Telling time play dough mats with leveled task cards, so your students can review time to the hour, the half hour, fifteen minutes and five minutes with their hands! Telling time can be a difficult task for young learners, but review becomes very enjoyable with play dough.

Children read the digital time on a task card, then roll play dough or use a dry-erase marker to make the hands on the analog clock (a clock face with hands) so it shows the same time. The task cards are separated into 10 levels for ease of printing individual concepts, so you can pull exactly the skill each child needs.

With these telling time play dough mats, you get

• A full-size play dough mat plus small play dough mats
• Time task cards separated into 10 levels
• Direction cards for each set
• Differentiated levels of recording sheets
• A hands-on way to practice that works with play dough or dry-erase markers

Grab the play dough and start building clocks!

What's Included

• Page 4: Full-size play dough mat
• Page 5: Small play dough mats, cover cards and 2 cards for Set 1
• Page 6: Time on the hour (there are also 2 cards on page 5 for this set)
• Pages 7-10: Time on the half hour (Sets 2 and 3)
• Pages 11-14: Time on the :15 (Sets 4 and 5)
• Pages 15-24: Time on the :45 (Sets 6-10)
• Page 25: Direction cards for each set
• Pages 26-28: Differentiated levels of recording sheets

Why Teachers Love It

• Hands-on time practice: Building the clock hands helps children think about where each hand belongs.
• 10 levels to choose from: Print only the sets your students need.
• Play dough or markers: Use whichever works best for your classroom and your students.
• Easy to keep organized: O-rings hold each set of task cards together.
• Built-in accountability: Recording sheets in differentiated levels show what each child practiced.
• Durable and reusable: Laminated mats and cards last for repeated practice.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Showing time on an analog clock: Children place the hour hand and the minute hand to match a given time.
• Reading digital time: Each task card shows a digital time for children to read.
• Time to the hour and half hour: The first sets focus on :00 and :30 times.
• Time to the quarter hour: Later sets add :15 and :45 times.
• Hour hand and minute hand: Children practice telling the short hour hand from the long minute hand.
• Fine motor skills: Rolling and shaping play dough builds hand strength.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Following directions
• Maintaining attention
• Using mathematical language
• Working independently
• Building confidence

How to Use It

Step 1: Print the play dough mats and the task card sets your students need on card stock. Laminate the cards for durability, and laminate the play dough mats or store them in a protective sleeve. Hold each set of task cards together with an O-ring.

Step 2: Model one card together. Read the digital time, then use play dough or a dry-erase marker to make the hands on the clock mat so it shows that time.

Step 3: Set the mats and task cards out in a math center or small group with the direction card for that set. Children can record their work on the recording sheet that fits their level.

Materials You'll Need

• Play dough or dry-erase markers
• O-rings to hold the task cards together
• Card stock and a laminator or protective sleeves

Easy Differentiation

Children learn to tell time at very different rates. With 10 levels of task cards and differentiated recording sheets, it is easy to give each child the right amount of challenge.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Start with Set 1, time on the hour
• Have children make the hour hand first, then the minute hand
• Use a real or toy clock to show the same time
• Work with a few task cards at a time

For On-Level Practice

• Move through the half hour sets
• Have partners check each other's clocks
• Use the recording sheet that matches each child's level

For an Extra Challenge

• Use the :15 and :45 sets
• Mix task cards from several sets
• Ask children to say each time two ways, such as 4:15 and quarter past 4
• Use the most advanced recording sheet

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Practice time words such as hour hand, minute hand, o'clock and half past
• Use a sentence frame such as "It is ___."
• Offer dry-erase markers to children who find shaping play dough hard, or play dough to children who need extra hand strengthening
• Use the full-size play dough mat for more room to work

Perfect For

• 1st and 2nd grade math centers
• Small groups
• Intervention
• Fine motor practice
• Early finishers
• Special education classrooms
• Therapy sessions
• Homeschool

Standards

These telling time play dough mats support 1st and 2nd grade standards in Common Core, the TEKS (Math, adopted 2012) and the Virginia Math SOL (2023):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS 1.MD.B.3: Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
• CCSS 2.MD.C.7: Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, as in the :15 and :45 sets.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS Math 1.7.E: Tell time to the hour and half hour using analog and digital clocks.
• TEKS Math 2.9.G: Read and write time to the nearest one-minute increment using analog and digital clocks.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL Math 1.MG.3: Tell time to the hour and half-hour and match the time on an analog clock to a digital time.
• VA SOL Math 2.MG.2: Show an understanding of time to the nearest five minutes using analog and digital clocks.

Add the Time Play Dough Mat to your cart and give your students a hands-on, leveled way to practice telling time. Print the sets each child needs, pass out the play dough and watch confidence with the clock grow one time at a time!

Download Details

Please note: This is a digital download that will be available to you directly after purchase. Nothing will be mailed to you.

You will receive a link to the download in three places

1. On the 'thank you' page after checkout
2. In your email
3. Login on the site here: https://lifeovercsstore.com/account