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🕐 Telling Time to Five Minutes

Read an analog clock to the nearest five minutes by counting the minute hand around the clock in 5s.

4
lessons
~20 min
to learn
🔢 Math
subject
Ages 6–12
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. The Clock FaceIdentify the hour hand and minute hand and what each one shows.A clock has a short hour hand and a long minute hand. The short hand shows the hour and the long hand shows the minutes, moving around the same twelve numbers.
  2. Counting by FivesCount minutes in 5s around the clock and link each number to its minute value.From one clock number to the next is always 5 minutes, so we count 5, 10, 15, 20 around the clock. The 12 is 0, the 3 is 15, the 6 is 30, and the 9 is 45.
  3. Reading the MinutesRead a time to the nearest five minutes by combining the hour and minute hands.To tell the time, find the hour from the short hand, then count the minutes by 5s to the long hand. Saying them together gives the time, like 7:20.
  4. Time PracticePractise reading analog clocks to the nearest five minutes.Putting it together, you count by 5s to find the minutes and read the hour from the short hand. With practice, you can read clocks at home and school to the nearest five minutes.

Questions this course answers

On a clock, how many minutes does the gap from one number to the next stand for?

Each step from one number to the next is 5 minutes.

The minute hand points to the 6. How many minutes past the hour is that?

Counting by 5s to the 6 gives 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 — that's 30 minutes.

Which hand tells you the minutes?

The long hand points to the minutes; the short hand shows the hour.

The minute hand points to the 3. How many minutes past the hour is that?

Counting by 5s to the 3 gives 5, 10, 15 — that's 15 minutes.

How many minutes does the 12 stand for?

The 12 is where the minute count starts, which is 0 minutes.

The minute hand points to the 9. How many minutes past the hour is that?

Counting by 5s to the 9 gives 45 minutes.

Grounded in trusted sources

  • Khan Academy Kids
  • BBC Bitesize — KS1 Maths
  • PBS Kids — early math
  • Britannica Kids

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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