How to Teach Your Child to Tell Time (Hour and Half-Hour)

The skill that helps children understand when things happen and in what order. Your child learns to read the clock to the hour and half hour and connect time to daily routines. 

Time becomes meaningful when it is tied to real moments like meals, play, and bedtime. The goal is connecting clock times to lived experiences, not memorizing the clock face.

This builds independence, planning skills, and the foundation for elapsed time later on.

Before You Start

Your child should recognize numbers 1 through 12 and understand basic daily routines like morning, afternoon, and night.

If number recognition is still shaky, revisit that first.

5 Ways to Build This Skill Daily

Daily Schedule Talk

Going through your day? Name the time out loud. “We eat lunch at 12 o’clock.” “Bath time starts at 6:30.” Hearing time connected to routine makes clocks useful.

Clock Hop Game

Tape a big clock on the floor or draw one with chalk. Your child stands in the middle and becomes the hour hand, pointing their body to the number you call out.
“Show me 4 o’clock.”
Add a second person as the minute hand and park them at the 6 for half past. Kids love being the clock.

Movement by the Hour

Set a clock to an hour and move that many times. Jump three times for 3:00. Clap six times for 6:00. Add half-hours by doing half the movement. Bodies make time stick.

Half Hour Spotting

Any time the big hand hits the 6, call it out. “Half past!” Ask where the little hand is pointing. This builds half-hour awareness without stopping the day.

When your child starts reading hour and half hour times without hesitation and connects them to routine events, they are ready to move forward.

When You Have Focused Time

Routine Matching using Turn & Tell Wooden Clock by Melissa & Doug

Match clock times to real daily activities. Set the clock for breakfast, playtime, or bedtime. Watch the digital window change as the hands move to connect analog and digital time.

Hands-On Play using Big Time Clock

Move the hour hand around the clock and name each hour. Add the minute hand at the 12 for full hours and at the 6 for half hours. Say the time out loud each time. Switch roles and let your child set the time.

Helpful Resources

Here are resources that will reinforce your teaching in a fun, fresh manner.

Books

Tools (Manipulatives or Toys)

Match the Digital and Analog

Mix digital time cards and blank analog clocks. Your child draws a digital time and sets the clock to match it. “This says 3:30. Where does the big hand go?”
Flip it around by showing the analog clock and asking them to say or write the digital time.

What’s Next:

Once your child can tell time to the hour and half hour, move on to Concept 10: Sorting and Organizing Data, where they begin collecting, grouping, and making sense of information.