Free lesson with a practice sheet
Reading the clock
Learn the short and long hands, tell the time in hours, half past and quarter past, and count minutes in fives.
Let us begin
The big idea
A clock tells us when to wake up, go to school and play. Let us learn how to read it, one hand at a time.
A clock has 12 numbers. It also has two hands. The short hand is the hour hand and it tells the hour. The long hand is the minute hand and it tells the minutes.
When the long hand points to 12, it is an o'clock time. If the short hand is on 7, the time is 7 o'clock.
When the long hand points to 6, half an hour has passed. We say half past. The short hand is between two numbers. At half past 4 it is between 4 and 5.
When the long hand points to 3, it is quarter past. When it points to 9, it is quarter to the next hour.
The long hand moves 5 minutes for every number. On 1 it is 5 minutes, on 2 it is 10 minutes, on 3 it is 15 minutes, and so on. There are 60 minutes in 1 hour.
Worked examples
See how it works
An o'clock time
The short hand is on 7 and the long hand is on 12. The time is 7 o'clock. We write it as 7:00.
Half past
The long hand is on 6 and the short hand is between 4 and 5. The time is half past 4. We write 4:30, because 6 × 5 = 30 minutes.
Quarter past and quarter to
Long hand on 3 and short hand just past 9: quarter past 9, written 9:15. Long hand on 9 and short hand almost at 10: quarter to 10, written 9:45.
Counting minutes in fives
The long hand is on 4. Count in fives: 5, 10, 15, 20. So it is 20 minutes past the hour. If the short hand is just after 2, the time is 2:20.
Try it at home
Make your own clock
You will need
- A sheet of paper or card
- A pencil
- A bowl or plate to trace
- Two thin strips of card or paper, one short and one long
What to do
Trace the bowl on the paper to draw a circle.
Write 12 at the top, 6 at the bottom, 3 on the right and 9 on the left. Then fill in the other numbers.
Place the short strip and the long strip on the middle of the clock as the two hands.
Ask a family member to say a time such as half past 5. Move the strips to show it.
Swap roles and let them show a time for you to read.
An adult can help trace a neat circle and say times for the child to show. Tear the strips from paper by hand; no sharp tools are needed.
Fun fact
There are 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute.
Practice sheet
Check what you learned
Practice sheet: Reading the clock (Classes 1-2, Maths)
- Which hand is shorter on a clock, the hour hand or the minute hand?
- The long hand is on 12 and the short hand is on 5. What is the time?
- How many hours are there in one day?
- The long hand is on 6. How many minutes past the hour is it?
- Write "half past 8" using numbers.
- Write "quarter past 6" using numbers.
- The long hand is on 9 and the short hand is between 3 and 4. What is the time?
- How many minutes are there in one hour?
- School starts at 8 o'clock. Assembly begins half an hour later. At what time?
- The long hand is on 5. How many minutes past the hour is it?
- Which comes first, 2:15 or 2:45?
Answer key
Answers: Reading the clock
- The hour hand.
- 5 o'clock (5:00).
- 24 hours.
- 30 minutes (half past).
- 8:30
- 6:15
- Quarter to 4, which is 3:45.
- 60 minutes.
- Half past 8, which is 8:30.
- 25 minutes (5 × 5 = 25).
- 2:15 comes first.