Teach and Show the Time with an Interactive Clock
Use this simple interactive analog clock to show and teach the time in the classroom. Set a time, get a random time, or display real time on a whiteboard. It's easy to use and has a neutral look for learners of all ages.
- Show time on an online clock (as set on your device): Set Live mode on the right and press F on your keyboard or the Fullscreen button to toggle a full-screen real-time clock on your whiteboard.
- Show a set time: Drag the hands to show a set time as you teach the time. Let learners drag the hands to test themselves.
- Show a random time: Click Random mode or New Random Time to show a random time. Snap the minutes to 5, 10, 15, or 30 in the preferences to change the difficulty.
How to Teach Time on an Analog Clock
Use this teaching clock to teach the time in the classroom in 7 steps.
1. Understand the parts of the clock
Drag the hands of the interactive clock to show 4 o'clock.
- "An analog clock has two hands. The short, fat hand is the hour hand. The longer, thinner hand is the minute hand. Sometimes there's a third, thinnest hand that ticks every second."
- "Where's the hour hand now? Where's the minute hand?"
Tip: For beginners, disable Second, Marks, and Digital clock in the page preferences.
2. Read hours and "o'clock"
- "To read the time, we look at the hour hand first, then the minute hand. When the minute hand is at 12, it's "o'clock"."
- "What time is it?" (It's 4 o'clock.)
Drag the clock hands to other hours and practice "o'clock". Point to the hour hand each time.
3. Read "half past" and "o'clock"
Drag the clock hands to half past 4.
- "When the minute hand is at 6, it's half past the hour."
- "What time is it?" (It's half past 4.)
Drag the hands to practice "half past" with other hours. Point to the hour hand and minute hand each time.
When students are confident, snap minutes to 30 in the preferences. Click for random times to practice "half past" and review "o'clock".
4. Understand "past" and "to" with quarters
- "An analog clock face has two sides. (Hide the left-hand side from 6 to 12.) This side tells us it's past the hour. (Now hide the right-hand side from 12 to 6.) This side tells us it's to the hour."
Drag the clock hands to quarter past 6.
- "When the minute hand is at 3, it's gone a quarter of the way around the clock. Now it's quarter past."
- "Now look at the hour hand. It's gone past 6. What's the time? It's quarter past 6."
Drag to practice other "quarter past" times, then drag the clock hands to quarter to 7.
- "Look at the minute hand now. It's in the "to" half of the clock. What's the time now? It's quarter to 7."
Practice other "quarter to" times. Make sure students are reading the hour hand correctly. Beginners may round down and read "quarter to 7" as "quarter to 6".
When students are confident, snap minutes to 15 in the preferences. Click for random times to review learning.
5. Read minutes (past and to)
Check Marks in the preferences to show the minute marks.
- "There are 60 minutes in one hour. Each tick is one minute, and there are five minutes between each number. Let's count the minutes past together."
Drag the hands to 10 o'clock. Drag the minute hand and count 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 around the clock together, then drag the hands back to 5 past 10.
- "Remember, this side of the clock is the past side. The minute hand is at 5 minutes. The hour hand is just past 10. What's the time? It's 5 past 10."
Drag the minute hand to practice "past" 10 (skip the quarter for now).
When students are confident, practice "past" times with different hours and review "quarter past". Correct when students say "fifteen past".
Teach "to" times in a similar way.
When students are confident, snap minutes to 5 in the preferences. Click for random times to revise.
6. What about the second hand?
Check Seconds in the preferences to show the second hand.
- "There are sixty seconds in 1 minute. This thin hand counts the seconds. Remember: to read the hours and minutes, we look at the hour and minute hands, not the second hand."
Ensure minutes are snapped to 5 and click for more random times. Check that students read the hour and minute hand, not the second hand.
7. Compare an analog clock face and a digital clock
Check Digital clock in the preferences to show the digital clock. Point to the digital clock.
- "This clock shows the number in digits, not on a clock face. When we read this clock, we say the time differently, in digits."
Snap minutes to Any and click for random times. Read the digital time each time: "It's ten twenty-six" etc.
When students are confident, snap minutes back to 5 and practice reading both analog and digital times ("It's quarter past 4. / It's four fifteen.").
Teaching Activity Ideas
- Show time passing: Set the clock to 8:00. Ask a student to drag the minute hand forward, and show the hour hand drift to 9 in a full turn. Time is rotation.
- Switch faces: Set the display preferences to With Minutes (numbers labelled 00--55) for early learners, move to Classic once they're confident, and use Blank or Roman to challenge.
- Connect time to real life: Ask students what time they do everyday activities like get up, arrive at school, eat lunch, etc. Get students to interview each other to complete a partner's daily schedule, then show different times on the clock.
- Time-based stories: Narrate a simple story (like your daily routine) with key times. Have students write the times they hear. For the check, ask a student to set each time they heard on the interactive clock.
- Earlier/later: Have a student set a time on the clock. Call out a duration, e.g., "ten minutes earlier" / "five minutes later" and ask another student to tell the new time. Switch students and repeat.
- Lightning class quiz: Press Random to set a new time and ask a student to repeat it. The dial shuffles a fresh time each press. Choose students at random, and move fast to keep momentum.
FAQs
Can I drag the hands?
Yes, that's why it's a teaching clock. Click any hand (hours, minutes, seconds) and drag it around the dial to leave live mode and show the time you want.
Does the clock show the real time?
By default, yes. The Go Live button always returns the clock to the local time on your device. You can also see the date, day of the week, and your time zone in the left-hand panel.
How do I switch between 12-hour and 24-hour?
Use the Format segment on the right control panel. The digital readout swaps between AM/PM and 24H instantly. The dial stays 12-hour unless you also pick the 24-Hour face from the gallery below.
Is there a 24-hour face?
Yes, just pick 24-Hour from Choose a Face. With this display, the whole dial completes one rotation per day instead of two, with the numbers 1 to 24 around the edge.
Can I project this teaching clock in a classroom?
Press Fullscreen. The dial fills the screen, the controls hide, and the digital readout stays out of the way. Press Esc to exit.
Why is the second hand jumping?
By default, the second hand sweeps smoothly. Toggle Smooth sweep off to get the classic one-tick-per-second movement. Both are accurate to the millisecond; only the animation differs.