Christmas is the perfect opportunity to spend time together as a family, so if you’re looking for an activity the children can get involved with that will also help them learn, try time teaching games. We’ve compiled a list of games you can play with children that are fun as well as educational. So gather the rest of the family and read on.
Time teaching games using our Tell the Time Cards
If you’re lucky enough to already have a set of our Tell the Time Cards in your home, or one found its way into your child’s stocking, then you’re all set for hours of clock face fun. Each pack contains 60 cards showing 15 different times of the day, with 4 duplicates of each time. It’s your job to then create a game that will enable children to match up the times and learn to recognise them. Don’t worry if you can’t think of a game, as these cards have been design to play all the family favourites including:
- Snap – divide the pack between the players and keep the cards face down in a pile. Players take it in turns to turn over one card each and place it in a pile in the centre. If the cards match, the first to shout ‘snap’ takes all the cards in the pile. The winner is the one left with the cards.
- Pairs – turn all the cards face down and lay them out in a square or rectangular grid. Each player has a go to turn over two cards at a time. If they find a matching pair they get to keep them, if they don’t make a match, they turn the cards back over and the turn passes to the next person. The winner is the person with the most cards at the end of the game.
- Bingo – split the deck of cards into two halves, each containing two of each of the different times of day. Choose a dealer who shuffles and deals out all of the cards from one pile to the players. The other pile is the dealer’s hand. Each player looks at their hand, but keeps it hidden from the others. The dealer then turns over cards from their pile, one at a time, calling out the time on the card. If a player has that same time in their hand they place it in front of them face up. The winner is the first player to have all their cards in front of them and yell ‘bingo!’.
Clock games
If you’re hosting the family this Christmas and are wondering how to keep the kids entertained, why not get them to make a giant clock on the floor? You can get them to create numbers from 1 to 12 using craft supplies, or cutting them out from coloured sheets of paper and laying them out on the floor like a clock face. Children then take it in turns to be the hour hand and minute hand, with the others calling out a time of day for them to make.
Countdown to Christmas
If you need something to do in the days leading up to Christmas then why not make a Christmas or New Year countdown clock? Using a paper plate, write out the numbers and create hands which you can fix using a paper fastener split pin so that they turn round. You can then get the kids to countdown to midnight or the time on Christmas morning when you would prefer them to get up. It’s a great way to get them practising reading the time out loud, including what time it is now and how many hours are left.
Use our time teaching watches
If your child has one of our time teaching watches then it’s a great opportunity for them to keep track of the time over Christmas. You can ask them to time how long it takes to put up the Christmas tree, or to let you know when the gingerbread is ready to come out of the oven. You could even use it on Christmas Eve, by stipulating a time they need to be in bed and then getting them to check their watches regularly to read what time it is and to chat about how long they have left before lights out.
Teaching time games for a rainy day
If we end up with a wet and miserable Christmas or you just have one of those days when you don’t really want to go out, our free downloadable time teaching resources make for a great indoor activity. Click here to view our full range of printable resources and keep little ones occupied over the holidays.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from the team at EasyRead 🎅🎄🎁
If you are looking for an educational stocking filler, or something that will have a practical value for a child this Christmas, then look no further than our time teaching watches for children. Designed with simplicity and confidence boosting in mind, these colourful, bold watches are ideal for children aged from 4 years old, who are starting to learn to tell the time at school. Should you be considering putting one under the tree for your child or grandchild this Christmas, here are just a few things to think about when buying children’s watches.
What colour they like
This is the all important factor and at EasyRead we appreciate how particular children can be when it comes to the colours they like, or dislike 😂. That’s why we’ve designed our childrens watches with a choice of faces and coloured straps.
Our children’s watches – clock face choices
You can choose from a rainbow or red and blue face for our standard style watches:
Or, choose from a black or white face for our camouflage style watches:
Our children’s watches – strap colour choices
Standard time teaching watches – come with a choice of lime, navy, pink, red, blue, grey and purple straps.
Camouflage watches – come with a choice of blue camo, green camo or pink camo straps.
Waterproof watches – come with a choice of navy blue or purple straps.
If you can’t find their favourite colour here, why not personalise with one of our coloured extra straps? Sold separately, these straps enable you to customise the watch to suit each child’s preferences. Our full list of extra strap colours are:
- Black
- Blue
- Blue camo
- Green
- Green camo
- Grey
- Lime
- Navy Blue
- Orange
- Pink
- Pink Camo
- Purple
- Red
- Yellow
What method they are using to tell the time
When it comes to choosing watches for children to support their learning, it’s important to know what method they are using to tell the time. Here in the UK, children are generally taught in minutes past and to the hour so our ‘Past & To’ method is the best choice to complement what they are learning in school. Our customers across Europe and worldwide, often prefer to buy watches that help to support children in learning 24 hour time, which is why we also offer our watches with a ‘12 & 24 hour’ time teaching method. Simply select the most appropriate one when you configure your watch.
What they are likely to be doing when wearing the watch
We know that children can be involved in many different activities, so you can’t always plan their outfit and accessories to be suitable. If, however, you know that they take part in water based activities or are likely to be found splashing in a puddle, then our waterproof watches are a good choice.
All of our watches are water resistant, but our waterproof varieties are waterproof to 50 metres and are therefore perfect for little swimmers to keep an eye on the time.
Top tips on gift wrapping watches for children this Christmas
Now that you know the colour, style and functionality you need from our children’s watches, it’s time to get creative with your gift wrapping. All our watches come in a colourful box with a clear pane so you can view the watch face. They’re simple in shape and design and small enough to wrap with those odd bits of wrapping paper you have left over after doing all the big presents, but if you prefer to think outside the box, here are a few creative Christmas wrapping ideas:
- If you are also buying a doll or teddy bear for your young recipient, why not take the watch out of the box and place it on their wrist for a double surprise!
- Use a cardboard tube or rectangular box and place the watch box inside. Cover in crepe paper or wrapping paper and seal the ends with ribbon to make a cracker shaped gift.
- Take a large plastic jar and fill it with pom poms, feathers or other soft craft supplies. Place the watch box in the middle and cover it with the craft items so you can’t see it from the outside. Finish the jar with a ribbon, bow and gift tag or wrap the entire thing for an extra few seconds of fun.
Click here to browse our full range of time teaching watches for children.
We’re living in an increasingly digital world and yet children are still expected to learn to tell the time on an analog clock as part of the primary curriculum. If you rely on your phone, computer screen, or smartwatch to know what time it is, that’s understandable, but in order to help your child learn it’s a good idea to start putting some analog clocks around your home. One great way to support your child’s learning is by putting a clock in their bedroom. Time teaching resources such as our children’s bedside clock can really make a difference to their understanding, and of course, help them to appreciate when is an acceptable time to get out of bed!
The concept of time
Ok, so we may have overexaggerated on the getting out of bed thing. We appreciate that young children are just too excited to start their day to worry about whether the adults have had enough sleep, but that said, having a clock your child can refer to when they wake is the start of building an understanding about the concept of time.
Interactive learning
A child’s alarm clock also has the benefit of being interactive. Not only can they look at the hour and minute hands and large numbers to try to put the elements of time together, but they can also use the button to set and unset the alarm.
Not just an alarm clock!
Our clocks also double as a night light with their built-in LED lighting, so if little ones don’t like sleeping in the dark, they can rely on the gentle glow from their bedside clock to provide some reassuring light.
Improve the bedtime routine
You can use an alarm clock to help a child understand their bedtime routine. For example, you can clearly point out when it is time to brush their teeth or get into bed. This helps them to associate certain routines with particular times of day, and then see what they look like on the clock. As they become more confident, you can ask them to let you know when it’s time to grab their toothbrush or get dressed ready for bed.
What to look for in a child’s alarm clock
For young children who are just starting to learn to tell the time at school, an alarm clock with bold, bright colours and easy to read numbers will be most helpful. Our children’s bedside clocks have been designed with either our ‘past and to’ or ‘12/24 hour’ time teaching method, both of which feature bold colourful numbers for each hour and a clear breakdown of the minutes, to help support what children are learning in the classroom.
Another important feature to look out for is silent hands. Kids don’t need much of an excuse to avoid going to sleep, so putting an alarm clock with a noisy ticking sound next to their bed could be fuelling their night time restlessness. We much prefer a silent clock, which is why we’ve designed our children’s alarm clocks with silent sweeping hands.
For parents of little sleepy heads, the crescendo alarm is a popular feature as it starts off with a gentle beep and gets louder until it is turned off.
To find out more about the features and benefits of our children’s bedside clocks or to choose your preferred time teaching method and colour, please click here.
With the summer holidays hurtling by, now is the perfect time to get ahead of the rush and get your child ready to go back to school. Once you’ve ticked off all the essentials, such as uniform, shoes, PE kit, bag and pencil case, it’s time to turn your attention to the little things that can make a difference to your child’s education. We’re talking, of course, about our children’s watches.
Designed by parents to provide a simple time teaching system that helps children tell the time independently, our watches are not only educational but very stylish! Read on to find out more about the styles that we offer to accommodate children’s preferences.
Children’s watches for kids who love to coordinate
If a child loves to colour coordinate their wardrobe, or feels very proud about their new school uniform and everything it stands for, then they might appreciate a time teaching watch that fits in with their overall colour scheme.
We’ve got time teaching watches with a range of plain coloured straps that are perfect for matching with school uniforms. Here are just a few of our ideas below.
For a school uniform featuring a red jumper or cardigan you can coordinate with our red and blue face time teaching watch with a red strap:
For a navy school uniform, try our red and blue face children’s watch with a navy strap:
If you are worried about bright colours or strict uniform codes, why not shop for our simple grey strap time teaching watch with a red and blue face?
Children’s watches for those who like to stand out from the crowd
For those children who love a splash of colour or who are just dying for others to notice their new accessory, why not shop for our more colourful range of watches for children?
Choose from styles such as our rainbow face watch with a lime green strap:
Or how about this colourful time teaching watch with a hot pink strap?
Watches for little explorers
We all know how much some children love to explore, so if they are into outdoor activities they’ll love wearing one of our camouflage watches on their wrist.
Everyday at school can be a new exciting mission with our black face watch with a green camouflage strap:
When choosing children’s watches for lovers of all things blue, you can’t top this white face watch with a blue camouflage strap:
Watches for children who love the water
We all know how easily children are drawn to water, so if the child you are buying for is likely to be splashing around in a water pit or rainy puddle whilst they’re at school then you might like to know our time teaching watches are also available in waterproof designs. Suitable for all water-based activities and waterproof up to 50 metres – making them a great choice for any child who will be swimming as part of their school day but unlikely to remember to take their watch off!
Choose from a red and blue face waterproof watch with a navy strap:
Or, this colourful rainbow face waterproof time teaching watch with a purple strap:
Hopefully, we’ve got a watch to suit every child’s preferences, but just in case they get bored with their current design or you want to upscale a hand-me-down EasyRead watch, we also offer a range of coloured watch straps. Choose from black, blue, green, orange, yellow and our camouflage designs to name a few.
If you need any help choosing a design or want to know which time teaching method is right for your child, please get in touch.
Happy back to school shopping!
Anyone who works in education will appreciate that the start of a new term is a busy and chaotic time. All of your energy needs to go into supporting the needs of your students (many of whom will be new to you this year) and settling back into academic life for another jam-packed term. You might not feel as though your workload is any lighter at the end of the academic year, but if you do have a few minutes to spare then now is the perfect time to sort out your classroom resources, such as a teacher clock and time teaching aids, ahead of the rush at the start of the new school year.
3 reasons why it’s a great idea to order your teacher clock now
1.You can have your first choice of size, colour and design
Whilst we do our best to keep everything in stock, the start of term is a popular time so to make sure you can get the exact teacher clock you are looking for, we recommend ordering it before you break up for the summer. We’ve got a wide range of teaching clocks available including:
- 35cm Classroom Clocks – choose from either our Past and To or 12 & 24 Hour method of teaching time and a red and blue or rainbow clock face.
- Welsh Classroom Clocks – featuring either our Past and To or 12 & 24 Hour teaching method. Choose from a red and blue or rainbow clock face.
- Playground Clocks – a larger version of our classroom clock, featuring a robust, weatherproof design and toughened glass. This clock comes with a black and white face and you can choose from our two time teaching methods.
- Classroom Sets – featuring a classroom clock, teacher cards and student cards to help you devise time teaching lessons and get students to practice telling the time.
2.You can start to prepare lesson plans to feature your teacher clock
It is said that teachers spend around one third of their working time planning lessons. With this in mind, wouldn’t it be great to get ahead now and start planning your September time teaching lessons knowing that you already have all the resources you’ll need? By ordering your teacher clock, playground clock or classroom set now, you can get a feel for the resources and start planning your lessons around them, to ensure students get the most from them and that you feel prepared.
3.You can tick one more thing off your list and enjoy your summer break!
Part of your new academic year planning will involve setting up the classroom environment, so if you already have your teaching clock ready to go, you can simply find the perfect place on the wall as you set up your displays ready for students to return in September. Having a clock as the focal point on a wall will help you to create the optimal classroom layout so that all students can see the clock and it may also help you to plan the resources and information you are going to display around it, aiding you to create the best learning environment.
So, tick a few things off your list now – order your classroom clock here and be one of those teachers who is smugly prepared come September!
Whether you’re in the classroom teaching time to students or at home trying to help your child or grandchild perfect their time telling skills, games are a great way to aid learning. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when children were restricted to learning at home, games provided a fantastic way to develop new skills and enhance existing ones and this is a principle we hope many parents and teachers will take forward, using teaching time games to make learning fun!
How do games support learning?
There are many ways in which games can help students to learn, so if you are thinking about bringing a fun element to your classroom or home activities, here are a few reasons why they are such a good idea:
- Games help to encourage student participation.
- Games make learning more engaging as you have to interact to play the game, meaning it’s much less likely someone will get left out or feel disengaged.
- Playing a game can motivate children and make them more likely to take risks, such as volunteering an answer they are not sure of and wouldn’t otherwise have offered.
- Games can help increase focus and attention, which is particularly useful for children with ADHD.
- Participating in games can help children’s attitude towards learning, boost their confidence and improve grades.
With so many advantages to games as part of the learning process, it’s time to look at the resources we offer to support classroom activities or help children to learn whilst having fun at home.
What teaching time games can you play to help children learn?
We’ve got teaching time games covered at home, at school and even at after school clubs and activities, so take a look at our range below:
Tell the time card games
From snap to bingo, matching pairs to buddy-up, there are so many different games you can play with our Tell the Time Card Games, that children will be able to practise their time telling skills without even realising it.
We’ve got two different levels of card games – Level 1 for five to seven year olds and Level 2 aimed at eight to eleven year olds. You can order both packs together or just one of the levels, depending on the age of the children you are buying for.
These card games are very popular with parents and grandparents as fun but educational gifts, and they are also used in schools, after school clubs and children’s activity centres.
Click here to order our Tell the Time Card Games.
TwinTime Cards
Take our TwinTime cards and turn them into teaching time clock games thanks to the movable hands and PVC wipe clean surface. You can count forwards and backwards, learn fractions, count in 5s and 10s, practice displaying the time and writing it down. Student cards come individually or in boxes of 10 and teacher cards are sold separately.
Click here to order our TwinTime Cards.
In addition to the resources we sell, here are a few ideas to play some teaching time clock games at home or wherever you can find a few willing participants!
⏰Tie time teaching in with your child’s favourite activity – and get them to create a chart showing what time of day they do each activity.
⏰If you have more than one child, make a human clock with one child lying on the floor being the hour hand and the other being the minute hand.
⏰Set a timer for baking a cake, brushing your teeth or getting dressed and talk about how many minutes you are setting the timer for and how long you have left.
You could also choose to put a time teaching clock in your child’s room or buy them their very own wristwatch, so they can practice telling the time wherever they go. Click here to browse our full range of time teaching clocks, watches and games and make learning engaging, memorable and fun.
Whether you’re a parent trying to support your child in their learning, a grandparent looking for an educational gift or a teacher sourcing the best resources to use in the classroom, you’re in the right place to find the perfect clock for teaching time. With many different products available, we’re here, as parents with experience of the time teaching struggle, to show you what features you need to consider when buying a clock to help your child learn this vital skill.
The best size clock for teaching time
We’re firm believers that there isn’t one size that fits all as some children will prefer to see a clock on the wall when learning to tell the time, whereas others will prefer a watch on their wrist to practise on the go. However, if you are looking for a teaching time clock for your walls at home or in the classroom, we believe our clocks are perfectly proportioned!
Wall Clocks – Our wall clocks are ideal for use at home – in bedrooms, nurseries, playrooms and kitchens. With a diameter of 29cm they are the perfect size to be seen across the room, without taking up too much space.
Classroom Clocks – our classroom clocks are a larger version of our popular wall clocks and have been upscaled to a diameter of 35cm to enable them to be seen by students across the classroom. With an ergonomic hanger and curriculum notes printed on the back of the clock, they are a really helpful resource for demonstrating time teaching in the classroom.
Alarm Clocks – our alarm clocks are a great bedside companion for helping children practise telling the time before they go to bed and when they wake up. At just 12.5cm in diameter, these clocks are small enough to easily fit on a bedside table or nearby shelf and feature a built-in night light to add gentle glow to your child’s room.
Outdoor Clocks – our wall clock design has been supersized and strengthened to create an outdoor clock which enables you to take the time teaching outside – at school, on the farm, at an activity centre or in the garden. Whether you use it as part of an outdoor lesson on a sunny school day, or place it where children can use it to practise their own time telling abilities, this 38cm diameter black and white weatherproof clock is definitely up to the job.
A clear and easy to read face
As with anything that is trying to impart wisdom and knowledge, the information should be clear and easy to read and we took these key principles on board when designing our time teaching clocks. Born from the struggles we’ve had as parents getting our own children to learn to tell the time, our clocks feature either our 2-step ‘12 & 24 hour’ or our 3-step ‘past and to’ time teaching systems. Each system is simple to grasp and with the colourful, bold designs of our clock faces, all children need is a little practice and telling the time will soon come easily.
A clock that doesn’t tick!
As an adult you might find the ticking of a clock in your bedroom quite soothing, but do you really want to risk putting anything in your child’s room that might prevent them from sleeping? If you’re worried about the ticking of a clock disturbing your child, make sure you choose one with silent hands. Our range of clocks all come with silent, sweeping hands, so you can confidently place them in any room without risk of disturbance.
A teaching time clock that comes recommended
We can’t stress enough that when trying to help your child learn, you choose tools that have been endorsed by professionals or at least recommended by other parents. Our learning to tell the time clocks have achieved a number of awards over the years, including:
You can also find out what parents and grandparents have to say about our products by reading our reviews.
If you need help finding the right clock or time teaching system please do get in touch with us. You can contact us here, or connect with us on Facebook.
Telling the time is an important part of the KS1 and KS2 curriculum and anything that can make this learning experience easier and more enjoyable for children is welcomed by teachers and classroom assistants. We’ve recently launched our brand new catalogue outlining our teaching time clocks and resources for schools, so let’s look at some of the highlights.
School clocks
If you are looking for the perfect school clock for the whole class to use, look no further than our time teaching classroom clocks:
Available in a choice of our ‘Past & To’ and ‘12/24 Hour’ time teaching methods and with a blue and red or rainbow face, these clocks are the perfect addition to your classroom walls. Ideal to be used in conjunction with our TwinTime learning aids, these clocks have a large, clear face design to be easily seen across the classroom.
Playground clocks
Learning doesn’t have to stop at breaktime. With our playground clocks, children can practice telling the time whilst they are outside having fun, helping them to understand the concept of when playtime starts and ends. These robust, weatherproof clocks, with their toughened glass lens, feature the same simple time teaching system as our classroom clocks for great continuity of learning.
Teaching aids for telling the time
To make teaching time in the classroom more engaging we’ve designed these TwinTime classroom sets. Each set includes our popular time teaching classroom clock as well as teacher cards and student cards to enable students to practice their skills.
Learning to tell the time at your club
We also recognise that learning to tell the time is an important skill that can be developed in extra-curricular learning, at after school clubs and in the provision of private tutors as well as during activities at Rainbow, Beavers, Brownies and Cubs.
Our wall clocks, outdoor clocks and TwinTime teaching aids are perfect for helping children to learn and practice telling the time as part of your out of school activities.
Download our catalogue today to find the right teaching time clocks and resources for your school or club.
We’re a family business dedicated to helping families and educators to make time teaching easier and more enjoyable. For over ten years we have been providing our products to parents, grandparents, schools and clubs around the world, helping to educate children and giving them confidence in reading the time. If you need any help in better understanding our products please get in touch with us.
From around the time your child starts school, they will begin learning how to tell the time. Not only is this a key part of their primary education, but it also helps them to grasp the concept of time and gives them confidence and independence.
If your child or grandchild is starting school this year you are probably looking for a kids first watch or clock or to help them tell the time more easily and we’ve got just the products you need!
Download our latest catalogue to browse our range of tell the time wall clocks and watches, suitable for children from around 4 years of age. All of our products feature our simple time teaching system and can help give your child confidence as they learn this important skill.
Best kids first watch to learn to tell the time
The best watches to help children learn to tell time are those that make it easy for them to distinguish between the minutes past and to or the hours in a 12 and 24 hour format.
With our time teaching watches you can choose from our ‘Past & To’ method or our ‘12/24 Hour’ method:
Choose from a rainbow or red and blue watch face and make a choice from our selection of strap colours and your kids first watch is ready to go.
For urban adventurers, or slightly older children who still need help telling the time but want something that looks a little cooler on their wrist, try our camo watches!
Again, you can choose from our ‘Past & To’ or ‘12/24 Hour’ time teaching method to suit your child’s needs and pick either a white or black face and colourful camo strap.
The time teaching shouldn’t stop just because you’re on holiday having fun, so upgrade your child’s time teaching watch to a waterproof one ready for summer splashing. These scratch resistant time teaching watches are waterproof to 50 metres and come with a blue or purple strap:
If your child is fixated on another colour, that’s no problem as we have a range of additional straps to choose from. With 14 different colours, there’s a strap for every mood!
Best wall clock to learn to tell the time
The best wall clocks to help children learn to tell the time are those that clearly display the numbers so they can be easily recognised from a distance. Our wall clocks feature a clear dial, brightly displayed numbers and of course a choice of our two simple time teaching methods ‘ Past & To’ and ‘12/24 Hour’.
We also have a range of alarm clocks to help children know when it’s time for bed and more importantly, when it’s time to wake up 😀.
If you’re looking for the perfect kids first watch, or the best wall clock to help the whole family tell the time, download our latest brochure and get in touch with us if you have any questions.
We often talk about the importance of learning outside the classroom and we’re big supporters of resources that help children to develop their maths skills at home. After a very disruptive 18 months, children need all the support they can get to help catch up on those lessons they have missed and with Christmas on the horizon (yes, it’s coming!), now is the perfect opportunity to research educational gifts such as our time teaching clocks.
Help the whole family stay on time
Whilst our wrist watches have always been popular festive presents due to the fact they can be bought for a child who is learning to tell the time at school, a teaching time clock is a gift that the whole family can benefit from. Hanging one of our clocks on the wall will not only support those children in your family who are learning to tell time, but they will also help younger children get used to the concept of time and looking at a clock, not to mention giving parents a clock face that can be easily read from a distance – priceless when all you get is a quick glance out of the corner of your eye to make sure the whole family is leaving the house on time!
Perfect in any room
A tell the time clock is a great accessory for your child’s bedroom but it can also be hung in the playroom, nursery, kitchen or hallway to ensure the whole family knows what time it is. Choose from our colourful rainbow face, striking red and blue face or plain white face to suit your home decor. Our wall clocks are 29 centimetres in diameter, made of durable plastic and take just one AA battery. They weigh 0.53kg, so are easy to hang and if you’re a multilingual household, you might be interested to know that our wall clocks are available in English, French and Spanish.
Simple time teaching methods
When you select the colour of your clock face you’ll also have a choice of our two simple time teaching systems:
- Past and To – a 3-step system that encourages children to read the number at the end of the long hand, point to either the ‘past’ or ‘to’ side of the clock face and read the number at the end of the short hand.
- 12 & 24 Hour – a 2-step system that encourages children to read the number at the end of the short hand, then the number at the end of the long hand and put them together.
With regular practice, using a teaching time clock featuring one of the above systems, reading the time will become something your child does naturally and confidently. Please click here to find out more about our time teaching systems and watch our quick videos to find the right system for your child.
A teaching time clock with no noisy ticking!
One of the things we often get asked by parents is whether our clocks are too noisy for the bedroom. The answer is no, because they feature silent hands and therefore will not disrupt your child’s sleep.
If a teaching time clock sounds like the perfect educational present for a child on your Christmas gift list, click here to browse our full range and buy now to avoid any last minute shopping panic!
