PAPER PLATE CLOCK ACTIVITY IDEAS
IDEA 1
Support children to write numbers around the outside of the
plate.
Encourage the children to talk about the sequence of events
which happen during their school day:
•Getting up
•Getting dressed
•Eating breakfast
•Going to the childminder/breakfast club
•Walking to school
These are just a few examples but key times in the child’s day which s/he already refers to can
be used to encourage memory recall and establish routines. Encourage the children to mark
make to represent their own predominant times of their school day.
Use the hands of the clock, which can be cut out by an adult or supervised if a child can manage
this. Using a fastener, attach the hands to the middle of the paper plate clock so the child can use
motor skills to move the hands to particular times of the day and discuss what s/he enjoys.
IDEA 2
Using the colourful paper plate with the photographs of key times during a school day depicted
in the centre, encourage children to make their own drawings of their school day. Discuss the
photographs with the children and when they can expect to do certain activities at a particular
time of the day.
Alternatively, cut photographs out to fit in the triangular clock shapes. Encourage and support
the children to place these into a sequence in the order of their own day, talking about why we
have routines and what they enjoy about their day. This could be made into a game, with the cut
pieces placed face down on the table and the child ‘picking’ a piece and making a ‘pie chart’, but
perhaps having to find the first one corresponding to the first event of the school day.
To reinforce the interests of the children in this activity and extend children’s learning:
The children’s mark making does not have to be on a circular clock but can be on a piece of
paper or even in a book style; children can draw their own pictures and these could be strung
together by punching holes and threading with string to show the sequence of events.
Parents and children can look through magazines from supermarkets to reinforce their
preferences for food; encourage the children to have open ended discussions about why they
like some foods and perhaps not others and maybe suggest some recipe ideas for home baking.
© Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years 2015
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© Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years 2015