Teaching Time to Preschoolers

Use these 5 easy techniques for teaching time to preschoolers! Great for parents, homeschooling and classrooms.

UPDATED: 11/24/2025

If you’ve ever tried to help a young child understand how many days it is until a certain event or activity, you’ve probably been met with confusion and frustration that it’s not happening right now. This is because small children live in the present and have a hard time thinking abstractly. Time is a very abstract and intangible concept (sometimes even for adults), which is why it is difficult to grasp until they get closer to age 6 or 7. At this point, their brains starts to develop in a way that they are able to begin to understand things such as time.

Like many young kids, mine ask a lot of questions. Some are pretty easy to answer: “Can I have a cookie?” And others…not so much: “Where do babies come from?” While these seemingly non stop questions can be frustrating, especially when the same one has been asked 10 times in the last half hour, it’s helpful to realize that they are asking because they are trying to understand their world better. As parents, it’s our job to help them.

But how can we help them understand something they can’t see?

I’ve come up with a few techniques that have been helpful in teaching time to preschoolers that I think you will like too.

5 Ideas for Teaching Time to Preschoolers

Make a Countdown Chain

When my oldest was close to starting preschool, she was so excited. She asked me regularly if it was “preschool day”. We made a “countdown to preschool” paper chain so she could have a visual representation of the amount of time, or days, left until she started. I let her choose the colors for the chain, cut out and decorate the top of the chain, and then she helped me tape it together. We put it on a wall in the kitchen where it was easily seen each day.

I explained that she could tear off one of the chains each day and when she tore off the last one, it would be the first day of preschool. We also included other activities that were happening in the days leading up to preschool so she had other events to look forward too.

Teach Them a Song

When my kids were really little, we watched a lot of Sesame Street. (That brushing teeth song has come in handy more times than I can count!) When my oldest was about 2.5, we taught her a song for the days of the week. It’s nothing special, but after singing it over and over with her, she started to understand that each day has a name and goes in a certain order.

Use a Calendar

Like many families, we have a calendar in our kitchen. It’s used for meal planning and keeping track of various extracurricular activities, appointments and more. And just like any calendar, it has the days of the week on it. There are times when it’s been helpful to show my little kids the current day of the week and what day a certain event is happening. (If it’s coming up soon.)

For example, when we were going camping one summer, I was able to to show what day we were leaving. Then we’d count how many days until camping. We repeated this the next day, and the next, until it was the day we were leaving.

An alternative method we’ve used is to cross off each day as it happens, which is a variation on the countdown chain.

Help Them Learn Numbers

Besides the alphabet, numbers are often one of the first things a child learns in preschool. Use this to your advantage by referencing an analog clock. For example, if your child asks, “Can I have a snack?”, you can reply with “No, but when the short arm reaches the 10, then you know it’s snack time.” The next time they ask, you can again point to the clock and ask them if the short arm is at 10. We’ve also used this for lunch time and other events. This helps teach that time moves forward and that certain things happen at certain times. Having a clock to look at makes it more tangible.

Have a Routine

One of the very best things you can do for your child is to have a regular, predictable routine or schedule. While this doesn’t deal directly with numbers or calendars, it does help kids know what to expect. A child that can count on something happening is going to transition easier, better and faster than a child that doesn’t know what to expect each day.

For example, when I have had my preschool aged kids at home with me during the day, I’ve found it helpful to give a basic outline of what’s happening that day. (I usually break it down into morning, afternoon and evening.) If my child knows we are going to the grocery store after breakfast, then it’s less surprising when I let them know it’s time to get shoes on.

Schedules and routines work wonders with kids and their ability to adjust more quickly and easily to the changes around them. If you don’t have a regular routine in place for your kids, try doing it a little at a time by implementing a morning or bedtime routine. It may take a little time, but probably less than you expect if you stick with it.

A Final Note

I hope that some of these suggestions will be helpful to you in teaching time to preschoolers. Every kid is different and so some of these may work better than others depending on your child’s age and how they process information.

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