Telling time · K–1
Telling Time to the Hour
The first step: the long hand sits on 12, and the short hand says the hour.
How to learn it
Cover the long hand with your finger. Where does the short hand point? That number is the hour. Children who learn this habit now avoid most mix-ups later.
When the long hand points straight up, the time is exactly on the hour. It's a signal, not a number to read out.
Pick three times your child already knows: breakfast at 7, school at 9, bed at 8. Set a clock to each one and leave it out.
Watch for children reading the long hand: on 3:00 the long hand is on 12, so some will say twelve three. Keep asking which hand is the short one?
Play this level
A clock sticks when a child reads one again and again and finds out straight away if they were right. Each game here asks for one time in a different form.
Every question is o'clock
Free to play · no signup · works on phones, tablets and computers
Keep going
Questions
What age should kids learn o'clock?
Many start around age 5 or 6. US standards usually cover the hour and half hour in first grade, and English schools cover both in Year 1.
Is the telling time game really free?
Yes. The whole game plays free in your browser, with no signup, no ads and no time limit. An iPhone app is on the way with offline play, a forest trail and a parent view, but the web game stays free.
Coming soon to iPhone
We're building a Clockwood app with what needs a real app: every time read aloud, offline play, and a parent view of which times have stuck and which are still tricky. The full game stays free here on the web.
Coming soon on theApp Store