Telling Time Worksheets

Print out these telling time worksheets to begin teaching your child about time, clocks, hours, and minutes.

Time can be a confusing concept to grasp.  It's more of an abstract concept than a concrete one and it can be hard to show your child how time works. Once you start throwing in terms like a half past or a quarter til, things can really get confusing. It doesn't help that we teach our kids about money around the same time.

As a kid, I remember thinking that if a quarter was worth 25 cents (which is true when dealing with money), then a quarter after 3 should be 3:25 (which isn't true when dealing with time).  And, if a half dollar was worth 50 cents, then half-past 8 (my bedtime) should be 8:50.  My parents didn't see it that way and they put me to bed at 8:30.  Life is rough when you're young.

With these clock worksheets, learning time doesn't have to be so hard.  Lessons are presented in a progression that will take your child from telling the hour to telling half-hours and then finishing up with minutes.

It's best to learn step-by-step than to try teaching about the hour hand and minute hand all at once.  So, let's begin...

Printable Telling Time Worksheets

Use the images below to find lessons and printable worksheets covering hours, half-hours, and five-minute intervals.  There is also a unit covering elapsed time.  I go into each of these in more detail below, but if you're ready to dive in, go for it!  

If you are in one of those situations where you're also teaching money and all of the halves and quarters get to be too much, be sure to check out the fraction section of the site to teach your child why a quarter is 25 when talking about money and only 15 when telling time.

Using the Telling Time Worksheets

The worksheets all follow a similar pattern, but the subject matter changes.

In most lessons, there will be clocks that you have to match to the correct time.

In other cases, the student will be asked to draw the correct hands on the clock face.

At other times, the child will need to correctly read the time.

Start with the hour worksheets and move on to half-hours and finally five-minute intervals.

The Elapsed Time papers will show a particular time and ask the student to write (or draw) what the time will be later.

For example, if a clock shows 3:15, it might ask the student to draw a clock showing what the time will be in 30 minutes.  Students will need a strong grasp of the previous lessons before attempting this one, but it's a great review once they've finished the lessons.

Each of the worksheets will have their own set of detailed instructions for your use.  Enjoy!

Here are a few more lessons that you might find helpful: