How to Help your Preschooler Understand Time

With winter dragging on a bit, here's a fun activity to help your kids understand the length of TIME. Whenever one of us has to run an errand, my three year old asks how long we'll be gone. Whatever the answer is--one hour or twenty minutes--her response is, "That's too long!" Time is such a difficult thing for little ones to wrap their heads around. So this activity is a good one. It's an hourglass you can make at home. (Original idea from Family Fun.)
Materials: two plastic bottles sand clear tape button (with same diameter as bottles) timer
1: Remove any plastic cover from the bottles so you can see through them easily. Make sure they're clean and dry (forgot the "dry" part with one of mine...)
2: Pour the sand into one of the bottles. *The amount of sand you use, of course, determines how long your hourglass will last. 1/2 cup lasts about ten minutes.

3: Place the button in between the two bottles and secure with several layers of clear tape.

4: Flip it over and measure the time with your timer.


This might help with taking turns with a special toy, waiting for dinner time, or actually getting your kids to help you clean up the front room for ten minutes! Make it a game. (I might use it in the restroom with my oldest. Thirty minute time limit...)
p.s. Disclaimer: My sand wasn't fine enough...our hourglass turned out to be more like 2 hours! Make sure you buy the right kind. I believe Walmart has "fine" colored sand that would work. I found mine at Joann's and it would work, but only with larger button holes.