ClassX Video Lessons Grade Grade 2 Telling Time for Kids | Learn to tell time on both Analog and Digital Clocks
Hey there! Let’s go on a fun adventure to learn how to tell time. Every day, we do things at certain times. We eat breakfast in the morning, lunch in the middle of the day, and dinner in the evening. We wake up in the morning and go to bed at night. Time helps us know when to do these things!
Time is like a magic tool that helps us know when things happen. We can talk about things that happened before (the past), things happening now (the present), and things that will happen later (the future). Time is measured in minutes and hours. There are 60 seconds in one minute, 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day.
Half of the day, or 12 hours, is called a.m. (morning), and the other half is called p.m. (afternoon and evening). We use clocks to tell time, and there are two kinds of clocks: analog and digital.
Analog clocks have moving hands: a big hand and a small hand. The numbers 1 to 12 are on the clock, showing each hour. The little hand points to the hour, and the big hand points to the minutes.
Let’s learn how to read an analog clock! If the little hand points at 3, it’s 3 o’clock. If it points at 4, it’s 4 o’clock. The dashes between numbers show minutes. From 12 to 1, five minutes pass. We count by fives: 5, 10, 15, and so on.
When the big hand points at 12, we say “o’clock.” If it points at 1, it’s 5 minutes. At 2, it’s 10 minutes. At 3, it’s 15 minutes. If it points at 6, we count: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. That’s 30 minutes!
Let’s practice! If the little hand is at 3 and the big hand is at 2, it’s 3:10. If it’s afternoon, it’s 3:10 p.m. If it’s morning, it’s 3:10 a.m. The Sun helps us know if it’s morning or night.
Try this: If the little hand is at 5 and the big hand is at 6, it’s 5:30. At 5:30 p.m., you might be eating dinner. At 5:30 a.m., you might be asleep.
Digital clocks show time with numbers and a colon. The number before the colon is the hour, and the number after is the minutes. For example, 3:40 means it’s 3:40. If it shows 7:56, it’s 7:56.
Let’s compare! If you see 7:10 on both clocks, you’re right! How about 11 o’clock? Great! What about 2:08? Awesome job!
Learning to tell time is important because it helps us plan our day. At 8 a.m., you might go to school. At 8 p.m., you might get ready for bed. Time flies when we’re having fun and seems slow when we’re not. But no matter what, time keeps moving!
Thanks for learning with us! Keep practicing, and you’ll be a time-telling expert in no time!
Make Your Own Clock: Create a simple analog clock using a paper plate, markers, and two different colored paper strips for the clock hands. Use a pushpin to attach the hands to the center of the plate so they can move. Practice setting the clock to different times and ask a friend or family member to guess the time. This will help you understand how the hands move and what they mean.
Time Detective: Become a time detective by observing the times you do different activities throughout the day. Write down what time you eat breakfast, go to school, have lunch, play, and go to bed. Use both analog and digital clocks to check the time. Share your findings with your class or family and see if you notice any patterns in your daily routine.
Time Travel Story: Imagine you have a magic clock that can take you to the past or the future. Write a short story about where you would go and what you would do at a specific time. Would you visit the dinosaurs, or maybe see what your town looks like in the future? Share your story with your classmates and discuss how time can help us think about different moments in history or the future.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
[Music]
Telling time for kids! Every day, there are things we do at the same time: breakfast is in the morning, lunch is in the middle of the day, and dinner is in the evening. We may get up in the morning at the same time and go to bed at the same time each night. Time is an important concept; it helps us measure day and night.
Time allows us to measure events that have already happened, that are happening right now, or will happen in the future. We refer to these as the past, the present, and the future. Time is measured in minutes and hours: there are 60 seconds in one minute, 60 minutes in one hour, and 24 hours in one day.
Half of those hours, or 12, make up the a.m. (morning), and the other 12 hours make up the p.m. (afternoon and evening). A clock is used to measure time, and there are two kinds of clocks: analog and digital.
Analog clocks have moving hands: a big hand and a small hand. Digital clocks use numbers only.
First, let’s talk about analog clocks. The numbers 1 through 12 are shown on analog clocks, representing each hour of the day. There are dashes in between each of those numbers, which represent 1 minute each.
So, how do those dashes and numbers tell us the time? That’s where the little and big hands come in. The shorter hand is called the little hand, and it points to the hour. The longer hand is called the big hand, and it points to the minute.
Using those hands together gives us the time. Here are some examples: if the little hand is pointing at the 3, then we know it’s 3 o’clock. If it’s pointing at the 4, then we know it’s 4 o’clock.
Can you see the dashes in between all the numbers? Each of those dashes represents one minute. For example, from 12 to 1, five minutes pass. We can count each number by fives: 12 to 1 is five minutes, 12 to 2 is ten minutes, and so on.
As the little hand rotates, we can count: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and when we reach the last number, we say “o’clock.”
Have you ever heard someone say it’s 3 o’clock or 6 o’clock? When we say “o’clock,” we know that the big hand is pointing at the 12.
So how does the big hand help us know what time it is? When it points at the 1, we know it’s 5 minutes. When it points at the 2, it’s 10 minutes. When it points at the 3, it’s 15 minutes.
If it’s pointed at the 6, we count by fives starting at the 12: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. That’s right, the six equals 30 minutes.
What about the number nine on the clock? If we know the six equals thirty minutes, we keep counting: the 7 is 35 minutes, the 8 is 40 minutes, which means the nine is 45 minutes.
I think you’re ready to put the two hands together and tell time! Let’s try it out. If the little hand is pointing to the three, what time is it? That’s right, it’s three o’clock!
Now let’s add the big hand. If the big hand is pointing to the 2, how many minutes is that? Remember to count by fives: 5, 10. Now we just put those numbers together: three and ten, or it’s 3:10.
If it’s the afternoon, then it’s 3:10 p.m. If it’s very early in the morning, then it’s 3:10 a.m. We use the same 12 numbers for a.m. and p.m. The Sun helps us know whether it’s morning or night.
Let’s try to figure out some more times on our clock. If the little hand is pointing at the 5 and the big hand is pointing at the 6, what time is it? We know the first number is 5, so we count by fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.
When we put the 5 and 30 together, what time does that become? Did you say 5:30? If you did, you’re right! At 5:30 p.m., you might be eating dinner, and at 5:30 a.m., you might be asleep.
How about if the little hand is pointing at the 10 and the big hand is pointing at the 9? Can you figure that out? Did you get 10:45? If you did, you know how to tell time!
Let’s look closely at this time on the clock. Do you notice that when the time on the analog clock shows 10:43, the little hand is closer to the 11? That’s because the little hand moves just like the big hand, but it moves slower.
It’s closer to the 11 at 10:45 because it’s almost 11 o’clock. The same thing happens with the numbers: when the little hand is in between numbers and pointing to a dash, we will need to count the dashes after a number to know exactly what time it is.
If the little hand is pointing at the 5 and the big hand is pointing at two dashes past the 2, we would count by 5 and then add 2 to find out that it’s 5:12.
How about if the little hand is pointing at the 4 and the big hand is pointing at 3 dashes past the 6? That would mean it would be 4:30 plus 3, or 4:33.
Now that you know how to tell time on an analog clock, let’s look at a digital clock. These clocks do not have hands; they show the time with numbers separated by a colon.
The number on the left side of the colon is the hour, and the number on the right side shows the minutes. For example, if the clock shows 3:40, that means it’s 3:40.
If another clock shows 7:56, that means it’s 7:56. If the clock shows 1:05, we say “one oh five.” When there is a 0 after the colon and before the next number, we say “oh” instead of 0.
When there are two zeros after the first number, we say “o’clock,” but if there is a number after the 0, then we say “oh” and then the number.
Now let’s put the analog and digital clocks side by side and see if you can tell what time it is. If you said 7:10, then you’re right!
How about this one? Did you say 11 o’clock? Wow! How about this one? Did you say 2:08? Great job!
Last one: if you said 8:43, then pat yourself on the back! You just learned how to tell time!
Learning how to tell time is important because we use time to measure all sorts of things. At 8 a.m., you may get up in the morning to go to school. At 8 p.m., you may be getting ready for bed.
12 p.m. might be your lunch time, while at 12 a.m., you’re probably fast asleep. Time seems to go quickly when we are doing something we enjoy and slows down when we’re doing something we might not like.
No matter what you’re doing, time keeps moving and never stops.
Thanks for following Clarendon Learning! Be sure to subscribe for more free resources. Check us out at clarendonlearning.org.
—
This version removes any informal language and maintains a clear, educational tone.
