Teaching Time

When you begin teaching time to your child, it's important that you make it as simple as possible. Time is an abstract concept that can be hard for young children to grasp. That's one reason kids love to ask "Are we there yet", even though you've told them it'll be ten minutes. Personally, I think my children just love to annoy me.

You can keep it simple by teaching your child how to tell time to the hour first. Then move on to half-hours before tackling five-minutes and finally, end with telling time to the minute.

This section will focus on five-minute intervals of the clock. You can find the hour and half-hour time worksheets using the links at the bottom of this page.

Once children have mastered the hours and half-hours, they may find it confusing to move on to telling time by fives. It can be difficult to understand that the "1" can also mean "5", and that "2" can mean "10" and so on.

These worksheets will teach your child about the five-minute intervals around the clock.

You may find it helpful to review Counting By Fives before working through these time worksheets.

Teaching Time Worksheets:5 Minute Marks

The first three papers focus on understanding the five minute intervals for each number. On each worksheet is a clock face.

Below each larger number (1-12) is a box. This box represents the 'five-minute mark' for each larger number. The student will be asked to fill in the missing numbers for 1 - 12. Some of them are completed to help out. Once students have filled out each box, they will be able to see how each number on the clock face can be counted as a multiple of five as well. You could print one of these out and use it as a reference guide on the remaining worksheets.

The next couple of worksheets have six different clock faces on them. Each clock has a different time on it. Students need to look at the time on the clock face and write it on the line below the clock.

The last two sheets reverse the process. The time is written on the line below each clock. Students need to draw the correct lines on the clock face to show the time. It may be difficult to draw short and long lines for some students. You may want to have your child pick two different colors to draw the clock hands. Use one color for the hour hand and another for the minute hand. You still want to emphasize the length of each line for students, so they understand the difference between the hour and minute hand.

Click the pictures below to download your free worksheets.