Time to Five Minutes

The clock face has 12 numbers, but an hour has 60 minutes.

Each number is five minutes

From the 12 to the 1 is 5 minutes. To the 2 is 10 minutes. To the 3 is 15.

Skip count round the face

Count 5, 10, 15, 20 as the long hand passes each number.

Read both hands

The short hand still gives the hour. The long hand now gives the minutes.

Two hands, two different jobs

The short hand points at the hour and moves slowly. The long hand counts minutes and moves right around the clock in one hour. They share a face but they are reading two different scales, which is what makes clocks confusing at first.

Why the long hand counts in fives

There are 12 numbers on the face and 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 split into 12 parts gives 5. So each number the long hand passes is five minutes. Pointing at the 4 means 20 minutes past, because 5, 10, 15, 20.

The hour hand moves too

At 3:40 the short hand is not on the 3 — it has drifted most of the way to the 4. Read the hour as the number it has most recently passed, not the nearest one. This catches many children out and is worth checking on a real clock.