Stories about time for children

The following books would be great for older kids who can sit through longer read alouds and are interested in history. They explain difficult concepts in kid-friendly ways and have wonderful illustrations.

Telling the Time (tier 1) is very informative, yet kid friendly. Lots of fun facts about different ways people used to tell the time, a history of clocks, as well as directions to make your own sundial.

The Man Who Made Time Travel (tier 1) by Kathryn Lasky is another fun time history tale, but focuses on the life of John Harrison. The illustrations are lovely and the story is engaging, but it may be better suited for kids who are a little older.

About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks (tier 1) by Bruce Kocsielniak is another great history for kids. It’s informative, and has great pictures that kids will love. The content is pretty similar to Telling the Time (above), so you probably only need one or the other from your library.

These books help kids understand the difference between a second and an hour, as well as measuring time in days, weeks months and years.

It’s About Time (tier 1) by Pascale Estellon breaks time down into bite-sized pieces to make it super easy for kids to understand. It covers a second all the way up to a century. It also includes directions for fun activities and crafts.

Just a Second (tier 1) by Steve Jenkins is wonderful, like Jenkins’ other books. In it, he relates time concepts such as a second or minute to fun and interesting animal (and other science) facts. Kids are sure to love this one, especially if they enjoy learning about animals.

A Second is a Hiccup (tier 1) by Hazel Hutchins is another fun story to help kids understand the concept of time. Seconds, minutes, etc. are related to activities in kids’ lives to make it relatable an understandable.

Time is When (tier 1) by Beth Gleick is a great introduction for young kids and explores seconds, minutes and hours, as well as days, weeks, calendars, etc.

All in a Day (tier 3) by Cynthia Rylant tells the story of a child’s day and how it is spent. This does not teach time specifically, but would make a great introduction to the hours in a day. I think it would also be fun to use this as a writing prompt. Have your kids write out their own day, including what they do and when.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (tier 2) by Eric Carle is a classic that can also be used to learn the days of the week.

(Here’s a fun printable book to learn days of the week with The Very Hungry Caterpillar!)

Four Seasons Make a Year (tier 1) by Anne Rockwell is another fun book for learning about our calendar. It describes each of the four seasons, activities during each season, as well as the start date for each.

As An Oak Tree Grows (tier 2) by G.Brian Karas is one of my favorites. It tells the story of a small farm and oak tree over the course of 200 years. The illustrations are lovely and include so many details of how the landscape (and society) changes over time.

(Find more ideas to learn with this book here!)

Big Time Bears (tier 1) by Stephen Krensky seems to be out of print now, but was available at my library, so you may still want to look for it. It’s a cute story of a bear family and explains the concept of seconds, minutes, hours, etc. up to a century. This would be great for young kids.

The following books either explicitly teach how to tell time using digital and analog clocks, or could be used to practice telling time and elapsed time.

All About Time (tier 1) is a fun and interactive book that includes lots of fun facts, as well as teaching time, calendars, etc.

Winnie the Pooh Tells Time (tier 1) inspired by A.A. Milne is adorable. It goes through a day in Pooh’s life and tells what he does each hour. It includes analog and digital clocks.

Game Time (tier 2) by Stuart Murphy is the story of a soccer team and their big game. The focus of this book is unique in that it teaches an hour and fractions of an hour. For example, explaining that 15 minutes is 1/4 of an hour. Also, there are lots of details in the pictures, so take time to go through it slowly and notice and talk about things.

I.Q., It’s Time (tier 2) by Mary Ann Fraser is adorable. It’s the story of a class’s pet mouse and how he spends the school day. It tells the time throughout his day and weaves learning throughout.

Cluck O’Clock (tier 2) by Kes Gray is a hilarious story of some silly hens. This rhyming tale is sure to engage kids, and give them some practice telling time throughout the chicken’s day.

The Grouchy Ladybug (tier 3) by Eric Carle is another classic tale that teaches a great moral, but can also be used to learn about time. There’s a picture of a clock on each page as the grouchy ladybug encounters picks a fight with all sorts of animals.

(Get free printable activities to use with this book here!)

Telling Time (tier 1) by Jules Older covers all aspects of time, and also teaches how to tell time with digital and analog clocks. This would be a great resource for kids who are especially struggling with telling time.

The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock (tier 3) by Jim Aylesworth expands the traditional nursery rhyme to tell what the mice do at each hour (for 12 hours). It’s really cute and kids will love the silly rhymes. (Fun fact: our library’s copy was signed by the author!)

Telling Time With Big Mama Cat (tier 1) will delight anyone who’s ever owned a cat. Big Mama Cat shares her daily schedule down to the minute, with beautiful illustrations and really cute details (pay attention to the names of books in the illustrations).

What Time is it Mr. Crocodile? (tier 2) by Judy Sierra is a super cute rhyming story about a crocodile and his quest for some hilarious monkeys. There are clocks on each page, and some even use roman numerals, so pay attention to the pictures.

(Read about the benefits of teaching your child roman numerals here.)

Pigs on a Blanket (tier 2) by Amy Axelrod is another story in the Pigs Will Be Pigs series. This story tells about the Pig family’s attempts to get to the beach to swim. This is a great book to read with older kids who know how to tell time, but are working on adding time. In addition, there are time facts and additional learning ideas at the end of the book.

And that completes this list of fun books to teach time! Are there any that you would add? Share in the comments!

• 5 Simple Ways to Teach with Math Story Books
• The Best Books to Teach Addition and Subtraction
• The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers
• The Best Books to Teach Multiplication and Division
• The Best Books to Teach Fractions
• The Best Books to Teach Money Concepts

Want some fun, simple and engaging resources to explore elapsed time? My Elapsed Time Resource Bundle includes 4 different activities (with 40+ elapsed time problems) for only $3! This includes task cards, a matching game, a printable board game and a simple independent activity.

>>Get the complete elapsed time resource bundle!<<

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Free Printable Book Lists!

Did you find this list helpful? Then you'll love the handy printable version I've made! Just print out the book list, take it to the library, and check them off as you read them. Plus, this set includes 2 pages of books not included in my blog series! That's 8 lists of engaging math stories in all.

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The history of clocks for children, how to tell about time is interesting - stories, fairy tale, cartoon

Contents of the article

• Stories about clocks and time for children
• Why do people need to know about time?
• How and why did the first watch appear?
• How did an hour consist of five hours, or Why are there 24 hours in a day and 60 seconds in a minute?
• Watches - they are so different!
• Standard of time
• Fairy tale about the clock on the desk

Time cannot be seen or felt. But you can watch it with a watch. The history of watches for children becomes interesting at the age of 6-9 years. A series of stories and fairy tales will help to understand the topic most fully. They contain answers to questions about how watches appeared, what they are, how they are arranged, why there are 60 seconds in a minute, and many others.

Stories about clocks and time for children

Every adult understands what time is. But how to tell children about it clearly and simply?

1. Make a presentation with illustrations and short interesting stories (see below).
2. Show the children about the cartoon time:

Why do people need to know about time?

In ancient times, people had to fight for life every day. Whether they would have food depended on how successful the hunt would be, whether something would grow in the ground. Hunting and planting seeds at random often left them with empty hands and stomachs. Either the crop will die in the ground, or the birds will fly away from the forest .... nine0003

Then people began to notice seasonal changes in nature. For example, that some birds fly away to warm countries, hares change their coats, bears go into a den, wolves get together in packs. The trees turned green, then turned yellow and shed their leaves. It rained, then snow lay...

Experience accumulated, and people learned to do everything according to nature. They knew how to choose the time to hunt. For example, hunters did not go to the forest when the animals had cubs, and they became especially dangerous. Seeds were planted in the ground when the snow had just melted, so that the crop could grow by winter. nine0003

The more accurately people determined the time, the more successful their lives were.

At first they learned to count years - by years. So they knew their age, they could record the events of previous years, and much more. Sunrise and sunset determined the days. They began to measure for days much later. Days and nights were counted separately. In the annals they wrote: "2 days and 2 nights have passed."

Notches or knots were used to count the days. So we found out how long a year lasts, what seasons and months it has, how they succeed each other. People tied knots in the same way as we tear off the leaves of a calendar. nine0003

There are 365 days in a year. This is the time it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun.

How and why did the first watch appear?

The history of clocks began around the time when people noticed that day follows night and night follows day. And so in a circle. And this happens because the sun never stands still. It constantly rolls across the sky. In the morning, a fireball appears from the edge of the earth. At noon, it appears above the head itself, and by the end of the day it leaves for the opposite edge. People looked at him day and day and said: “Here is the sunrise. Here is noon. Here is the sunset." And they lived for themselves according to these heavenly clocks until they wanted to know the time more precisely. nine0003

Without knowing the time, it is difficult to arrange a meeting with each other. Time tracking helps you plan your work and rest.

Our ancestors made something similar to a sundial. Instead of a dial, an open-air platform was drawn. A column was placed in the center. And the shadow from it moved like a real arrow. The sun walks across the sky, and the shadow silently glides along the earth, measuring time. Having caught the connection between the length and position of the shadow from objects and the position of the sun in the sky, people made the very first vertical instrument. The photo shows the oldest surviving sundial. They date back to about 1500 BC. e. Found in ancient Egypt. nine0003

How did an hour consist of five hours, or Why are there 24 hours in a day and 60 seconds in a minute?

The word "chas" in the Russian language existed from time immemorial. But it didn't mean 24 hours a day. “Immediately” or “overnight” was said when something needed to be done immediately. The expressions were widespread: “uneven hour”, “good hour”. But "hour" meant a moment or instant, not a precise unit of time.

In general, ancient Egypt learned to divide the day into 24 parts. But these parts were different in length. The day was divided into an hour of morning twilight, 10 hours of light, an hour of evening twilight and 12 hours of darkness. nine0003 Egyptian sundial gnomon

Rus' had its own division of the day. The working day was long, they worked from dawn. That's where they kept the score. It turned out 17 hours a day. In other words, the Russians considered the length of daylight hours. An hour was divided into small hours - hours. There were 5 hours in one hour, and each hour was divided into 5 small (second) hours.

The modern division of hours and days was borrowed from the great ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The Egyptians measured everything not in tens, but in 12. They divided the day into 12 hours and the night into 12 hours. It worked 24 hours a day. The Babylonians were even more skilled mathematicians. Their score was based not on 12, but on 60.

Scientists of antiquity used the number 60 and created a system of geographical coordinates. The circle was divided into 360 degrees (6 by 60). Each degree is divided into 60 first small parts, and those, in turn, into 60 second small parts. In Latin, they sounded like partes minutae primae and partes minutae secundae.

Minutes and seconds were borrowed from geography and geometry. The earth rotates around its axis in 24 hours - 360 degrees.

Watches - they are so different!

Following the sun clock, man invented the water clock. In ancient times, they were a vessel with marks corresponding to periods of time. Water slowly flowed out of the vessel. According to the remaining amount of water, the ancestors determined "how much water has flowed. " That is, how much time has passed.

When the art of glass blowing was mastered, hourglasses appeared. They worked on the same principle as the water ones. They were just filled with sand. They were much more comfortable. After all, the sun sometimes hid behind the clouds, and the water evaporated. It was convenient to take small vessels on sea voyages and use them at home. nine0003 Hourglass

By the way, not only devices can measure time, but also plants and animals. Some flowers open exactly at dawn, in the evening when it begins to get dark, at bright noon, or even at night. The famous alarm clock is the village rooster. As the light of the sun appears beyond the edge of the earth, the bird wakes up the whole neighborhood with its cry: “Ku-ka-re-ku! Get up! A new day has come!

With the development of civilization, the first mechanical watches appeared. At first they did not have a dial. They measured time with a loud "bom", and hung on the towers of medieval cities. Today, the oldest surviving movement, made in 1386, is in Salisbury, England. A little later, small mechanical pocket watches with a spring were created. They were a real miracle for that era. nine0003 The first mechanical watch

Inventing more and more new devices, people wanted to achieve accuracy in measuring time. It was important to make such a device that would work regardless of the weather, heat, cold, shaking during movement and other “interferences”.

Pendulum clocks were invented by Christian Huygens in the 17th century. They were very accurate on land, but did not perform well at sea.

In order to prevent the device from perceiving vibrations, they began to use a quartz crystal. This is how quartz watches were born. nine0044 At first it was a device the size of an entire room. No one could have imagined that in 1980 quartz watches would be worn by everyone, young and old. Over the years, they have become the most affordable and popular. −17 seconds. Only atomic clocks can do this. In one second, an atom does 9billion 192 million 631 thousand 770 fluctuations. This is the time standard.