Time management– kids, games, crafts, timers

Children are tiny humans that need instruction. Telling time is a learned skill and one that no one is born understanding. Helping children learn time management is an ongoing process and causes many parents to fight and moan. Sometimes adults get super frustrated because kids don’t understand their parents. Well, they are correct. Kids don’t always understand the concept of time.

Teach time management skills by staying calm and teaching mindfulness in public. Prioritize health and show them that time does not stop. Help them learn time with games, sand timers, and crafts that teach math and mark new chunks of time. Sing songs, tell stories and make it fun.

Try to highlight time management skills as you learn to incorporate fun and enjoyable learning experiences into your day. Each child is different, and situations vary depending on children’s energy, focus, and age. Try small elements of games and crafts to begin teaching time if your child is hesitant. More hands-on children may want to take over tasks, and that is fine too. Depending on your kid’s temperament, tailor learning to your child’s needs and don’t push them into it but plant mental seeds by keeping materials and songs handy.

Why is it important to teach kids time management?

Children learn time management skills to predict future events and activities. If they are out in the world, time management is helpful, so they know to use their time efficiently for themselves. Reading and understanding the time involves kids in stress-free engagement because they feel comfortable with their choices and feel the effects of time.

When parents and adults show kids how to value time, they learn to prioritize tasks or spend specific amounts of time on individual activities. Kids want to make choices that are relevant to themselves, their health, and their actions. Understanding the effects of too little or too much time on a chosen skill is developmentally necessary as they seek out more stimuli.

How to teach kids the concept of time

The best ways to teach children how to tell time are using the right words, reading books, telling stories, playing games, singing songs, doing crafts, and cooking.

1. Use the appropriate words and phrases

Kids want to learn appropriate words to say them in real life. Please use them in your daily life while explaining to children the time it took to complete an event and why something is over. When kids hear words that describe the time, they are likely to pick up on it in the future. Words that illustrate and help predict time are:

2. Read books

Books about telling time help parents bond with children while they learn new skills.

The holidays or summer vacations are great because they are pumped for gifts, activities, and treats. Use holidays to incorporate new learning skills because they genuinely want to know. Kids are excited about new experiences and want to predict when the next fun time will be.

Holidays aside, reading is excellent for learning time because adults learn to stay on a schedule while reading and maintaining routines. Set aside a certain amount of time for reading –let’s say 30 minutes– and show your kids what 30 minutes of reading feel like before they continue a routine.

Books also help kids connect character experiences to their lived experiences. If a character from a book is struggling with accomplishing a task, they will learn how the character succeeded at time management and might try the book’s ideas themselves after reflecting on the book’s plot and theme.

3. Tell stories

When parents tell stories about their childhood, children learn new words that help them understand what new experiences mean for an adult.

Children learn how time contributes to new skill-building, experiences, and knowledge when adults tell childhood stories. Stories describe personal events and show them that adults learn the same things as a child.

Use the words listed above –before, during, predict– for storytelling. Outcomes of a story help them understand the eventuality of a situation and cause and effect.

Similar to reading, storytelling teaches children to learn through understanding others’ lived experiences. Kids process and reflect on others’ actions and figure out how the storyteller failed or succeeded at an experience or an idea.

4. Watch shows

Try browsing the tube to incorporate others’ ideas into your routine and learn more exciting methods. Laurie Berkner has a song about the months in a year and an interactive dancing song about the days of the week.

Check out your subscription services to see which kid’s programs you have and search for storytelling shows, sequencing games, and circle time activities.

There are fun Youtubers like Miss Monica that teach kids with props, games, and cards. She has a great circle time for younger children with plenty of words and themes your kids might enjoy.

Teach them to count down the days with the days of the week song and use it throughout your song repertoire. Bring up songs in the morning during regular morning chores or in the car to school or stores.

Sing months of the year songs to mark a new month or the end of the season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qv58l5o6ew

5. Use crafting materials

Different crafts are used for making clocks and practicing time management skills. Show them how to create their interpretation of clocks with pipe cleaners and cardboard or glue buttons on a cardstock circle.

There are tons of cool crafts on the web that are just for fun. If the time is a brand new concept, let them play with their clock any way they want. Let kids manipulate, take apart, and experience their craft.

Make multiple if you’re going to use one for the wall and one for your child.

Do specific projects and crafts just for setting timers, so they feel what that time meant for them during that craft. If you are rushing and only have 20 minutes, show your child what that means by marking it with a timer.

If you have the time, let your child recommend an allotted amount of time for an activity, so they understand what that time feels like.

If you don’t have 100 hours or 1,200 minutes, as requested, help them choose something more reasonable. Please remember, they are learning, not trying to trick you. Check out the video below for a pretty cool activity on clocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVe3V3gcSDk&t=55s

6. Highlight mindfulness routines and prioritize health

Show kids to stay calm in times of distress or frustration because staying aware helps them when confused and scared. Kids who don’t understand the time will not magically learn the skill. When they are over the time limits —because they will be— teach them to be present with their body and strong feelings.

It sounds counterintuitive because time is abstract, but being mindful will help them understand that time is a concept and not the center of their attention.

Prioritize their health, so they learn that it is essential to stay healthy, mindful, and strong. Give them water, let them take their time going to the restroom, and give them the time to eat.

Teach them that being with their body is also of importance. Don’t rush children when they take care of themselves. Mindfulness routines teach kids that time keeps going all the time. They learn to approach the subject objectively and not panicky.

How can you help kids keep track of their time?

7. Interactive tools and games

Involving children in the learning will allow them to experience the time at their pace and create personal meaning to their interests.

Use different games that involve time like sequencing, visuals, sand timers, and games that suggest time. I spy memory games use timers for 30 seconds, sequence the story games help explain story themes and the concept of time, and interactive calendars like the one below teach them the numbers in a month.

Use whiteboards for lists of past, current, and future activities and tasks during your busy schedules to indicate success and failure. Whiteboards are a handy tool for learning schedules and valuing others’ time. Allow them to express disappointment by writing a list of things your family could not accomplish next to a list of finished activities.

Involve the whole family for a richer bonding experience. Talk about reasons certain activities were more straightforward than others.

Did someone miss a meal and get hungry? Perhaps a sibling had strong emotions that stopped an activity from happening.

It is not a bad thing when activities fail. Remember that it is an opportunity to value strong feelings and learn how specific actions halted productivity. Teach kids that prioritizing health doesn’t stop time, but adjusting schedules might.

Try new things to see if it builds on what they have imagined in their heads. Some kids like storytime games that teach telling time through the eyes of a character. The Five in a Row program is excellent for kids who enjoy reading and learning through characters and plots. Games like the one below are suitable for older kids who like more elaborate learning experiences. Check out storytime games if this is more your jam. Suppose you kids want to learn chess, even better!

All kids are different, so try something that will likely spark an interest in your child or build on prior knowledge. There are many ways to learn new skills, and it might not be apparent until your child is interested. Children want to know the time from a tiny Lego clock or because they see Big Ben in a picturebook. Encourage your kids to learn through the senses and build on personal skills for successful strategies.

Make paper chains during the holidays to count down the days until special events to teach children the amount of time in a month or a week. Celebrate “half birthdays” to indicate how six months feel to help them with self-esteem and predicting birthday months.

What are the best timers on Amazon for kids?

Many interactive tools have visual apps, games, and interactive methods for assessing lengths of time. Some are programmed on the phone or in the activity already, while some require a physical one like the one below. Some have magnets, ticking sounds, and others have sand.

The best timers are large, easy to manage, and easy to read with an appropriate volume. Depending on your child, they may need additional features because they are stimulating in different ways. If you have a child who understands reading, they might appreciate ones that count down the numbers. Children who prefer visuals might like ones that highlight specific shapes of the clock as it counts down.

The best sand timers for kids?

Sand timers are helpful in short games and for small bursts of energy during physical games and tasks. Sand timers are handy because they have extra minutes and are small and colorful. They are available in 30 seconds up to 10 minutes and are relatively inexpensive. They are available in packs for many children and should be used as toys and tools for learning.

8. Creating routines

When you consider time management think about what your family is capable of turning into a small routine. Depending on your child, you may want to start small and relevant –breakfast, park, groceries.

Patterns are helpful for adults and children because they learn the amount of time it takes for an errand or chore to get done.

Try not to overfill your schedule. Start with a small routine — two to three things– to see how long it will take in real life. Change it as your days evolve and accommodate your family’s needs.

Predict the time it will take for your family to complete a task or chore. Routines are not only beneficial because they teach people to stay organized, but they also help tiny humans learn how to predict the future by understanding the length of time it takes to complete an idea.

9. Cooking

The kitchen is full of opportunities for learning the time and setting boundaries—set timers for sauteeing onions, making cookies, and grinding coffee. When your kids learn to cook for themselves, they will likely understand better when they use the handy timers in the kitchen.

Show them tools that are appropriate for them –grinders, toasters, whisks– and show them how they can manage the time.

Toasters have an automatic response that tells it when to pop up, but coffee grinders may need a manual 30-second timer before they know when to stop. Whisking eggs –a super fun task for kids– might need a 2-3 minute kitchen timer.

Use what you have in your kitchen to manage the job and experience.

Here are some suggested activities in list form:

How old do kids have to be to manage their time?

Kids start learning time management skills as young as toddler age because they introduce themselves to methods and routines that help them get what they want. Will they be able to manage their time on their own at 3 or 4? Probably not.

Older kids and preteens learn to manage their opportunities by prioritizing tasks and activities depending on their interests. They are likely to succeed at problem-solving if they genuinely want to experience something.

Kids may be more confused when you -the parent- enforce a time limit when they don’t understand the chore or task because it applies to the adult. This happens and can get a little frustrating for the parent.

Children learn to efficiently manage personal time when allowed to spend their time on a task without interruption and remember that time is just a concept.

The more opportunities they have to practice skills, the more likely they will do them quickly when the parent’s timer is running low.

What is the best way to manage your kid’s time?

Learn to provide opportunities for children to experience their activities and chores at their own pace.

There are times when time is valuable, and those times aren’t negotiable. When more time is an option, give children space to explore their interests without pressure or fear of a timer running out.

Introduce them to the ideas and concepts mentioned earlier in the article and explain that it is a skill that you want to help them understand better.

Keep materials and games handy and songs in the vault, so when you need to pull them out in a time of need, you are fast and efficient yourself when trying to highlight a specific chore or errand that needs quick delivery.

Remember to hold yourself accountable when a task isn’t done your way and try not to blame a child. Children are stressed with responsibilities as they learn and grow. Your time frame could be confusing for them, and if you fail to explain it to them, it doesn’t need to be anyone’s fault.

Remember that time is a concept for you and your children to learn about together. The goal is to be more efficient as a family and provide opportunities for everyone.

Failure is a learning experience for everyone and another chance to value communication and bonding time.

What is the best time limit for a transition?

The best transition time in a school or center probably depends on the teacher and the child.

A teacher may need to focus on a group activity, so it may be beneficial for you and your child to leave the room and go to a hallway to continue talking because the teacher may be operating in 60-second increments.

If you have a few minutes of your time to communicate with your child during a pick-up, say goodbye to the teacher and go into another area, so you don’t interrupt the teacher’s classroom transitions.

If you are dropping them off in the classroom, you may need to explain that the teacher is moving from one activity to another quickly to help the child decide whether they are interested in attending.

Chances are there is a soft corner for the child if they are hesitant to join. Direct them to the comfortable area and explain that the teacher is doing “x activity” and can join in at their leisure.

How to help kids with daily transitions and activities

Learn about school schedules and identify transitions to learn how to manage time in the classroom.

If your child is involved with an activity at a center or school, they may need gentle reminders of departure and reassurance that you can continue with the activity or discussion at home.

If they are in the middle of a project or explaining something that happened, be in the moment for just a bit before interrupting them so they can finish their thought.

Thank them for their enthusiasm and effort, and be aware that they are excited. Repeat yourself when you need to and say kind phrases that emphasize their interests before saying it is time to go.

You look really excited about that game. Can we talk about it in the car, please?

It sounds like you are thinking so hard about what you did today, I’d love to chat more at dinner.

I see your wooden structure. I’d love to look at it more during our family time tonight.