# How to Teach Kids About Telling Time With Songs > Discover how simple songs and chants can make telling time click for young children — with ready-to-use lyrics and tips for home and classroom. Source: https://holidayeducationist.com/en/blogs/how-to-teach-kids-about-telling-time-with-songs --- ## Why Songs Make Telling Time Easier for Kids ![child singing classroom](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_7568547_8d552ba2ed.jpg) Learning to tell time is one of those skills that can feel surprisingly tricky for young children. Clock hands, minutes, hours, "quarter past," "half past" — it's a lot to hold in a small brain all at once. That's where songs come in. Music taps into a part of how children naturally learn. Rhythm and repetition help new information stick in memory, which is why most of us still remember the alphabet song decades later. When you set a concept to a catchy tune, children hear it, sing it, and replay it in their heads long after the lesson is over. Songs also lower the pressure. There's no worksheet to fill in, no right or wrong answer to stress about — just a fun melody to enjoy together. For children who feel nervous about maths or clocks, a song can be the gentle on-ramp they need. --- ## What Time Concepts Can Songs Actually Teach? ![colourful clock poster wall](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_34913187_d0c5c6ee80.jpg) You might wonder whether a song can really cover the full range of time-telling skills. The answer is: more than you'd expect. Here are the key concepts that lend themselves beautifully to musical learning: ### Hours on the Clock Simple counting songs that name each hour — "One o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, four…" — help children recognise that a clock face runs from 1 to 12. Singing through all twelve hours gives them a mental map of the clock before they ever try to read one. ### The Minute Hand and Counting in Fives This is where many children get stuck. Explaining that each number on the clock face represents five minutes is abstract without a visual or a rhythm. A song that counts in fives — "five, ten, fifteen, twenty…" — set to a bouncy beat makes this pattern feel natural. If you've already worked on [skip counting with your child](/en/blogs/how-to-teach-kids-about-counting-in-2s-5s-and-10s), you'll find they pick this up even faster. ### Half Past and Quarter Past Short, rhyming phrases are perfect for these concepts. Something like *"Half past means thirty, the big hand points down, quarter past is fifteen, the prettiest in town"* is silly and memorable — exactly what young learners need. ### AM and PM Even older children muddle these up. A short song that links AM to morning activities (waking up, breakfast, school) and PM to afternoon and evening helps children anchor these abstract labels to real moments in their day. --- ## How to Use Songs in Your Teaching Routine ![parent child singing kitchen](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_20459072_5ccbf8cf6c.jpg) You don't need to be a music teacher — or even a confident singer — to use songs effectively. Here are some practical ways to weave them into everyday learning. ### Start With a Song You Already Know Plenty of well-known tunes can be adapted with new words. "Hickory Dickory Dock" is a classic starting point because it already tells a clock story. You can extend it: *"Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock, the clock struck two, what did he do? He slid back down with a knock!"* Keep going through each hour and children will be counting to twelve before they realise it. "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Row Your Boat" also work well as base tunes — their simple, steady rhythms are easy for small children to follow. ### Sing at Clock-Reading Moments Rather than setting aside a separate "time lesson," use songs at natural moments in the day. When it's time to leave for school, sing a quick rhyme about the hour. At bedtime, sing about what the clock says. Embedding the song into real clock-reading moments connects the music to actual practice. ### Add Movement Pair the song with actions. Children can hold their arms out like clock hands — one arm straight up for 12, one arm pointing to the relevant number. This kinaesthetic element helps children who learn better through movement, and it makes the whole thing more entertaining. ### Clap the Rhythm of Minutes When practising counting in fives, clap once on each number: clap-clap-clap-clap-clap as you say "five… ten… fifteen… twenty…" The physical beat reinforces the pattern and keeps energy up. --- ## Songs to Try at Home or in the Classroom ![kids group music activity](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_8363149_efc3fb0958.jpg) Here is a small collection of song ideas you can use straight away. These are not rigid scripts — feel free to change words to suit your child's level or your own teaching style. ### "What's the Time?" (Sung to "Mary Had a Little Lamb") > *What's the time, what's the time, what's the time right now?* > *The big hand's up and small hand's on the three,* > *It's three o'clock right now!* Swap in different hours each time you sing it. Once children are confident with hours, add in half-past and quarter-past verses. ### "Five-Minute Countdown" (Sung to "Ten Green Bottles") > *Five little minutes on the clock face today,* > *Five little minutes ticking slowly away,* > *And when those five minutes have all gone away,* > *Ten little minutes will be on display!* Continue up to sixty. It's repetitive by design — repetition is the whole point. ### "AM or PM?" (Any simple chant rhythm) > *Morning time is AM, AM, AM,* > *Night and afternoon is PM, PM, PM,* > *When the sun comes up it's AM all the way,* > *When the sun goes down, PM's here to stay!* This works as a spoken chant just as well as a sung melody, so even the most reluctant singers can join in. --- ## Combining Songs With Other Learning Tools ![child clock activity table](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_12932542_0004d95f08.jpg) Songs are powerful, but they work best as part of a wider toolkit. Here are a few ways to extend the learning beyond the melody. ### Pair Songs With a Visual Clock After singing about an hour or a time concept, immediately show your child a clock face set to that time. The song plants the idea; the visual confirms it. You can use a toy clock, a printed worksheet, or even draw a simple clock on paper. If you've explored other approaches on this blog — like using colours, puzzles, or stories — you'll know that layering different methods is one of the most effective ways to help a concept truly land. Our post on [telling time with a story](/en/blogs/how-to-teach-kids-about-telling-time-with-a-story) pairs especially well with the song approach, since both use narrative and imagination. ### Use an App for Extra Practice Once a child has sung their way through the basic concepts, a little independent practice helps consolidate the skill. The [Number Bonds](/en/apps/number-bonds-mental-math-challenge-games) app is a great companion for children working on the number relationships behind clock-reading — understanding that 15 + 45 = 60, for example, or that 30 is half of 60. ### Make Up Your Own Songs Together Invite your child to help write a verse. Ask them: "What rhymes with 'clock'?" or "Can you think of a word that rhymes with 'five'?" This creative involvement deepens understanding and gives children ownership over their learning. It also tells you a lot about what they already understand — and where they still need support. --- ## Practical Takeaways ![child pointing clock wall](https://hebe.b-cdn.net/pexels_photo_7055106_ad26e107af.jpg) Here's a quick summary of what to keep in mind as you get started: - **You don't need to be musical.** Spoken chants work just as well as sung melodies for many children. - **Repetition is the goal.** The more times a child hears and sings a time-related phrase, the more naturally it will come to them when they look at a real clock. - **Short and frequent beats long and rare.** A two-minute song at breakfast and another at bedtime is more effective than a single long session once a week. - **Match the song to the concept you're currently teaching.** Don't try to cover hours, minutes, AM/PM, and quarter-past all in one go. Introduce one idea at a time through its own song, then layer in the next. - **Celebrate the silly.** If your child invents a ridiculous rhyme, go with it. Laughter and joy are some of the best memory aids there are. - **Connect to real clocks as soon as possible.** Songs build the mental framework; actual clock-reading practice builds the skill. Time-telling is one of those milestones that clicks differently for every child. Some children will be reading analogue clocks confidently within weeks; others need months of gentle, varied practice. Songs are a low-stress, high-enjoyment way to keep the topic alive without turning it into a chore — and that consistency, over time, is exactly what makes the difference. **Further reading:** For evidence-based guidance on how children learn to read, see [Reading Rockets](https://www.readingrockets.org/).