3rd grade drawing clock hands worksheets

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Drawing clock hands worksheets for 3rd grade ask for any minute: 9:55, 5:48, 8:23. Six empty clocks, six printed times, and your child places the long hand between numerals by counting ticks and nudges the short hand toward the next hour. The hand lengths still matter, and both hands have to be right.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 3.MD.A.1.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Draw a short hour hand and a long minute hand for each time.

  1. At 3:00, where do the hands point?

    Answer: The short hand points to 3; the long hand points to 12.

Most problems on this sheet sit beside a picture, model or diagram, so this is the worked example the sheet itself prints. The answer key on page two prints the answer under every problem.

Every print pulls a fresh set of problems at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.

What's on each sheet

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key after the problems.

This sheet is one of the versions on the 3rd grade telling time page, with its own difficulty choices and its own answer key.

How to teach this

To the minute, the long hand lands between numerals. For 5:48, count fives to the 9 for 45, then three small ticks toward the 10. Have your child say the count out loud before drawing. The short hand needs care too: at 5:48 it is nearly at the 6. Kids who leave it on the 5 will still read their own clock as 5:48, so the check has to be deliberate. Ask, how close to the next hour are we? A time like 9:55 is the classic trap, with the hour hand almost touching the 10. For a check, swap roles: you draw one time, they draw one, and each reads the other's clock. If the read-back matches, the drawing is right. 3.MD.A.1 asks for time to the nearest minute, and this is the strictest test of it.

Watch for: Kids draw both hands the same length, so their own clock cannot be read. The rule box says short hand for the hour and long hand for the minutes. Check the lengths before checking where the hands point. Kids read the minute number as a numeral and put the long hand on the 4 for 6:40. Every numeral is five minutes, so 40 minutes means the 8. Skip counting by fives around the face before drawing fixes it.

Common questions about 3rd grade drawing clock hands

How exact does the drawing need to be?
The minute hand should sit at the right tick, so 5:48 puts it three ticks past the 9. The hour hand should lean toward the next hour in proportion. A hand that is one tick off is worth a conversation, not a redo of the whole sheet.
What times appear on the 3rd grade sheet?
Any minute. A print might ask for 9:55, 5:48, and 8:23. There are six clocks per page, with easier and more difficult versions if the default is too much or too little for the day.
Is this the same as the reading-the-clock sheet on the parent page?
Same times, opposite direction. The reading sheet shows a clock and asks for the time. This one shows the time and asks for the clock. Many kids can read to the minute and still place the hour hand wrong when drawing, so the two sheets catch different mistakes.

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Aligned to Common Core 3.MD.A.1. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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