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.
- Plus Plan
Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour Teaching Slides
Teach your first graders how to tell time to the hour and half hour with an interactive teaching slide deck.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Free Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
A.M. and P.M. Matching Game
Identify what happens in the A.M. and P.M. times with a fun matching game.
- Plus Plan
Time to the Hour and Half-Hour - Digital Learning Activity
Read different clock faces to tell time to the nearest hour and half hour with a digital learning activity for first grade.
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1st Grade Telling Time Game - Mystery Reveal
Practice telling time to the hour and half-hour with an interactive Telling Time Game for first grade.
- Plus Plan
Clock Worksheet Cut and Paste– 5-Minute Intervals
Use a clock worksheet to cut, paste and build a clock with five minute increments.
- Free Plan
Classroom Clock Labels - Flower Time Petals
Use our Flower Wall Clock Labels to create a spring-themed display to help children read the time.
- Plus Plan
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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Task Cards - A.M. and P.M. Time
Help your students tell A.M. times from P.M. times with a set of 24 A.M./P.M. task cards.
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AM & PM Teaching Slideshow
Teach your students the difference between AM and PM time with an engaging teaching presentation.
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Clock Labels – 'Past' and 'To'
A template to display around your classroom clock that highlights 'past' and 'to' terminology.
- Free Plan
12-Hour Clock Template
A template for an interactive clock that displays hours, minutes, and wording.
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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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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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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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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.
- Free Plan
Blank Digital and Analog Clock - Worksheet
A worksheet to practice telling time.
- Plus Plan
Telling Time to the Hour and Half-Hour - Worksheet
Practice telling time to the half-hour with a fun set of printable Telling Time Worksheets for 1st grade.
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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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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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What Time Is It? Telling Time Playdough Mats
Use playdough to practice telling time to the hour and half hour with printable playdough mats for kindergarten.
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Color By Code Worksheet- Telling Time to 5 Minutes
Practice telling time to the nearest five minutes with a fun Color By Code worksheet.
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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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Analog Clock Test - 2nd Grade Telling Time
Administer an Analog Clock Test to determine mastery of second grade clock reading skills.
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Hunt & Find - Telling Time Clock Game
Tell time to the nearest minute with a Tell the Time Clock Game for 3rd graders.
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Telling Time Practice Sheets
Practice reading analog clocks with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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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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Time by the Minute - 3rd Grade Math Interactive
Practice telling time by the minute with an interactive Time-telling digital learning activity.
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Telling Time to the Minute Bingo
A set of 32 bingo cards using analog clocks to practice telling time to the minute.
- Plus Plan
Telling the Time Clock Template
Teach how to tell the time to the nearest five-minute increment with a hands-on printable clock template.