During early childhood development, your little one is absorbing and processing an astonishing amount of information. In the midst of all of this info, they should focus on certain skills and concepts. Learning how to tell time, for instance, is challenging but will help facilitate their education in the future. The following guide reveals helpful ways to teach children about telling time.

How to Teach Telling Time to Your Child

1. Familiarize Them With the Concept

Before you jump into reading clocks, it’s important to start with the basics. Introduce your child to the concept of time by pointing out when it is morning, afternoon, evening, and nighttime. Create an illustrative chart detailing activities that occur during these periods. For example, you can draw or print pictures of someone eating breakfast in the morning, going to school in the afternoon, and sleeping at night.

2. Demonstrate the Passage of Time

Sometimes it’s difficult for children to understand how time passes. As you’re going about your day, have a timer or stopwatch on hand to help them visualize the length of time. While your child is getting ready in the morning, waiting for dinner, playing a game, or taking a bath, time the duration of these activities.

3. Make Your Own Clocks

To better understand how clocks work, you and your child can make your own clocks together, whether you use paper plates or a chalkboard. Make sure you have adjustable hour and minute hands. Label the hands and hour marks so that you can explain what they mean and show what different times look like.

4. Use the “Secret Identity” Strategy

Use a fun activity to teach kids that the numbers on the clock have a double meaning. Educational games that stimulate the imagination are perfect for early childhood. Tell your child that each number on the clock has a “secret identity,” so hour 1 is also minute 5, and hour 6 is also minute 30. Continue revealing the secret identities around the clock so that your child makes a clear association.

5. Quiz Them Often

Practice is the best way to teach a child how to tell time. Quiz your kids as they develop an understanding of time. Whenever you pass a clock, ask them what time it is. Utilize the clocks you made together. Play games where you mention a time or activity, then ask them to adjust the hands to reflect the correct time. Before long, your child will read clocks with ease.

Make sure your little one is learning the essential concepts of early childhood by sending them to Pumpkin Preschool in Fairfield, CT. This child care provider has offered a safe and nurturing environment for children throughout the community for over 25 years. From infant care to after-school programs, their hands-on teaching methods will provide the guidance your child needs to excel in their education. Visit their website to learn how their curriculum fosters healthy development. To schedule a visit with the preschool center, call (203) 255-7505.