Telling Time Using Hands-on Math Centers

Let’s talk about how to teach telling time to primary students!

My students love learning about time…they see it as a “break” from more rigorous math concepts, such as word problems and decomposing numbers.

What do students need to know?

The goal is for students to be able to tell time and write time in the hour and half hours using digital and analog clocks.

Teaching time can be tricky…all students have a concept of time but we’re introducing the content-specific words like a.m./p.m., minute hand and hour hand, analog and digital. So, students need many opportunities to explore time in a context they understand it (i.e., talking about what they do in the a.m. and p.m.) and using an analog clock to show the time.

Telling Time Activities

These activities will provide your students with hands-on learning experiences to tell and write time using digital and analog clocks.

Build a Clock

What better way to introduce an analog clock than to have students t build one!

Show the Hour

Students pick a card and show the hour.

What Time is it?

Students pick a card and show the hour or half-past on the clock.

Flip and Draw

Students flip the card and draw the time.

Spin and Cover

Students spin the spinner and cover the time on the clock mat.

Sort it Out – Hour v. Half an Hour

Students sort the time to an hour and a half an hour.

Sort it Out – A.M. v. P.M.

Students sort the pictures by activities they do in the morning and evening.

There’s another version to this game that my students loved – they drew pictures of activities they did in a day and then sorted them!

Spin and Show

Students spin the spinner, draw and write the time.

Roll and Read

Students roll the die, pick a time to read in the column and cover it with an object.

Telling Time Puzzle #1

Students match the time with the correct clock.

Telling Time Puzzle #2

Students match the analog clock with the correct digital clock.

Time BINGO

Who doesn’t love BINGO! Students pick a card, read the time, and cover it on their board game. The first person to get 3 in a row wins.

Race Around the Clock

Students flip a card and move forward or back on the clock based on the card’s directions. Then, they record the time.

Flip and Draw

Students flip a card and draw a picture of the time.

1 Hour Before, 1 Hour After

Students pick a card and draw the time 1 hour before and 1 hour after.

Roll and Draw – Board Game

Students roll the die, move to that number of spaces. The time they land on is the time they show on the clock.

Roll and Show – Board Game

Students roll the die, move to that number of spaces. The time they land on is the time they show on the digital clock.

Vocabulary Strip

Picture vocabulary strips to help students remember the definitions of important time vocabulary.

Sort Worksheet – Hour and Half an Hour

Students sort the pictures by clocks that show the hour and clocks that show half an hour.

Sort Worksheet – Activities in the A.M. and P.M.

Students sort the pictures by activities in the a.m. and p.m.

Time Booklet

Students create a booklet about their day by recording the time, drawing a picture, and writing a detailed sentence.

That’s all I got! How do you teach time in your classroom? Let me know in the comments section below!

Get these activities

Do you like this resource? You can purchase it by clicking the link below.

Telling Time Math Center Freebie

You can never have too many math center activities. Here’s a freebie from my Telling Time Math Center packet. You can grab this low-prep activity by completing the form below. 

How do you teach place value in your classroom? Let me know in the comment section below.

Happy Teaching!