Learn to tell the time: a free clock game for kids
Tick Tock Quest is a free, ad-free telling-the-time game for children, usually from about five to ten years old. It starts with o'clock and half past on an analogue clock and builds step by step to reading any time to the minute, working out how much time has passed, and switching between am/pm and the 24-hour clock. Each mission is ten questions, and every right answer earns a star.
The missions
- O'clock and half past: the easy ones, for a warm-up.
- Quarter past and quarter to: the minute hand at the 3 and the 9.
- Five-minute clock: times like 4:35 or 7:50, counting in fives.
- Every single minute: times like 2:07 or 9:52.
- Time in words: match "twenty past six" to the right clock or digital time.
- Set the clock: drag the hour and minute hands to show a given time.
- Which clock?: three clocks, only one showing the right time.
- Time travel: what time will it be in 20 minutes? What time was it an hour ago?
- am, pm and 24-hour time: is it morning or evening, and what is 15:30 on a normal clock?
- Clock detective: hands, ticks and how many minutes are in an hour.
- Big Challenge: 20 mixed questions from every mission.
How to read an analogue clock
The short hand is the hour hand. It points to the hour, and when it sits between two numbers the hour is the smaller one it has already passed. The long hand is the minute hand. Count in fives from the 12: each number is five minutes, so pointing at the 3 means 15 minutes, at the 6 means 30 and at the 9 means 45.
When the minute hand is on the right-hand side of the clock, the time is past the hour. On the left-hand side it is to the next hour. A quarter is 15 minutes: quarter past is :15, half past is :30 and quarter to is :45.
For 24-hour time, keep counting after 12 noon: 1 pm is 13:00, 3 pm is 15:00 and 8 pm is 20:00. Midnight is 00:00.
Why setting a clock is practised separately
Reading a time and setting one are different skills. Many children can read a clock but get stuck when they have to put the hands in the right place themselves, or the other way round. The drag-the-hands missions practise that second skill directly.
For parents and teachers
There are no accounts, no adverts and no tracking. Stars and progress are saved only in this browser on this device. It is free to use at home, in class or on an interactive whiteboard. If you also want mental maths practice for times tables, number bonds, adding, taking away and rounding, try the Sums Copybook. The approach page explains the teaching behind both games.