Maths · Grades 1–3
Free telling time to the quarter hour worksheets
Free printable telling time worksheets for grades 1 to 3: read and draw quarter past and quarter to, then times to 5 minutes like 3:35, and match clocks to times in words. Answer key included. PDF download.
Quarter past and quarter to: read 9 clocks and write the time
Nine analog clocks showing o'clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to; write each time in digits. Free printable PDF.
Draw the hands: 9 quarter-hour times
Read each time (like 4:15 or 7:45) and draw the hour and minute hands on the empty clock. Free printable PDF.
Whole set
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Time to 5 minutes: read 9 clocks (like 3:35 and 8:10)
Nine analog clocks with the minute hand on any 5-minute mark; count in 5s round the clock and write the time. Free printable PDF.
Draw the hands: 9 times to 5 minutes
Draw the hands for times like 6:25 and 11:50, placing the hour hand a little past the hour as the minutes go by. Free printable PDF.
Match the clocks: 8 clocks to written times like "quarter to 7"
Eight clocks to match with the time in words (quarter past, half past, twenty to, quarter to). Answer key on page 2.
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Once children can read o’clock and half past, the next two steps come quickly: quarter past and quarter to, then any time to five minutes. Both need the same new idea, that the minute hand counts round the clock in fives (5, 10, 15 ... 55) while the hour hand creeps slowly from one number to the next. These five worksheets take that idea in order: quarter hours first, then five-minute times, then a matching sheet that connects the clock face to the words we actually say (“quarter to seven”, “twenty past three”).
What’s in this set
- Quarter past and quarter to: read 9 clocks and write the time. Nine analog clocks showing o’clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to times, with digital boxes to fill in (4:15, 7:45).
- Draw the hands: 9 quarter-hour times. The reverse: a time is given and the child draws both hands on an empty clock face.
- Time to 5 minutes: read 9 clocks. The minute hand can point to any 5-minute mark. Children count in fives round the clock and write times like 3:35 and 8:10.
- Draw the hands: 9 times to 5 minutes. Times like 6:25 and 11:50 to draw, placing the hour hand a little past the hour as the minutes go by.
- Match the clocks: 8 clocks to written times. Eight clocks to match to phrases such as “quarter to 7” and “twenty to 5”. Answer key on page 2.
What students will practice
- Reading quarter past and quarter to on an analog clock
- Counting in fives round the clock face to read any 5-minute time
- Writing times in digital form with two minute digits (3:05, not 3:5)
- Drawing hands of the right length in the right place, including the hour hand’s position between numbers
- Saying times in words: past for the first half hour, to for the second half
- Common Core 2.MD.C.7 (tell and write time to the nearest five minutes) and 3.MD.A.1
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Teaching tips and common mistakes
How to use these worksheets
Print at 100%. A teaching clock with movable hands next to the worksheet makes every sheet easier; if you have none, a paper plate and two card hands work.
- Quarter past and quarter to. Start by finding the 3 and the 9 on the clock: minute hand on 3 is quarter past (15 minutes), on 9 is quarter to (45 minutes). Fill in the digital boxes, then say each time both ways: “7:45” and “quarter to eight”.
- Draw the hands: quarter hours. Draw the minute hand first (long, to 3 or 9), then the hour hand (short). For quarter to, the hour hand is nearly at the next number; children often put it exactly on the number, which reads as a different time.
- Time to 5 minutes. Put a finger on the 12 and count in fives to where the minute hand points: 5, 10, 15, 20. Then read the hour from the short hand, remembering it belongs to the number it has passed, not the one it is nearest to.
- Draw the hands: 5 minutes. The same routine in reverse. For 6:50 the minute hand goes to the 10 and the hour hand sits almost at the 7.
- Match the clocks. The words matter: “twenty to 5” means 4:40. Ask the child to write the digital time under each phrase first, then match.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Reading the hour hand as the nearest number: At 7:45 the hour hand is closer to 8, so children write 8:45. Teach “the hour hand has not reached 8 yet, so it is still 7”.
- Reading the minute hand as the number it points to: Minute hand on 4 means 20 minutes, not 4. Counting round in fives fixes this.
- Writing 3:5 for five past three: Always two minute digits: 3:05.
- Mixing up quarter past and quarter to: Past is on the right side of the clock, to is on the left. Drawing a line down the middle of a practice clock helps.
- Both hands the same length: Then no one can read the drawn clock. Check lengths before positions.
Answer key
The four reading and drawing sheets are quick to mark from the clock faces and the printed times. The matching sheet has a complete answer key on page 2 of its PDF listing the clock number for every written time.
Frequently asked questions
What age are quarter hour worksheets for?
Quarter past and quarter to are usually taught at age 6 to 7 (first and second grade), with times to five minutes at age 7 to 8 (second grade). These sheets span both.
Why is quarter to harder than quarter past?
Because the hour changes: quarter to seven is 6:45, so the hour written in digital form is not the hour said in words. The hour hand also sits close to the 7, which invites the wrong reading. The drawing sheet targets exactly this.
Should children learn to say “quarter to” or just “6:45”?
Both. Digital time is what they will read on screens, but “quarter to” and “twenty past” are what they will hear at home and school. The matching sheet links the two.
What comes after telling time to five minutes?
Time to the nearest minute, then elapsed time (how long between 2:40 and 3:15), and reading 24-hour clocks.
More time and counting practice
If o’clock and half past are not yet secure, start with the telling time worksheets. Counting round the clock in fives is the 5 times table, and the skip counting worksheets practise the same sequence on a number line.
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