Take a look at some fun suggested activities to encourage the use of this skill.
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Teach your child to organize part of the day with a time-table. Draw a clock face next to the activity at hand. Ask him to write down the time. He can refer to it to do his homework or to understand his activities, e.g. 7:00 dinner; 7:30 wash plates; 8:30 walk in the park; 9:00 home work; 9:30 bathe; 10:00 bedtime. Using a time-table for certain parts of his day helps him understand the usefulness of time.
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Use time to regulate the duration of activities, particularly for favorite activities. E.g. if your child enjoys watching a lot of TV programs, use a timer and set it for 30 minutes. Place the timer in front of the child. Buy a timer which rings or beeps after you set the time. Use the timer as a means to restrict the time for an obsessive activity.
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Use time to also manage not so favorite activities. E.g. if your child negotiates his bath-time, give him a forced choice using time; "Ok, you can bathe now or 30 minutes later."
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Use a structured teaching time to help your child practice the understanding of time by the half hour. This means that the table must be cleared of clutter, there are no environmental distractions and the teaching materials are limited to only those that are necessary.
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Buy clocks which have 15, 30, 45 minutes behind the hours to make the learning of minutes easier. Patiently explain that he has to look at the short hand for the hours and the long hand for the minutes. Let him practice with the clock in front of him on the table.
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Do not mix telling time with writing of time. Focus on his understanding of telling time first. Otherwise, he will find this activity too difficult to master.
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Create successful experiences for your child in learning time.
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Start teaching time by the hour first.
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Once he is 80-90% correct, only then do you start teaching time by the half hour.
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Remember to praise him for his efforts.
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Continue to play games with your child that requires him to hop on one leg.
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Have a hopping race with your child to see how far he can go!
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Encourage your child to play hopscotch or other hopping games with other children.
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Ask your child to pretend that he has one foot injured and he needs to hop on the spot on his ‘good foot’ for as long as he can. Try to get him to hop on the spot at least 10 times continuously on each foot.
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Let your child hold on to and push a sturdy swivel chair or stroller forward as he hops forward. He may also hold on to your hands for support. Gradually decrease his support as his ability improves.
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Draw or use tape to mark out evenly and appropriately-spaced horizontal lines so that your child has to hop forward into the spaces between the lines. You may also use small hula-hoops if available."
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Between 5 years 4 months and 6 years, I will begin to understand the passing of time by reading time in hour and half hour intervals.
I am learning to hop forward a short distance! Stand about 3 meters away from me. Encourage me to hop on one foot towards you. Observe if I am able to hop forward about 3 meters on one foot. You may need to demonstrate hopping forward on one foot for me to imitate. Allow me to choose which foot to hop on first. This is most likely my 'preferred foot'. Observe also whether I am able to hop forward a short distance on my other foot. The ability to hop forward on either foot for a distance of 3 meters is usually developed between 48 and 68 months (4 years and 5 year 8 months).