Clockwork Cat
Tinkering with Time!
Meet Clockwork Cat, the time-keeping tabby in a steampunk world of gears and cogs. His workshop is out of sync, and he needs a Year 2 or Year 3 expert to fix the clocks!
This game focuses purely on reading the analogue clock face. It is a dedicated tool for mastering "O'clock", "Half Past", "Quarter To", and the tricky 5-minute intervals.
🕰️ How to Play
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Read the Blueprint Look at the digital target time (e.g., 10:15).
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Wind the Gears Use the +5m and -5m buttons to rotate the minute hand around the face.
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Lock it In When the hands match the target, press CHECK. If correct, the gears spin and you earn a cog!
📚 Curriculum Focus (Time)
Clockwork Cat is precision-engineered for the National Curriculum:
- Analogue to Digital Read the time on the clock to the nearest 5 minutes.
- Hand Movements Understand that as the minute hand moves, the hour hand moves slowly too.
- Terms Use vocabulary such as o'clock, a.m./p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight.
🧠 Why is Analogue Hard?
We live in a digital world (phones, tablets), so circular clocks are becoming a "lost language".
This game provides immediate feedback. Moving the hand in 5-minute jumps visually reinforces the 5 times table (5, 10, 15... around the face), linking multiplication to time-telling.
👨👩👧 Tips from the Workshop
The Paper Plate Clock:
- Make a real clock using a paper plate and a split pin.
- Write the minutes (5, 10, 15) around the outside edge to help them "read" the minute hand hidden numbers.
- Ask: "Where is the hand for Quarter Past?" (The 3).
Patent Pending: Year 2 Educational Technology.
