Teaching Time in Kindergarten with a Poster Freebie!

Teaching time activities for kindergarten with simple centers. Expose students to telling time to the hour and half-hour with hands-on and engaging activities.

Teaching time to kindergarten students is a tough one. They do not quite understand what time is yet, and they are just starting to note the passage of time. So when you start teaching them to tell time, it can be a really hard concept for them to grasp.

I keep telling time really simple in kindergarten- to the hour, and to the half hour. My students were able to catch on quite quickly, and they surprised me with their ability to tell time. Here is some of the centers and activities that I set up did.

Scroll down to find a poster freebie!

Show the Time activities

At this center, our students were able to move the hands of the clock to match the time on the analogue clock. I used popsicle sticks that I cut up so that one was longer than the other, and I made the ends into points.

Our students were able to catch on to how to show time on the clock, and they became a lot more familiar with the hour and minute hand. I think making them two different colours really helped them visualize the difference.

I also made two posters for students to reference during centers so that they could remember which hand is which (the colour of the hands on the poster are the same colour as the popsicle sticks).

Here is the free download for the posters, if you would like to use them in your classroom:

My Book of Time

Once are students were able to master showing time on the work mats, they tried their hand at making their time books.

Each page has a clock on it, and there are many different pages to choose from. I picked a few where students had to draw the hands on of the clock, and a couple that had a clock and students had to fill in the time.

What Time is it?

These task cards were perfect to be used with these clocks. Students could turn the hands and figure out what time the clock said, and then record their answers.

All the activities above are available in my store in this activity pack:

Can you make a clock?

We challenged our students to make their own clocks at our loose parts center. I cut construction paper into a circle, and added the popsicle stick hands I had previously used with the Show the Time activity.

Our students had a hard time making sure their numbers were properly arranged around the clock. I had a large clock with me at the table, and I showed them that it is easier to start with the 12, 3, 6, and 9 and then fill in the rest.

Once I showed them this trick, they were able to start doing it on their own. Such a great way to familiarize them with a clock.

The Best Time of Day Class Book

Our class was really excited to write about their favourite time of the day. We got all kinds of fantastic answers: after school, when they play video games, when they go to park, recess.

If you would like to make this book with your class, it is in this pack in my store: