small text medium text large text

BLAST Early Learning


A Second is a HiccupA Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time
by Hazel Hutchins; illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton
Hutchins and McDonald Denton explain units of time in imaginative terms every child will recognize.



The Grouchy LadybugThe Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

A grouchy ladybug who is looking for a fight challenges everyone she meets regardless of their size or strength.



Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory dock!
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory dickory dock!



Time Game
Put pictures of daily activities on different sides of a large Velcro die. Let the students roll the die and tell what the activity is that shows on the top of the die. The other students can then tell what time of day that activity takes place: morning, during the day, or at night.



Vocabulary Word:

second: n. a brief moment

Example: “A second is a hiccup— The time it takes to kiss your mom
Or jump a rope, Or turn around.”

(taken from A Second Is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins)



Math: Telling Time

Materials: Margarine tub with lid, poster board, scissors, paper fastener, marker, and paper.

Procedure: Using the posterboard, cut out a circle slightly larger than the margarine tub lid.  Draw a clock face on the poster board and glue to the top of the lid.  Make clock hands out of cardboard.  Attach both hands to the clock face with the paper fastener.  Write different times (on the hour only) on small pieces of paper and place them inside the tub.  The children take turns picking a piece of paper from the margarine tub.  The teacher tells the child what time the paper says and the child moves the hands to illustrate that time.

Art: Paper Plate Clocks

Materials: Paper plates, crayons, paper fasteners, construction paper, scissors

Procedure: Help the children make clocks using paper plates for the clock face.  Younger children may only want to put 12, 3, 6, and 9 on their clock faces.  Cut minute and hour hands from construction paper and attach to the clock face with paper fasteners.

Science: Hour Glass
Materials: Three minute sand egg timer, puzzles

Procedure:  Challenge the children to complete puzzles, racing the three-minute timer.  Find other activities and tasks to “race” against the timer.  For example, setting the table for snack, picking up blocks, etc.



Time ToTime to... by Bruce McMillan

An hour-by-hour introduction to telling time follows the activities of a little boy's day from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night.


Lulu's busy dayLulu's Busy Day by Caroline Uff

Lulu enjoys many activities during the day, including drawing a picture, visiting the park, and reading a bedtime story.



Train Leaves the StationTrain Leaves the Station
by Eve Merriam; illustrated by Dale Gottlieb

A toy train and its occupants make a journey that introduces the numbers one to ten.



It's about timeIt's About Time!

by Stuart J. Murphy; illustrated by John Speirs

It's About Time… to wake up… to learn, to play, to read… to cuddle up in the blankets and to dream.  A twenty-four hour day is full of great things to do!  Endearing illustrations depicting things kids do every day make this an easy introduction to the skill of telling time, perfect for very young readers.