Having an extra hour of sleep this weekend is needed after all the excitement of Halloween and it’s a good time to talk about time. Understanding time is not expected at this age–after all some adults struggle with time–but kids will have some general ideas for kindergarten readiness. Usually kids know that day is light and night is dark, and that night comes after day. They also learn the word minute, because we so often tell kids to wait just a minute.
In order to understand time, kids need lots of experiences. Having holidays and events like Halloween and birthdays, help them learn what a year means. Even before they can say the days of the week, kids figure out that the routine on weekends is different from what happens on weekdays.
There are special clocks for kids so that they know when they need to go to bed and when it’s okay to get up. Round analog clocks are harder to read than digital ones but they show time as something that goes round and round. We all get to see just how many clocks there are in the house when everyone needs to be changed! Thankfully, some change themselves.
We frequently ask kids if they had a good time. When we’re in a rush, we tell them we don’t have time. No wonder it’s so complicated. The game “What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?” is a favorite of kids. (There’s a short video below that shows how to play the game.) At our house, we also have a version called “What Time Is It, Momma Bear?” but instead of it being Dinnertime, it’s Hugtime! Time for a big, giant hug with everybody. Do you have time this weekend to play either one?