My First Clock
My First Clock Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 clocks with movable plastic hands
- 54 cards (Kärtchen)
1. Stell die Uhr! (Set the Clock!)
Each player chooses one large clock.
One child from the group is the game leader (Spielleiter) and manages the small clock cards. The cards are shuffled well and placed face down in the lid of the box.
The leader draws one card after another from this supply and reads the time aloud.
All children now set this time on their own clock. The first child to finish calls "Halt!" ("Stop!") and receives the card from the leader.
By comparing their clock with the picture on the card, the child can check whether the time was set correctly.
- If the time is correct, the child keeps the card.
- If the answer is wrong, the card is returned to the leader's supply.
In addition, the player must give back one of the cards they have already won. If they have not yet won any card, they must give one up later.
Important: Before the game, the participants agree which clock cards they will play with, so that no younger child is disadvantaged.
- For children who are just learning to read the clock, only the cards showing full hours are used.
- Later, the half hours and quarter hours are added.
- When children who already know the clock quite well play, the cards showing minute times are also used.
2. Schlange legen! (Lay the Snake!)
All players pick out the cards showing full hours and half hours. These cards are shuffled well and dealt evenly among the players.
The youngest player begins. They place any card showing a full hour face up on the table.
In turn, each player tries to place a card showing the half hour that comes before or after it, on the right or left accordingly. If a player cannot do this, the next player takes their turn.
A row of cards grows longer as the game goes on. Cards can be added at both ends of the row, always in the correct order of the passing time.
The first player to place all of their cards is the winner. The game continues until all cards have been placed.
3. Die kürzeste Zeit (The Shortest Time)
Children who can read minute times can take part in this game. It is played with the picture side of the cards face up.
All cards are dealt evenly among the players. It is helpful if each player lays their cards out in time order in front of them.
Course of play: Who starts is decided by lot.
- The first player places any card face up on the table, where everyone can see it. The player who can place the card showing the next time that follows it wins the pair of cards and plays a new card.
- While the two cards are still lying on the table, another player may object by playing a card whose time is closer to the time of the card played first.
- Once the pair has been set aside, no one may play another card.
Important:
- The player who played the first card may not also play the second card, even if they hold a card with an even shorter time difference than the other players.
- The winner is the player who has the most cards at the end.
Variant (Abwandlung): The game can also be played so that, for a card played, you look for the card with the shortest time difference, whether the other time comes before or after it. If two players play a card with the same time difference to the first card, the pair goes to the player who played first.
Tips for Parents and Teachers
When playing the first game, "Stell die Uhr!", children who are clumsy with their hands may be disadvantaged even though they can read the times quickly and correctly. In such a case, do not let the children race against each other. Instead, give each child in turn a time to set on their clock.
Further activities, alone or together with parents or teachers:
- Sort the cards by quarter hours, half hours and full hours.
- Sort all the cards by exact time.
- Talk about daytime and nighttime.
Add-on Rules
Meine Uhr geht nach (bzw. vor)! (My Clock Is Slow (or Fast)!)
A card is placed on the table. All children set their clock 5 minutes (10 minutes, half an hour, etc.) later, or 5 minutes (10 minutes, half an hour, etc.) earlier.
Wie lange steht meine Uhr schon? (How Long Has My Clock Been Standing?)
The clocks are set to any time. Then a card is drawn from the supply. Each child compares the time on the card with the time on their large clock.
How long has the large clock been standing? How many minutes or hours lie between the time set on the large clock and the time shown on the drawn card?