Before children can read a clock, they learn that the day has a shape: it is light in the daytime and dark at night, some things happen in the morning and others at bedtime, and things happen in an order. These are the first ideas about time.
What your child will learn
- Tell day from night
- Know which everyday things happen in the morning and which happen at bedtime
- Say what comes first and what comes after
Time is an order
Young children understand time as a sequence long before they understand hours. “First we put on our socks, then our shoes” builds the language of first, next and after that later becomes reading a timetable or a clock.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. When do we see the stars?
⭐- ☀️ day
- 🌙 night
Show answer
Answer: 🌙 night. That happens at night, when it is dark.
2. When do owls wake up and hoot?
🦉- 🌙 night
- ☀️ day
Show answer
Answer: 🌙 night. That happens at night, when it is dark.
3. When does the rooster crow?
🐓- 🌙 night
- ☀️ day
Show answer
Answer: ☀️ day. That happens in the daytime, when it is light.
Tips for grown-ups
- Talk through the day’s routine: “First breakfast, then we brush our teeth, then we go to kindy.”
- Look at the sky together in the evening and talk about what has changed since the morning.
- Make a picture timetable of the morning routine for the fridge.