6 o’clock
The sun wakes up
Sky goes dark → pink. Yawn, stretch, feet on the floor.
Look up at the clock on the wall. The two hands are pointing somewhere right now — and that means something! Today you learn to read it out loud like a pro: “It’s four o’clock!”
Before we learn the names of the hands, go on a hunt. Every clock in the house is a clue. Tap a box when you find one — a star is yours!
Scroll slowly and watch the big clock answer each step. A clock face is a circle with twelve numbers and two hands that spin around the middle.
This is a clock face. Say “face”!
Every clock starts its journey at the very top with the number 12. Point at it. That’s where the day’s circle begins and ends.
“Twelve is on top, like a hat.”
The long hand is skinny and tall. It walks around the little marks and counts the minutes — the tiny steps of time. When it points straight up at 12, we are exactly on the hour. That’s the easy place to start!
“Long hand on 12? Great — we’re ready to read!”
The short hand is chubby and slow. It points at one big number, and that number is the hour. It only moves a teeny bit each time the long hand goes all the way round.
“Short hand, short word: the hour.”
Look at the short hand. It’s pointing at 7. The long hand is on 12. So you say the number, then o’clock: “It’s seven o’clock.” That’s the whole lesson — you did it!
“Seven o’clock. Seven o’clock. Seven o’clock!”
The hour hand takes one whole trip around the sun-and-moon day to point at every number twice. It shows you when: breakfast time, school time, bedtime.
The minute hand runs fast: 60 minutes = one full circle. It shows how far into the hour we are. Today it stays home at 12 so you can learn the easy part first.
Short hand = the hour. Long hand = the minutes. Say it with a clap! CLAP — CLAP
It’s 12 o’clock
Which one says it right?
Twelve little lines, one clap on every bold word. Sing it while you brush your teeth tomorrow morning.
You already live inside time. You just haven’t met the numbers by name yet. Hover a card to make it sit up straight.
Sky goes dark → pink. Yawn, stretch, feet on the floor.
The big gate, the bell, the register, the day begins.
Two stories, one glass of water, and the moon takes over.
The best hour of the whole year — and you’ll know exactly when.
Here is a real day squashed into a table. Say each clock out loud before you look at the words — then check yourself.
| Hour hand on… | Clock | What’s happening | Ava says |
|---|
A clock you can hold beats a clock on a wall. These five steps stack up as you scroll — tap each one when it’s done to earn your stars.
Put 12 at the very top, 6 at the bottom, 3 on the right and 9 on the left. Then squeeze the rest in between, going cw → clockwise, like water pouring around the plate.
Draw a tiny dot between each number — those are the five-minute spots. Colour the number 12 bright yellow so it’s easy to find when the long hand comes home.
One hand short & chubby (the hour hand) and one hand long & skinny (the minute hand). Make them different colours so you can never mix them up. Ask a grown-up to help with the scissors.
Push a split pin through the two hands and the middle of the plate. Turn the plate over and bend the pin legs apart. Now the hands can spin — tick, tock, tick, tock.
A grown-up says a time — “Show me nine o’clock!” — and you set your plate clock. Swap! Now you tell the grown-up, and catch it if the long hand isn’t on 12.
Clocks never stop moving, and neither can you. Stand up. Swing your arms like a pendulum and count out loud.
Watch the hands race. The blue one is 12× faster — just like real minutes and hours.
Earn all 20 stars to unlock the badge and print it out.
By the end of the lesson a 6-year-old can: (1) name the parts of a clock — face, hands, numerals, 12 at the top; (2) distinguish the hour hand from the minute hand by length; (3) read and set times to the hour; (4) say and write the word o’clock correctly.
a) Children often read the long hand as the hour — always cover the minute hand with your thumb. b) “Half past” looks like “half” to them; postpone it until Lesson 4. c) A digital clock is not the same skill — keep the analog face visible while they practise.
Ask: “What hour will it be in two hours?” or “It’s 3 o’clock in the morning — what are people doing?” Then let the child write the times of their own evening on the paper-plate clock’s back.
Use the plate clock and this page only as a plan: hunt for clocks (5 min), teach the rhyme (5 min), play the calling game for ten times, then draw “My favourite hour” and label it.
| Lesson | Title | ✓ |
|---|---|---|
| MONTH 1 · COUNTING WORLD | ||
| 1.1 | Numbers to 20 | ✓ |
| 1.2 | More, Less, Same | ✓ |
| 1.3 | Ten Frames | ✓ |
| MONTH 2 · PATTERNS & TIME | ||
| 2.1 | What Comes Next? | ✓ |
| 2.2 | AB & AAB Patterns | ✓ |
| 2.3 | Telling Time to the Hour | ★ now |
| 2.4 | Half Past & Days of the Week | — |
| MONTH 3 · SHAPES & SPACE | ||
| 3.1 | Sides & Corners | — |
| 3.2 | Fractions: Halves | — |
| 3.3 | Over, Under, Beside | — |
Half Past, Ours at Last. The long hand takes a walk down to 6, and the short hand learns to stand between two numbers. Bring your plate clock!