Year 3 Maths · Measurement & time

Telling time at the stables

Read and set analogue clocks to the minute so you can keep the horses fed, ridden and mucked out on schedule.

Section 1 · Reading time

Reading the stable clock

By the end of this section I can read an analogue clock to the nearest minute — so I know exactly when each horse gets its feed.

Success criteria

Tick each one when you can do it without help.

1A The clock face: hours and minutes

Every analogue clock has two hands. The short hand shows the hour and the long hand shows the minutes.

How the face works

12 numbers60 minutes per hour5 minutes per number

The numbers 1 to 12 mark the hours. The long hand sweeps all the way around once every 60 minutes. Each number on the face stands for 5 minutes, because 60 ÷ 12 = 5.

Reading a morning feed time

Short hand is just past 7 so the hour is 7
Long hand points to the 5 5 × 5 = 25 minutes
Time = 7:25 twenty-five past seven — time for the horses' breakfast

Check yourself

Each number on the clock face stands for how many minutes?

There are 60 minutes in one hour and 12 numbers — divide.
60 ÷ 12 = 5 minutes per number.

The long hand points to the 8. How many minutes past the hour is that?

Multiply the number the long hand points to by 5.
8 × 5 = 40 minutes past.

1B Reading time to the minute

When the long hand lands between two numbers, count the small tick marks — each one is 1 minute. Use the tool below to practise reading the clock.

Interactive · read the stable clock

Read the time shown on the clock, then type it in digital form (for example 7:25).

Check yourself

The short hand is just past 4 and the long hand points to the 7. What time is it?

Hour comes from the short hand; minutes = the number the long hand points to × 5.
Hour = 4. Minutes = 7 × 5 = 35. Time = 4:35.

The short hand is nearly on 10 and the long hand points to the 11. What time is it?

The hour only ticks over when the minutes reach 60 — have they reached it yet?
Minutes = 11 × 5 = 55. The minutes have not reached 60, so the hour is still 9. Time = 9:55.

Section 2 · Setting time

Setting the daily schedule

By the end of this section I can set the hands of a clock to a given time and match stable activities to the daily timetable.

Success criteria

Tick each one when you can do it without help.

2A Setting the hands

To show a time, point the short hand at the hour (a little past the number when there are minutes) and the long hand at the minutes.

Setting a riding lesson start

Target: 2:30 half past two
Short hand → just past 2 the hour is 2
Long hand → the 6 6 × 5 = 30 minutes

Interactive · set the hands to match the target

Target time:

Use the steppers to move the hands, then check.

6
00

Check yourself

To set 7:20, the short hand should be just past which number?

The short hand shows the hour.
The hour is 7, so the short hand points just past the 7.

To set 11:50, the long hand should point to which number?

Divide the minutes by 5 to find which number the long hand points to.
50 ÷ 5 = 10, so the long hand points to the 10.

2B The stable's daily schedule

Stable hands use "past" and "to" language as well as digital time. "Quarter past" means 15 minutes past; "quarter to" means 15 minutes to the next hour.

Key time words

quarter past = :15half past = :30quarter to = :45twenty to = :40

Check yourself

Morning feed is at quarter past six. Write this in digital time.

"Quarter past" means 15 minutes past the hour.
Quarter past = 15 minutes. So the time is 6:15.

Riding finishes at twenty to four in the afternoon. Write this in digital time.

"Twenty to four" means 20 minutes before four — take 20 from 60.
60 − 20 = 40 minutes past 3. Time = 3:40.

Mucking out starts at 8:50 and takes 35 minutes. What time does it finish?

Add 35 minutes to 8:50 — remember 60 minutes makes the next hour.
From 8:50, 10 minutes reaches 9:00. That leaves 35 − 10 = 25 more minutes. Finish = 9:25.

This lesson took 60 seconds to make. Make one about YOUR kid's obsession, free.

Same Year 3 Maths outcomes, rebuilt around whatever your child is into this week - dinosaurs, Minecraft, horses, you name it.

Make your own lesson

This is a fixed example. Sprout writes a fresh, personalised lesson around your child every time - the example is the ad, the product is the personalisation.