Meet the Clock

Teaching the clock face

Prerequisites: counting to 12 and recognising numerals 1 to 12.

Suggested sequence (10–15 min)

1. Explore: Show a big clock. “What can you see? What are these called?” Use the tapping tool to name the parts.
2. Hands: Compare the two hands: short and thick, long and thin. Give them names and colours.
3. Clockwise: Walk the minute hand from 12 to 12. Say “clockwise” and have children trace the circle in the air.
4. Make a clock: Children make a paper-plate clock with two paper hands. Place the numbers carefully, starting with 12, 6, 3 and 9.

Common misconceptions

• Squashed numbers. On homemade clocks, children bunch the numbers; place 12, 6, 3, 9 first.
• Mixing up the hands. Use the colour and length to separate them.
• Counting the ticks as numbers. There are 12 numbers and 60 ticks.

Questions to ask

• “Which hand is the shortest? What does it show?”
• “Where does the minute hand start and end its journey?”

Curriculum links

UK Year 1: recognise and use language relating to dates and tell the time; sequence events. US CCSS 1.MD.3: tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.

What your child is learning

Your child is getting to know the parts of a clock: the short hour hand, the long minute hand, and the numbers 1 to 12 going clockwise.

Why it can feel tricky

• There are two hands that look similar and do different jobs.
• The numbers mean hours for one hand and minutes for the other.

Easy ways to help at home

• Put an analogue clock in a room your child uses often.
• Ask “Where’s the short hand pointing?” during the day.
• Make a paper plate clock together.
• Keep it short and playful. 2 or 3 minutes at a time is plenty.

Try this: “Point to the hour hand. Which hand is the long one?”