How to play
- Look at the clock. The short, thick hand shows the hour. The long, thin hand shows the minutes.
- Pick the time the clock shows from the three answers.
- If it isn’t right, you see the right answer and why. Then try the next clock.
In Set the clock it’s the other way round: you get a time, and you turn the long hand until the clock shows it, then press Check. The short hand moves along with it, as on a real clock. Drag the long hand, or press anywhere on the clock.
A round has ten clocks, and each right answer earns a star. Start at level 1 and move up when you’re ready:
- O’clock: 3 o’clock.
- Half past: half past 3.
- Quarters: quarter past 3 and quarter to 4.
- Five minutes: twenty past 3, twenty-five to 4.
- Any minute: 3:47.
Answers can be in words (half past three), digital (3:30) or digital words (three thirty), or Mix for all three at once. Minute numbers around the edge and the past and to halves of the clock are there to help, and can be switched off.
For parents and teachers
The five levels follow the order most schools teach telling the time. In England’s national curriculum, children tell the time to the hour and half past in Year 1, to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to, in Year 2, and to the nearest minute in Year 3. In the US Common Core, hours and half hours come in grade 1 (1.MD.B.3), five minutes in grade 2 (2.MD.C.7) and the nearest minute in grade 3 (3.MD.A.1). A guide: level 1 from about age 5, level 5 by about age 8.
Move on when a level feels easy: after a round with 9 or 10 stars, the game suggests the next level, but never moves on by itself. Read the clock comes first; Set the clock, turning the hands to show a time, is the harder half of the same skill.
Why the short hand points between the numbers
On a real clock the hour hand moves all the time, not in jumps. At half past three it is halfway between the 3 and the 4, and at quarter to four it is nearly at the 4. Many clock games leave it on the 3, which teaches the classic mistake of reading quarter to four as quarter to three. This clock moves the short hand exactly as a real one does, and when your child sets the clock, turning the long hand moves the short hand along with it, like the gears inside.
Past and to, or digital
Children in the UK and across the Commonwealth usually learn past and to first: quarter past three, twenty-five to four. In the US, digital words are common: three fifteen, three thirty-five. Choose the answers your child is learning, words, digital (3:30) or digital words, or Mix to practise all three. The clock is a 12-hour clock: morning and afternoon, and the 24-hour clock, aren’t part of this game.
Questions
Which level should my child start at?
Level 1, o’clock, for a first go. If the first round is easy, try the next level: the levels build on each other, and each keeps its own best round.
What happens after a wrong answer?
The right answer is shown, with one sentence about what to look at, such as where the short hand is or which side of the clock the long hand is on. The wrong answers are the mistakes children really make, like reading the hour from the wrong number or swapping the hands, so each one is worth explaining.
What do Minute numbers and Past and to halves do?
Minute numbers show 5, 10, 15 and so on around the edge, so your child can count the minutes. Past and to halves shade the right half of the clock, where the long hand counts minutes past the hour, and the left half, where it counts to the next hour. Both are on by default at the levels where they help most, and either can be switched off.
Is it safe for children?
Tell the Time has no ads, no chat, no sign-up and no tracking. Nothing your child does is sent anywhere: the round in progress, the best rounds and the statistics are kept only in this browser.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. Tap an answer, or in Set the clock drag the long hand around with a finger. On a computer, the keyboard works too.
Keyboard
| 1, 2 or 3 | Choose that answer (Read the clock) |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | Turn the long hand one step (Set the clock, on the clock) |
| Page Up and Page Down | Turn the long hand a whole hour |
| Enter | Check the clock you set, or go to the next clock |
More to play
- Block Adder: Drop number blocks and make 10. Pairs like 3 and 7 disappear.
- Hangman: Guess the word one letter at a time before the balloons pop.
- All kids games