Learning to Tell Time-Fun Activities For Grandparents and Grandchildren

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 Time is vital for all of us in the Sandwich Generation, isn’t it? We are constantly checking our clocks to see if it’s time for a senior parents medications, time for a grandchild to go to the doctor’s, time to take an elderly parent to physical therapy, time to pick up a grandchild from school, time to take ourselves to the doctor for a checkup on something, such as a 5th metatarsal fracture (yes, I admit it. I’m a bit obsessed with that this month! 🙂 ), etc.

In our household, we use both digital

and

analog clocks,

though studies show that analog clocks are becoming much less common and, as a result, children are having a harder time learning to tell time that way. It’s easy to think we don’t have to bother to teach them the analog way as that is going to disappear soon, but really, it’s best to teach kids how to tell time both ways. And right now, it’s still required by the schools.  Being surrounded by a bevy of young grandchildren near and far, right in the throes of learning how to tell time, that’s a subject I’m dealing with a lot.

It’s definitely an important subject. After all, someday one or more of these sweet grandkids may follow in our footsteps into the Sandwich Generation and be responsible for, GULP, helping us remember to take our medications or driving us to the doctor appointments. It’s vital they learn to tell time to be ready for that responsibility. 🙂 And yes, I have found some great resources and fun educational time telling activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. Here’s two to start us off:

1. Tactile Learning is always excellent. I bought a wooden clock puzzle years like this years ago

and my oldest grandchild really enjoyed playing with it. But this one is even better as it shows the quarter and half markers. Those can be especially challenging for many little ones. I’ve already put this in my shopping cart for a Christmas gift for 3 little ones. My grandsons also love to do puzzles, so it’s definitely time to round it up and start using it again.

2. After some research online, I bought a  Munchkin Math Telling Time DVD for my grandchildren. As you probably know by now, watching educational DVDs while driving on errands is one of the activities for grandparents and their grandchildren that we really enjoy. Well, to clarify that for any police officers who might be reading this, they watch and I listen. 🙂  And we have enjoyed watching AND listening to this a LOT.

In spite of the fact that the package states that the Munchkin Math Telling Time DVD is for ages 2-9, my grand-twins initial reaction was, “Yuck, this is for babies!” As I did with the latest of the Leap Frog DVDs, I told them they only HAD to watch it once. If it was too young for them, I’d be glad to mail it to their younger cousins. With that in mind, they cheerfully settled down in my minivan to watch it all. Half way through, they were laughing and singing with the characters. At the end of the DVD, they happily proclaimed, “We were wrong, Grandma! We LIKE this show!”

They liked it so much, in fact, that we’ve had it going every day for the last several times I’ve had them in the car. I like it as well. It has catchy little rhymes to help them learn how long a second is compared to a minute; how many seconds are in a minute; how to tell the difference between the minute hand and the hour hand; and more. It teaches the hours, a cute way to remember the even o’clock when the big hand is on the 12, as opposed to another time such as 1:05 or 12:30, and the minutes by 5s.

I was surprised and slightly disappointed that it only teaches by 5s and didn’t teach the rest of the minutes such as 7:07 or 8:32 since it is for ages 2-9. Granted, that may be a higher learning skill even for most nine year olds. But it would have been nice to include a segment on it for bright and gifted children. Then again, once they have the rest of the concepts, that’s probably pretty easy.

The cast of characters includes a Cuckoo bird trying to earn his own cuckoo clock by learning to tell time while a wizard along with some of the Cuckoo’s friends all work to help him learn time telling. 

Overall, I am very pleased with the Munchkin Math Telling Time DVD . It’s interesting, entertaining, and best of all, it’s a fun way to teach kids and grandkids how to tell time! For a busy baby boomer grandmother, that’s terrific!

Have a great week!

Kaye 

P.S.