10 minutes has become a joke in our family. One summer my parents took the kids on a trip to the mountains. Eleanor (our 5 year old at the time) wants to know what is happening and when pretty much at all times. Even if we just finished a fun activity she wants to know what’s next. On this trip with my parents she would ask how long until the next thing happened. How long until they got there? How long until lunch? How long until bedtime? My father, knowing she had no concept of time would say 10 minutes every time. She caught on after a few answers of “10 minutes” and it became a joke between them ever since. Now even when the answer is 10 minutes she gives me a sly look and says I am just like Pop.
Teaching the concept of time starts with the basics, time passes as we move through the day. Point out each activity you do with your child and what comes next in the day. At the end of the day talk about all that you did and mark the day off on a calendar. Then count down how many days until the next significant event coming up. Work on the concept of time daily and your child will pick it up naturally.
We are currently counting down to our sons birthday. He is pretty excited and as we count down we discuss days and time. When your child is interested in an activity or event it is the perfect time to bring up time and discuss it to help them understand time.
Teaching My Child the Concept of Time
Children begin learning about time when they begin to understand basic concepts of time passing. My kiddos first picked up on when things would happen during the day. They knew breakfast was after waking up, followed by an activity, lunch, a nap, maybe a snack, an activity, dinner then bedtime. Children begin to understand that the day is passing as they do each thing in their routine. Bring up these times often to show time passing.
Holidays and big events are huge to my kids. My kids ask regularly how long it will be until the next occasion. We look at the calendar and tell them what number the day they are looking forward to is and what the current day is. They check the calander once or twice a day in anticipation. Currently Anderson is counting down until his birthday later this month. He knows it’s on the 25th and can’t wait to celebrate. Recently Eleanor was counting down until a sleepover she knew was starting on a Friday. She would ask me every morning what day it was and then count how many more sleeps she had until the sleep over. She is a quick learner so she figured out the days of the week and can now count them down on her own.
I know when I first had kids I was intentional about the our days and getting naps and meal times to a regular schedule. Now my older kids watch me with the littlest ones and see the same schedule and gauge their own day around it. All morning they ask when lunch is because they know they can have some device time after the little ones have finished lunch and are down for a nap. They know when the little ones we babysit go home for the day dinner is right around the corner. If ever the little ones are still here for dinner they start asking if they are spending the night! They pick up on any schedule variations quickly.
Fun Ways to Teach Time
- A great way to teach the concept of time is by bringing up time through out the day. Read the clock to your children at different times of the day, bring up the routines you already have in place and where they fit into the day. Look outside and notice where the sun is located, how much light there is and note what time of the day it is.
- Set timers while completing activities or tasks around the house and talk about how long an activity took. How long did you take to read a book? How long was an episode of a tv show or a movie? Try not to let the timer pressure you to complete the task sooner, use it to gauge how long 10 or 15 minutes is so next time you mention ask them to read for 15 minutes along they have an idea how long that will be.
Recently my daughter would ask how long 20 minutes is, or how long until we reached our destination on a car trip and we can relate the time to her in how long an episode of “Ziggy and Sharko” is or if the wait is a long time we can relate it to the length of a movie like Frozen or Sing.
- A fun way to visualize time for our visual learners is to make a photographic time line. You can print out coloring pages for symbols of the day like a sun for morning, fruit for snack, books for reading, a bed for bedtime or nap, etc. Have your child color them in. Post them on the fridge or a frequented place in the house and talk about them as you go through the day. You can also print out photos of activities you do daily and put them around the clock so when they see the small hand pointing to the photo they know it is time for that activity.
- Give your child their own calendar and help them fill it in with activities, birthdays, holidays and other special days for your family. Let them color, sticker and decorate the calendar. Hang the calendar in their room and mark off days as they end. Your child will be able to count days until the next special day and see the passage of time. You can also talk about months changing and days of the week each time you look at the calendar together.
Teaching the Concept of Time to a Preschooler
In school children are taught to tell time around Kindergarten or 1st grade. This helps them learn how to read a clock and a calendar. But not necessarily understand the concept of time. The concept is understood gradually through life and experience. Preschoolers tend to live in the moment. You can begin to point out the passage of time often to help them understand.
A great place to start with preschoolers is talking about today, yesterday, tomorrow, next week, in a few days, in one hour, in 10 minutes and so on. As they integrate these words into their vocabularies they will begin to understand time.
While my son was learning the differences about today and tomorrow he would often get them confused. He would ask what was happening today, and after being told would try to digest that later in the day was also today. He would come up and ask me “is it still today?”. The concept was hard for him, but when I linked today to an activity and tomorrow to another activity, and yesterday to what we did the day before he slowly started to understand. The preschool age group is just beginning to understand abstract thinking and giving them a solid idea was easier for him to understand.
Talk about time frequently. When my daughter was three and four I always resisted telling her we were going somewhere or someone was visiting until the last minute. Partially because I didn’t want her to be crushed if the event didn’t happen but also because I didn’t want to hear “is it time to go yet?” or “is so and so here yet?” over and over. She didn’t understand time and was excited for what was coming next. As mentioned in the traveling trip with my parents at the beginning of this post.
One way to help your preschooler start to understand leaving for an event or activity would be to practice counting down time. Give your child frequent reminders of how much longer until leaving the house. Start by telling them 20 minutes until leaving, then 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes and then finally leaving. I would also encourage you to help them prepare by cleaning up around 15 minutes, using the restroom around 10 minutes left, putting on socks and shoes and then loading up around 5 minutes. After a few practice sessions you should be able to give your children a 20 minute warning and they will know the routine to get ready. Hopefully helping you get out the door and on to the activity very smoothly.
As your child learns time communicating with them will be easier. As my kids have learned I have seen them be more comfortable with schedules, routines and upcoming activities.