ESL Game : Telling Time Bingo (To the nearest 5 minutes)

Do your students need extra practice telling time to the hour, half hour, quarter hour, and in 5-minute intervals? This printable Telling Time Bingo Game is a fun, low-prep way to help learners read analog clocks and use common time expressions such as quarter to, quarter past, half past, o’clock, and all other times in 5-minute increments.

Designed for elementary learners, ESL/EFL students, and intervention groups, this game combines math skills with listening, speaking, and visual recognition practice. It’s perfect for whole-class review, small groups, enrichment, or as a hands-on math center during your time-telling unit.

What’s Included

• 25 different Bingo boards featuring mixed clock times: quarter past, quarter to, half past, o’clock, and times in 5-minute increments
• Teacher calling cards with analog clock times to use for calling and checking
• Full-color PDF ready to print on standard US letter-sized paper (8.5" x 11")

Print the boards and calling cards once, laminate, and you’ll have a durable time-telling resource you can use year after year.

How to Play Telling Time Bingo

1. Give each student (or pair) one Bingo board and a set of markers or counters.
2. The teacher (or a student helper) draws a calling card and shows/reads the time (e.g., “It’s quarter past three,” “It’s ten to seven”).
3. Students look for the matching analog clock on their boards and cover it if they have it.
4. The first student to complete a row, column, diagonal, or full board calls out “Bingo!”
5. Check the winner’s board using the calling cards and continue playing with new winners or a fresh card.

For extra speaking practice, invite students to say the time out loud when they cover a square or ask them to convert from “digital style” times (e.g., 3:15) to spoken forms (e.g., “quarter past three”).

Why Teachers Love This Resource

• Highly engaging: Bingo keeps even reluctant learners focused and motivated.
• Flexible use: Works in math, ESL/EFL, or general classroom settings.
• Targets multiple skills: Time-telling, listening comprehension, and speaking practice.
• Great for mixed-ability groups: You can support beginners while challenging more advanced students to say full sentences.
• No-prep after printing: Just print, laminate, cut the calling cards, and you’re ready to play.

Prep & Assembly

This resource is a full-color PDF digital download. No physical product will be shipped.

Assembly tips:

• Print Bingo boards and calling cards on cardstock for extra durability.
• Laminating is recommended so the set can be reused for years and easily wiped clean.
• Store calling cards on a ring or in a small labeled container to keep your math center organized.
• Use mini-erasers, buttons, paper clips, or other small classroom items as Bingo markers.

Classroom Ideas & Differentiation

• Whole-class review: Play together at the end of your time unit to consolidate learning.
• Math centers: Assign a student caller to manage the game while you work with a small group.
• ESL/EFL focus: Have students repeat the time in full sentences (e.g., “It’s half past nine.”).
• Challenge option: Call out only the spoken time or only the digital time and ask students to match it to the analog clock.
• Support option: Pre-teach key phrases (o’clock, half past, quarter to, quarter past) using a mini anchor chart before playing.

Perfect for Teachers Searching For:

• Telling time Bingo games for elementary students
• ESL time-telling activities with analog clocks
• Quarter past, quarter to, half past practice
• Printable telling time to the nearest 5 minutes
• Math centers for telling time in English
• No-prep time-telling games for ESL/EFL
• Time vocabulary practice: o’clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to
• Fun review games for teaching how to read clocks

Pair It With

For even more practice reading clocks, pair this Bingo set with the Telling Time Card Game | To the 5 Minutes – What Time Is It? . Use the card game to introduce or review times in small groups, then reinforce those skills with whole-class Telling Time Bingo.

Also Available on Teachers Pay Teachers

Prefer shopping on TpT? You can also find this resource here: ESL Game: Telling Time Bingo – To the Nearest 5 Minutes