Telling time games for kids
Updated · By Edulist · 6 sources
To 5 minutes, usually grade 2.
Look at the clock and pick the time it shows.
Explore telling time programs
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How to use it
- Pick a level
O'clock and Half past are 1st grade. Quarter past and to, and 5 minutes, are 2nd grade. 1 minute is 3rd grade. Start one level below where your child is comfortable.
- Pick a game
Read the clock (multiple choice), Type the time, Set the clock (drag the hands), Match the clock (find the clock for a digital time or words) or Stop the clock (press Stop at the right moment).
- Choose Practice, Quiz or Challenge
Practice has no timer and unlimited tries. Quiz is ten clocks, timed, with three tries each. Challenge is 60 seconds, one try each, with bonus points for streaks.
- Learn from the results
See your score, time and the clocks you missed, then press Retry missed to practice just those. Your best score for each level and game stays on this device.
Printables to go with it
Five telling time games in one
Each game practices a different part of reading a clock. Children who can pick the right answer from four choices can't always produce it themselves, and children who can read a clock often struggle to set one. Mixing the games builds the whole skill.
| Game | What your child does | What it practices |
|---|---|---|
| Read the clock | Picks the time a clock shows from four choices | Recognizing times; spotting the common mistakes |
| Type the time | Types the time a clock shows | Recall without hints, writing time as 3:45 |
| Set the clock | Drags the hands to show a time given in digits or words | Where the hour hand really goes; the hands are geared |
| Match the clock | Picks the clock that shows a time | Reading four clocks quickly and comparing them |
| Stop the clock | Stops racing hands at the right moment | Fast, automatic reading; fun to replay |
In Set the clock, the hands are geared like a real teaching clock. Drag the minute hand around and the hour hand moves with it, so a child can't set 3:50 with the hour hand pointing straight at the 3. That's the mistake most worksheets can't catch.
The five levels, by grade
The levels follow the order most US schools teach time, based on the Common Core math standards.
| Level | Times you'll see | Grade | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| O'clock | 1:00, 2:00 … 12:00 | Kindergarten to 1st | Builds toward 1.MD.B.3 |
| Half past | O'clock and half past (3:30) | 1st | 1.MD.B.3: tell and write time in hours and half-hours |
| Quarter past and to | Every 15 minutes (3:15, 3:45) | 2nd | Part of 2.MD.C.7 |
| 5 minutes | Every 5 minutes (3:05, 3:40) | 2nd | 2.MD.C.7: to the nearest five minutes, with a.m. and p.m. |
| 1 minute | Any minute (3:07, 11:52) | 3rd | 3.MD.A.1: to the nearest minute |
At the O'clock level, the choices also show the time in words ("3:00 (three o'clock)") so pre-readers can match the sound. From Half past up, about half the questions in Set the clock and Match the clock give the time in words ("twenty to six") and half in digits, so children practice both.
How to practice telling time
Short and often beats long and rare. Ten clocks a day for a week does more than one long session. A simple plan:
- Warm up with the clock. Spend a minute on the interactive clock: set a few times, and press Watch it move so your child sees the hour hand creep.
- Practice mode at the current level. No timer, so your child can count by 5s out loud. After three misses, the game shows the answer and asks that clock again a few turns later.
- Quiz when Practice feels easy. Ten clocks, timed, three tries each. The score is the share right on the first try.
- Retry missed. The results list the clocks your child missed; Retry missed asks only those.
- Challenge for fun. Sixty seconds, one try each, with double points after a streak of five. Children love beating their own best.
Move up a level when your child scores 90 percent or more in Quiz twice in a row. Move back if the score drops below about 60 percent; it usually means a step was skipped, often the hour hand rule.
Common telling time mistakes the games catch
The multiple-choice answers in Read the clock and Match the clock aren't random. Each wrong choice is one of these real misreadings, and picking it brings up a one-line explanation.
- The hour is read as the next number. At 3:50 the hour hand is almost at 4, so children say 4:50. The hint: the hour is the number the hand has passed.
- The hands are swapped. 3:15 read as 3:03 or 12:15. The hint: the short hand shows the hour, the long hand the minutes.
- The minute number is read as minutes. The minute hand on the 4 read as "4 minutes" instead of 20. The hint: count by 5s from the 12.
- "To" is read as "past". Twenty to six read as 6:20 instead of 5:40. The hint: "to" counts the minutes left before the next hour.
If one mistake keeps coming back, go back to the interactive clock and work on just that idea. For the hour hand mistake, set 3:00, then press +5 min ten times and talk about where the hour hand is each time.
Stop the clock
Stop the clock is a speed game for children who can already read the clock. The hands race forward from 40 to 100 minutes before the target time; press Stop, or the space bar, when the clock shows it. Within 4 minutes counts at the O'clock level, 3 minutes at Half past and Quarter, 2 at 5 minutes and 1 at 1 minute, where the hands also slow down. If the hands run more than half an hour past the time, it counts as a miss and you try again.
Printable practice and the next step
Clocks on paper are still the best way to practice writing times and drawing hands. The telling time worksheets match each level here, from to the hour to the nearest minute, and the draw the hands worksheets pair with Set the clock. After the nearest minute comes elapsed time: how long from 8:45 to 11:20? The elapsed time calculator shows it on a number line and has its own practice.
Telling time at home, without a screen
The games work best alongside everyday talk about time. Put an analog clock where your child can see it, and mention times as they happen: "It's half past seven, time for bed." Ask your child to tell you when it's 4 o'clock, or how many minutes until dinner. Wear a watch with hands if you have one. Five minutes of real-life clock reading a day does as much as a long practice session.
Children who want more structured lessons may enjoy a full program: SplashLearn has many telling time games by grade, IXL has time skills from kindergarten up, and Math Mammoth has a self-teaching clock worktext.
Sources
Questions
What level should my child start at?
If your child can't yet say what time it is at 3:00, start with O'clock. If they read hours easily, try Half past, then Quarter past and to. Children who count by 5s confidently can go to 5 minutes. Move up a level after two quiz scores of 90 percent or better.
Why are the wrong answers so close to the right one?
They're built from the mistakes children really make: reading the hour as the next number, swapping the hands, reading the number the minute hand points at as minutes, and mixing up past and to. When your child picks one, the game says what went wrong in one sentence.
How does Stop the clock work?
The hands race forward from about an hour before the target time. Press Stop (or the space bar) when the clock shows the time. Within 4 minutes counts at O'clock, 3 at Half past and Quarter, 2 at 5 minutes and 1 at 1 minute, where the clock also runs slower.
Can my child type the time in words?
Yes. In Type the time, "3:45", "345", "quarter to four" and "three forty-five" are all accepted. Times only need a.m. or p.m. when the question asks for them.
Does it work on a Chromebook or iPad?
Yes. Every game works with touch, a mouse or a keyboard: number keys pick answers, arrow keys move the clock's hands, and the space bar stops the clock. There is nothing to install and no account.
Is my child's score saved?
The best score for each level, game and mode is saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent to Edulist. Clearing your browser data clears the scores.