Learning to read a clock
An analog clock has two hands: a short hour hand and a long minute hand. The hour hand points to the hour, and the minute hand shows the minutes. Moving the hands yourself and watching the digital time change makes reading a clock much easier to learn.
Hours and minutes
The clock face is divided into 12 hours, and each hour is split into 60 minutes, marked in steps of 5. When the minute hand points to the 3 it is 15 minutes past, at the 6 it is 30 minutes (half past), and at the 9 it is 45 minutes. Practicing with the hands helps kids connect the two.
Frequently asked questions
How do you teach a child to tell the time?
Start with the hour hand and o'clock times, then add half past, quarter past and quarter to. Using a clock where the child moves the hands and sees the digital time, like this one, makes the idea concrete and fun.
What is the difference between the hour and minute hand?
The short, thick hand is the hour hand and points to the hour. The long, thin hand is the minute hand and shows the minutes. The minute hand moves all the way around the clock in one hour.
How many minutes are in an hour?
There are 60 minutes in one hour. On the clock face, each of the 12 big numbers is 5 minutes apart, so counting by fives around the clock reaches 60.