Best Teaching Clocks UK 2026: What to Actually Buy for Learning to Tell the Time
There is a moment, usually somewhere in Year 1, when a parent glances at the home-school book and realises the class is "telling the time to the hour" and their own child is not. It is far more common than the school gate lets on. Time-telling is one of the few skills the curriculum expects by a fixed date, yet almost nobody sits a child down and teaches it slowly.
The good news: it responds beautifully to five minutes a day, and the right tool costs less than £20. This guide covers what schools expect and when, why analogue comes before digital, and the two wooden teaching clocks we make for the job. All Jaques of London wooden toys are independently tested to UKCA and CE standards, made from FSC-certified timber (uk.fsc.org) with non-toxic, water-based paint.
If your child is still very small, our pre-school guide When Should Children Learn to Tell the Time? covers when to begin. This page is for the buying decision.
What School Actually Expects, and When
The national curriculum for mathematics is unusually precise about clocks. In Year 1, ages 5 to 6, children are taught to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour, and to draw the hands to show those times. By the end of Year 2 the expectation jumps: time to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to. By Year 3, they are reading the clock to the nearest minute.
That jump is where the quiet panic tends to happen, because it assumes the child has somewhere to practise. A classroom of thirty shares one clock and one teacher. A kitchen table has much better odds. The Early Years Foundation Stage framework lays the groundwork earlier still, building children's sense of sequence and daily routine long before any dial appears.
Half past nine, found by hand
Why Analogue Comes First
A digital display tells a child what the time is. An analogue face shows them what time is: a circle that fills and empties, a journey the hands make while breakfast happens. Halves, quarters and five-minute steps are fractions a child can see, which is why schools teach the dial first and the digits afterwards.
The research backs the patience. In a study published in Child Development, psychologists William Friedman and Frank Laycock found that analogue clock reading develops gradually across the primary years in a predictable sequence: whole hours first, then half hours, then minutes. It is not one skill but a stack of them.
Skip the analogue stage and it shows years later. In 2018, the Association of School and College Leaders reported that schools were replacing the analogue clocks in GCSE exam halls with digital ones, because teenagers could not reliably read them.
Twelve at the top, always
The Two Jaques Clocks, and Which One to Buy
We make two, and they do different jobs.
The early entry point. Each number is a chunky, colourful shape that lifts out and sorts back into the clock face, so it works as a shape sorter long before it works as a clock. By the time the hands matter, the dial is an old friend. Solid wood, five-minute markings, no batteries.
The school-years workhorse, designed with UK teachers. A full analogue practice face sits at the centre of a board that also covers days, dates, months, seasons and weather: the whole "time" topic on one piece of wood. Sliding tabs and movable hands mean small fingers do all the work.
The honest recommendation: under three, start with the Kids Clock and let the shapes do the introducing. Three or older, or school in sight, the Teaching Clock covers more curriculum for less money. Both sit in our Let's Learn range alongside our other educational toys.
- From 12 months
- Numbers lift out as shapes
- Shape sorter first, clock second
- Best first clock
- Ages 3 to 7
- Clock, calendar, seasons, weather
- Designed with UK teachers
- Best for school years
- Solid wood, built to last
- FSC-certified timber
- UKCA and CE tested
- No batteries, no screens
- Movable hands a child can grip
- Minutes marked 5 to 60
- Clear, large numerals
- Quiet: no sounds or lights
Wednesday, says the clock
The Five-Minutes-a-Day Breakfast Habit
Here is the whole method. The clock lives on the breakfast table, propped where the cereal box usually goes. Each morning your child sets its hands to match the kitchen clock and answers one question: what time is it now? On the Teaching Clock they slide the day, date and weather tabs too, and the morning quietly becomes the lesson.
One question a day sounds like nothing. It is exactly how the skill builds. The NHS notes that children respond well to regular, predictable routines, and a clock that belongs to breakfast gives practice a fixed home in the day. Five minutes every morning beats half an hour on a Sunday.
One question over breakfast
What to Avoid, and What to Spend
A few honest negatives. Avoid faces with no minute numbers: a child cannot learn "twenty past" from a dial that only shows 1 to 12. Avoid hands that spin loosely or sit at the same length; the two need to look and feel different. Avoid batteries, sounds and lights, because the whole point is a quiet object the child controls. And skip apps at this stage: a touchscreen cannot teach the physical sweep of a minute hand.
On price: £12 to £25 buys a solid wood teaching clock that will survive two or three children and the breakfast table. Much below that, the wood gets thin and the hands work loose within a term. Both of ours come in under £20 and tend to be handed on rather than thrown out.
Shapes first, minutes later
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best teaching clock to help a child learn to tell the time?
The best teaching clock is a wooden one with movable hands, clear minute markings and no batteries. The Jaques of London Teaching Clock - Time Telling Game (£15.44, ages 3 to 7) is the strongest all-rounder: an analogue practice face plus days, dates, months, seasons and weather, the whole "time" topic on one board. For children under three, the Jaques Kids Clock - Time Telling Game (£18.50, from 12 months) starts earlier, with chunky number shapes that sort into the clock face. Both are solid wood and independently tested to UKCA and CE standards.
What age should a child learn to tell the time?
In England, formal time-telling starts in Year 1, ages 5 to 6, when the national curriculum expects children to tell the time to the hour and half past the hour. By the end of Year 2, ages 6 to 7, they should tell and write the time to five minutes, including quarter past and quarter to. Most children benefit from gentle practice at home from around age 3, starting with "o'clock" times tied to routines like lunch and bedtime.
Should children learn analogue or digital time first?
Analogue first. An analogue face is a picture of how time works: a circle divided into halves, quarters and five-minute steps a child can see and touch. Digital displays only ask a child to read numbers, not understand them. The English curriculum follows the same order: the analogue dial in Years 1 and 2, digital and 24-hour formats later. A child who understands the dial converts to digital easily. The reverse is much harder.
Why do children struggle to read an analogue clock?
Because it is three skills in one: reading two hands of different lengths, using two number scales on one face (the printed 1 to 12 and the implied 5 to 60), and combining both into one phrase like "twenty past four". Research by William Friedman and Frank Laycock, published in Child Development, found clock reading develops gradually across the primary years: hours first, then half hours, then minutes. Struggle is normal: it signals the need for slower practice, not a problem.
Can a teaching clock help my child learn the calendar too?
Yes, if you choose one with calendar features. Days, dates, months and seasons are sequencing skills that develop alongside time-telling. The Jaques of London Teaching Clock - Time Telling Game (£15.44) combines an analogue clock face with sliding tabs for day, date, month, season and weather, so a child can set "Tuesday 14th, sunny, half past seven" in one sitting. Changing the tabs each morning is one of the easiest learning routines a family can keep.
How do I use a teaching clock in our daily routine?
Keep it where the routine already happens: the breakfast table works best. Each morning, ask your child to set the teaching clock's hands to match the real kitchen clock, then ask one question, such as "what time will it be in half an hour?" If the clock has calendar tabs, change the day, date and weather together. Five minutes is enough: little and often is how the skill builds.
What makes a teaching clock effective?
Four things. Movable hands a child can grip and turn themselves, because setting the time teaches far more than watching it. Minute markings from 5 to 60, so "twenty past" has something to point at. Clear, large numerals with the hour and minute hands visibly different. And quietness: no batteries, sounds or lights, so the child's attention stays on the dial. Solid wood matters too: a clock handled every morning for years needs to survive it.
Is Jaques of London a good brand for educational toys?
Jaques of London, founded in 1795, is the world's oldest games and toy company. All Jaques wooden toys are independently tested to UKCA and CE standards and made from FSC-certified timber with non-toxic, water-based paints. The company holds over 300 reviews on Trustpilot with an Excellent rating. Its Let's Learn range covers early skills from counting to time-telling, designed with UK teachers.
Are teaching clocks good for classrooms as well as home?
Yes, and they are widely used in both. Nurseries use shape-sorting clocks for number and shape recognition, while Reception and Key Stage 1 classrooms use calendar clock boards for the daily date-and-weather routine. The home advantage is frequency: a classroom of thirty children shares one clock, while a child at home can handle theirs every morning. The ideal is both, with the same kind of analogue face in each place so the learning transfers.
Do digital clocks make analogue clocks unnecessary?
No. In 2018, the Association of School and College Leaders reported that schools were replacing analogue clocks in GCSE exam halls because teenagers could not reliably read them. Analogue time remains a statutory part of the English maths curriculum, and the dial teaches halves, quarters and fractions of an hour in a way digits never can. A child fluent on an analogue face reads digital effortlessly.
Five Minutes a Day. A Skill for Life.
We have been turning lessons into play since 1795. The teaching clock is one of the simplest things we make, and one of the most useful.