CREATIVE STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING CONCEPT OF TIME TO PRESCHOOLERS

Teaching the concept of time to preschoolers can be a little tricky. It’s not something you can show them as an object or hear as a sound. Because Time is an abstract entity that can only be understood. (It does take time)

You can say “let’s go in 5 minutes” but if if your child asks how long is 5 minutes, it’s not easy to pinpoint and explain what 5 minutes feel like. It’s like the “one who knows, knows” situation.

Having said that, we can always help them understand the concept of time from a very young age.

Age-Appropriate Time Concepts for Preschoolers

1. Understanding the difference between day and night

Encourage your kids to pay attention to visual and auditory cues at different times of the day.

The daytime is bright, warmer, you can see busy roads, hear sounds of birds chirping, horns beeping. As the day comes to an end it gets quieter, colder, darker, birds are flying back to their nests. Take this opportunity to talk about nocturnal animals like owls, gnats, bats etc.

If we pay attention to our bodies, how we feel can also change as the day comes to an end. After a long day, our bodies are ready to wind up and relax.
you can incorporate these ideas into your daily conversation.

It’s a beautiful sunny day.
It’s a beautiful starry night.
The sun is setting and the sky is orange now. Look the birds are flying back to their nests.

2. Grasping the concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Talk about past events, future events and present events with them in a way that they can actually make a connection between the concept of time and their daily routine.

Yesterday we went to the park.
Tomorrow, let’s bake some cupcakes.
We go to the indoor playground every weekend. Everyone is free during their weekend.

3. Recognizing daily routines and schedules

From the time the kids are awake, we can use the concept of time in their routine.

At 8 o’ clock we have breakfast and point at the clock. Show how one hand of the clock is on 8.
At noon, we have our lunch.
It’s past 8 p.m. It’s time to go to bed.

Fun and Engaging Activities to Teach Time Concepts

CREATING A VISUAL DAILY SCHEDULE

Display daily routine with a picture describing the activities and time. Pictures are essential here for kids to get an idea of what they are going to do at a particular time.

READING AGE-APPROPRIATE BOOKS ABOUT TIME

Books like “what’s the time Maisy”, “The very hungry caterpillar” will help children become familiar with time passing.

Learn more about reading for children ? Amazing benefits of reading for kids

USING SONGS AND RHYMES TO TEACH TIME CONCEPTS

Songs like “Hickery Dickery Dock” are fun ways to teach kids about passing time, telling time and how a clock works.

INTRODUCING SIMPLE ANALOGUE CLOCKS AND TIMERS

Timers help the kids understand what a certain length of time feels like. Set the timer for 5 minutes and ask the children to clean up the play area.

Make a simple analogue clock at home. And show them how we read time. Start with hours and then show them how to tell the exact time using minutes.

The benefits of introducing the concept of time to preschoolers

SENSE OF INDEPENDENCE

When the daily routine is predictable, children need less and less help from parents. They can brush their teeth, get ready in the morning for the day or clean up before bedtime because they know what happens next and don’t need constant reminders about their routine.

BE MORE RESPONSIBLE

They learn to complete tasks in time when they understand the concept of time. They will be responsible in the morning because they know that if not they will be late to kindergarten/school. The words like soon, late, early start making sense as they learn this concept.

LEARN TO MANAGE THEIR TIME

They will understand that at certain times of the day, we need to be extra efficient to manage all tasks on time.

Usually mornings are busy in a household. So children will learn to manage time better at that time.

LESS AND LESS TANTRUMS

When they have a clear idea about time, they are less likely to be frustrated by transitions.

Kids will understand when we say,

You can watch TV for another 10 minutes.

We need to leave the park in 5 minutes.

8 o’clock at night is bedtime.

Read this guide about tantrums

ENHANCING COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Being familiar with the concept of time is not something kids can do overnight. It takes a lot of practise and patience. But once they are familiar with the logical sequence of time, they will keep getting better and better at it.

The concept of time involves logical thinking and reasoning skills. Simple concepts like it’s dark at night, Sun sets in the evening, it snows during winter etc are not things they can understand.

It involves some reasoning on their part to understand these concepts too.

Ex: Preschoolers may know that it’s night when dark. But they will also know that it can get gloomy and dark during the day and it’s not night time.

Related article : Cognitive Development Activities

BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE LEARNING

Time management skills, transition skills paired with sense of responsibility and independence lay a good foundation for their future learning.

Tips for Teaching Concept of Time to Preschoolers

BEING CONSISTENT WITH LANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGY

Use a.m and p.m when they are ready to understand.

Using the right words to refer to time even when the kids don’t understand it all helps them gradually learn concepts of time gradually.

Ex:

We are leaving at 5 o’clock.
We need to bake the cake for 40 minutes.
This movie will run for 2 hours.

ENCOURAGING QUESTIONS AND CURIOSITY

You can ask questions to arouse their curiosity about the concept of time. If you look around , there are so many things we can talk about regarding time. While going for a bushwalk you can talk about the four seasons and the major changes we see in nature.

Time and Nature have a close connection with each other. So when you spend time enjoying nature, don’t forget to talk about how that connection helps us better understand the concept of time.

INTEGRATING TIME CONCEPTS INTO EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES

There are so many activities that help kids learn about the concept of time. Baking is one of them.

Instructions like whisk for 5 minutes, preheat the oven for 10 minutes, bake the cake for 40 minutes etc will help our children understand this abstract idea of time better.

Make a big deal about the special celebrations in the year and keep reminding the kids when they are.

This is easy. We all love it, don’t we? Talk about when their birthdays are, about Christmas time, Christmas shopping time, Easter, Valentine’s day and don’t forget to make a connection.

Ex:

Right after Valentine’s day, we need to start getting ready for Easter.
Your birthday is in December. Right before Christmas.
Australia day falls in January.

BEING PATIENT AND ALLOWING TIME FOR UNDERSTANDING

Maturity plays a big role in understanding the concept of time. Every child is different and we have to be patient with them at all times.

Conclusion

Understanding the concept of time can be a little challenging for preschoolers. But using references in everyday life to time, days, months, years and seasons can make it easier for them to grasp this abstract idea.

Children learn to be more independent and responsible when they are aware of time passing , routines being predictable.

This article covers many aspects you need to know when teaching concept of time to your kids.

Hope your little ones enjoy these fun and easy activities.

Share your thoughts with us.