CLOCK LEARNER · LEARN TOGETHER

How to Count Clock Minutes in 5s and 1s: Kids Clock Guide

To read any analogue clock accurately, children must learn that the numbers 1 through 12 have a secret double identity: they tell hours, but they also count minutes in groups of five.

Skip counting by 5s around the clock dial

There are 60 minutes in an hour. The 12 numbers on the clock face divide those 60 minutes into 12 equal chunks of 5 minutes each. As the long hand travels clockwise from 12, skip-count by fives:

• 12 = 00 minutes (Starting point)
• 1 = 5 minutes (5 past)
• 2 = 10 minutes (10 past)
• 3 = 15 minutes (Quarter past)
• 4 = 20 minutes (20 past)
• 5 = 25 minutes (25 past)
• 6 = 30 minutes (Half past)
• 7 = 35 minutes (25 to)
• 8 = 40 minutes (20 to)
• 9 = 45 minutes (Quarter to)
• 10 = 50 minutes (10 to)
• 11 = 55 minutes (5 to)
• 12 = 60 minutes (New hour starts!)

Connecting to the 5 times multiplication table

If your child is in 2nd or 3rd grade and learning multiplication, clock minutes provide the perfect real-world application! Simply multiply the number the minute hand is pointing to by 5:

Minute Hand on 4 → 4 × 5 = 20 minutes past the hour.
Minute Hand on 7 → 7 × 5 = 35 minutes past the hour.

Reading single minutes: worked example for 3:22

What if the minute hand is between numbers? Look at the tiny tick marks along the outer rim:

1. Identify the short hour hand: It has passed 3 and is heading toward 4. The hour is 3.
2. Find the nearest big number the long hand has passed: The long hand passed 4 (which is 20 minutes).
3. Count the tiny individual tick marks past 4: There are 2 extra ticks.
4. Add them together: 20 + 2 = 22 minutes.
5. Combine hour and minutes: The time is 3:22.

On Clock Learner, parents can toggle Show outside minute numbers in settings to provide visual training wheels until your child is ready to read clean dials.

Practise counting minutes on the teaching clock → · Next: AM and PM explained