia Puzzle - Telling Time for 1st Grade
Solve the tarsia puzzle and practice matching digital times with their corresponding word forms.
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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 Knockout
Practice telling time to the minute by reading analog and digital clocks with this competitive whole-class Telling Time Knockout game.
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Time Dominoes - Five Minute Intervals
Practice telling time to the nearest 5 minutes by matching 32 analog and digital clock dominoes.
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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 to 5 Minutes - Activity Sheets
Cut and paste to tell time to the nearest five minutes with a pack of printable cut-and-paste telling time activity sheets.
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Time to the Hour and Half Hour - Math Mazes
Engage your students with exciting telling time practice activities with a set of printable Time to the Hour and Half Hour Math Mazes.
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Telling Time Test - Nearest 5 Minutes
Assess your student's abilities to tell time to the nearest five minutes with a printable telling time assessment.
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Time to 5 Minutes - Digital Learning Activity
Review how to tell time to the nearest five minutes with an independent Telling Time Digital Learning Activity.
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Telling Time - 1st Grade Math Coloring Sheet
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a fun Telling Time Color By Code worksheet!
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Telling Time Task Cards - Hour & Half-Hour
Practice telling time to the hour and half hour with a set of printable Telling Time Task Cards.
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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 3rd Grade!
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Following Directions Worksheets - Reading a Clock Review
Practice telling time to the half-hour, quarter-hour, and five-minute mark with a pack of printable Following Directions worksheets.
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Clock Reading Puzzles- Half-Hour
Practice reading analog clocks, digital clocks, and time in word form with a set of printable Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour Clock Puzzles.
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Telling the Time - Clocks to 5 Minutes Task Cards
Practice reading clocks to determine time to the nearest 5 minutes with a set of telling time task cards.