Teaching children to tell the time

"Dad, what time is it?", "Mum, when is 1 hour from now?"… It might be time to teach children to tell the time if you recognise any of these questions!

At what age should you teach children to tell the time?

First of all, your child needs to be able to place themselves in time and to project ahead. That is to say, to distinguish between different parts of the day, as well as knowing the difference between yesterday, today and tomorrow.

At school, this learning begins in Year 3, around the age of 7. That said, there is no strict rule on the matter and it will depend largely on the child's ability — as well as their motivation!

How to teach children to tell the time

Again, there's no set rule. You can start simply by showing them that time encompasses days, weeks, and months… This will help make the concept of time feel less abstract.

Throughout the day, you can point out the time to your child without going into too much detail. Breakfast happens at 8:30 in the morning.

As for snack time, let them know it's 4:00 pm. At this point, it's particularly helpful to show your little one the clock.

It's also possible to use a timer to help children learn to tell the time. A cake in the oven? It will be ready in 30 minutes. A car journey? It will take 1 hour 30 minutes. Time will start to feel more real.

A few helpful tools for this mission!

A children's watch is an excellent way to make this learning fun. The child becomes an active participant and feels proud to be able to read the time.

You could also get them a digital alarm clock, which is useful once your little one can count up to 12. And it can actually be a great opportunity to teach them to count up to 60!

By supporting your little one in learning to tell the time, you're helping them to become more independent!