Time Traveler

About This Game

Time Traveler is an engaging math game that helps children master the essential life skill of telling time. Students journey through different historical eras - ancient Egypt, medieval castles, the Wild West, and the future - solving time-related challenges in each period. The game starts with reading analog clocks to the hour and half-hour, then progresses to quarter-hours, five-minute intervals, and finally to the minute. Students also learn to convert between analog and digital time, calculate elapsed time, and solve word problems involving schedules and durations. Each era features historically themed clock designs and time-related artifacts that make learning cultural as well as mathematical. With scaffolded difficulty, visual supports including movable clock hands, and a 'time machine' that animates elapsed time, Time Traveler makes this challenging concept accessible and fun.

Learning Objectives

• Tell and write time to the hour and half-hour
• Tell and write time to the nearest five minutes
• Tell and write time to the nearest minute
• Solve word problems involving intervals of time
• Convert between analog and digital time formats

How to Play

1. Select a historical era to explore
2. Look at the clock displayed on screen
3. Read the time and enter your answer
4. For analog clocks, identify hour and minute hands
5. Submit your answer to time-travel
6. Complete all four eras to master time-telling

Tips for Success

• The short hand is the hour, the long hand is the minute
• Each number on the clock represents 5 minutes
• When the hour hand is between two numbers, use the smaller one
• Practice counting by 5s to read minutes quickly

Skills Developed

Common Core Standards

• 1.MD.B.3 - Tell and write time in hours and half-hours
• 2.MD.C.7 - Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to nearest 5 minutes
• 3.MD.A.1 - Tell and write time to the nearest minute