In the age of electronic everything telling time can be a hard skill for kids to master. Anything that can make teaching how to tell time fun is a sure winner–which is why we love this rock clock activity so much.
It’s so much easier to understand the concepts of time and elapsed time with hands on exploration!
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This hands-on math activity is inspired by the new book 100 Fun and Easy Learning Games for Kids by Amanda Boyarshinov and Kim Vij. We love all of the fun kids activities they share on The Educators’ Spin On It so knew their book would be amazing.
I asked for a review copy so I could preview it and share it with you and my kids and I just adore it. The learning activities are doable and fun and the pages are colorful and inviting. It’s the kind of book kids will be asking you to get out again and again.
Want your own copy of the book? Click here to order–> 100 Fun and Easy Learning Games for Kids
How to Tell Time with a Rock Clock
This activity has been reprinted with permission from the publisher from book 100 FUN & EASY LEARNING GAMES FOR KIDS.
- 12 rocks
- paint (acrylic works well)
- paintbrushes
- 2 sticks
Gather 12 rocks of about the same size and paint them if you or your kids would like the rock clock to be colorful. Then paint the numbers 1 through 12 on the rocks to represent each of the numbers on the face of a clock. Allow the rocks to dry overnight.
Use the rocks to build a clock in the shape of a circle on a flat surface. Set the sticks in the middle to use as the hour and minute hands. Ask one child to ask a story problem for another to answer using the clock.
An example of a story problem would be something like, “I got home from school and went in the pool at 3:00. I swam for an hour and got out. What time did I get out of the pool?”
The player to the right uses the hands of the rock clock to show the answer. If correct, then he gets to make up the next time story problem. If incorrect, he must change the hands on the clock to show the correct time before telling the next story.
More ways to play with the rock clock:
- Set the hour and minute hands on the clock. Act out something you would typically do at that time of day.
- Have one player call out a time and another player shows that time on the rock clock.
- Mix up the rocks and race to rebuild the rock clock.
If you love the rock clock activity don’t forget to order 100 Fun and Easy Learning Games and Activities for Kids!
For more telling time ideas for kids try our Huge Outdoor Clock Activity for Kids too:
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