Interactive analog clock · Grades 1–3

How to Read a Clock

Move the hands and watch the time change.

Try this Move either hand to explore the time

Learning path

Build time skills in order

The method

This page is for kids who are just starting to read an analog clock, and for the adults helping them practice.

Move the hands, read the digital time, then try saying the time out loud: o'clock, half past, quarter past, or quarter to.

Start with the short hand. Then look at the long hand.

The shorter hand tells you the hour. If it sits between two numbers, use the smaller number for now.

The longer hand tells you the minutes. Count by fives as it moves around the clock: 1 is 5 minutes, 2 is 10 minutes, and 6 is 30 minutes.

Say the hour first, then the minutes. If the short hand is near 4 and the long hand is on 6, say 4:30.

Reading the minute hand as the number it points to. On most clocks, you need to count by fives.
Forgetting that the hour hand moves slowly between two numbers.
Mixing up quarter past and quarter to.

Continue learning

Choose the skill that matches what the child can explain now, then use the lesson, online practice, and printable work together.