How to use it

1. Pick a preset or type your minutes.
2. Press start.
3. Press the full screen button and project it on the board.
4. The voice takes over for the last 10 seconds.
5. Reset for the next activity, or switch to Stopwatch to time one.

Six presets, one per routine

Six presets for the transitions that eat into a preschool day.

• Clean up, 1 minute. Short on purpose. Children move faster for a dial they can see closing than for a teacher saying nearly done.
• Line up, 2 minutes. Long enough to get coats on, short enough that nobody wanders off.
• Circle time, 3 minutes. For the wriggly bit before the story, or one quick song.
• Story time, 5 minutes. One picture book, read at a proper pace.
• Snack or art, 10 minutes.
• Centers, 15 minutes. A full rotation. Set it once and the room runs itself.

For anything else, type in the minutes. 1 to 60.

The voice countdown

The timer stays silent until the last 10 seconds. Then a recorded voice counts down out loud from 10 to 1, followed by a chime and a quick well done.

Children who’ve stopped watching the dial hear it and look up. Those last 10 seconds do the rounding up for you. The speaker button in the corner mutes it if you have a sleeper.

Stopwatch mode

Tap Stopwatch and the same dial counts up from zero, sweeping once a minute. Time how long clean up really takes, or race the class against yesterday. It’s an honest record of how long five more minutes turns into, too.

Countdown timer or visual timer?

This page counts down in numbers, with a dial to back them up. If your children cannot read numbers yet, the free visual timer is the better fit. A colored disc shrinks as the minutes pass. Nothing to read.

Nothing stops you running both: the visual timer at the table and this one on the board.

On the whiteboard or projector

Press the full screen button and the dial fills the screen, with digits you can read from the back of the room.

The timer keeps time from the clock rather than from the tab. It stays accurate if you switch to another window and still chimes when you come back.

Quick timers, 1 to 30 minutes

Tap a time to set the dial above. Press Start when the class is ready. Nothing starts on its own. The voice needs a real button press before it’s allowed to speak.

1 minute classroom timer Set 1 min

The clean up timer. Sixty seconds is enough for a preschool room to put the blocks in the box, with the dial on the board and the voice counting the last ten. Give it longer and the tidying slows to match.

2 minute classroom timer Set 2 min

Two minutes for lining up and getting coats on. Or washing hands before snack. Counting the last ten seconds out loud gets the stragglers moving without a raised voice.

3 minute classroom timer Set 3 min

The wriggle before the story. Three minutes for one song or a stretch. A quick turn and talk fits here too. Then everyone knows the story starts.

5 minute classroom timer Set 5 min

Five minutes is the workhorse: a picture book, a brain break, a quiet reading spell, or a warning before a transition. Most teachers searching for a five minute timer want this one on the board all day.

10 minute classroom timer Set 10 min

Ten minutes for snack or art. A table activity fits too. There’s time to finish something. When the voice starts counting, children who are done start tidying. The rest have ten seconds to put the crayon down.

15 minute classroom timer Set 15 min

Fifteen minutes for one full center rotation. Set it at the start of centers and the room runs itself. The dial closing on the board shows children how long is left without anyone asking you.

20 minute classroom timer Set 20 min

Twenty minutes for children who don’t sleep at rest time, or for a longer project. It also gives outdoor play a hard stop. In kindergarten, twenty minutes is about as long as one sitting activity should run.

30 minute classroom timer Set 30 min

Thirty minutes for free play or a full outdoor session. In the older grades, use it for a test. The dial sweeps slowly, so remind the class at the halfway point.

Clean up timer

A one minute clean up timer works because children can see the end coming. Say clean up, and a three year old hears a request. Start the dial on the board with a voice at the end, and the same child hears a game.

Keep it short. One minute for a small mess, two for a big one. And start it before you ask. Repeat the same short routine every time and the dial becomes the signal on its own. If your room sings a clean up song, start the timer with the song and let the voice take over for the last ten seconds.

On a whiteboard, in Google Slides, or in PowerPoint

Press the full screen button to fill the board with the timer. You can read the digits from the back of the room.

For Google Slides or PowerPoint, the simplest way is to keep the timer in a browser window beside your slides and switch to it. Or drag the browser window onto the second screen. To open the timer from a Google Slides or PowerPoint slide, paste the link to this page as a button and open it when you reach that slide. There’s no add-on to install and nothing to sign in to.

Countdown timer or timer with music?

This timer counts down in silence and speaks the last ten seconds. That suits a preschool room, where music while working turns into singing while working.

If you want music, play your clean up song from your own device and run the dial on the board, with the voice counting the last ten seconds. For rest time, the visual timer on this site has a sand timer mode with no sound at all.

Rocket timer Show the rocket

Tap Rocket above the dial and the countdown becomes a launch. The rocket sits on its pad while the class works, then climbs as the minutes run out. At zero, it blasts off the top of the screen. The digits stay visible the whole time, so nobody has to guess.

Use Rocket for a countdown the class is waiting for: the last minute of clean up or the run up to going outside. Children watch a rocket in a way they won’t watch a number.

Candle timer Light the candle

The candle burns down as time passes. At zero, the flame goes out with a curl of smoke. Quiet and slow. It suits rest time or a silent reading spell. Candle also fits a calm down corner, where a launch would be the wrong mood. Pair Candle with the silent setting and there’s no sound at all, just a screen that flashes gently when the wax is gone.

Egg timer Show the egg timer

A kitchen timer face with one red hand that sweeps back to the top as the minutes pass. It’s the closest thing to the wind up egg timer many rooms already have on a shelf, without the ticking or the mystery of how many minutes are left. Good for snack or a turn at the sand table. And for anything where children ask how long.

Bomb timer Light the fuse

A cartoon bomb with a fuse. The spark creeps along as the minutes pass. When it reaches the bomb, the screen fills with a big gold BOOM and confetti falls. It’s the loudest looking theme, so it suits a race: beat the fuse to finish clean up, or get lined up before it goes off. If your room finds it too much, the rocket does the same job with less drama.

Silent timer Make it silent

Tap the speaker button to cycle through three settings: voice and chime, chime only, and silent. Silent means no voice, no chime and no cheer. When time runs out, the whole timer flashes gold four times instead. Keep it silent during rest time or a quiet reading block. It works for tests in the older grades, too, and the children still see the end coming. The device remembers the setting.

Repeat it for center rotations Set 15 min on repeat

With Repeat when it ends ticked, the timer chimes when the countdown finishes. It pauses for a breath, then starts the same countdown again on its own. The status line counts the rounds. Set 15 minutes and tick Repeat at the start of centers, and the room rotates four times without you touching the board. Untick it or press Reset to stop the loop.

Why teachers use it

• Big dial young children understand at a glance.
• Voice counts down the last 10 seconds.
• Six presets for the routines you run every day.
• Stopwatch for timing anything else.
• Full screen for the whiteboard.
• No ads, no login, nothing to install.

FAQ

Is this classroom timer free?

Yes, free with no signup.

Does it have a sound at the end?

Yes. A friendly voice counts down the last 10 seconds and a soft chime plays at zero.

Can I turn the voice off?

Yes. Tap the speaker button in the top left corner to mute the voice and the chime.

Can I set a custom time?

Yes. Use a preset or set any number of minutes from 1 to 60.

Does it work on a whiteboard or projector?

Yes. Press the full screen button and the dial fills the whole screen.

What are the presets?

Clean up (1 min), line up (2 min), circle time (3 min), story time (5 min), snack or art (10 min), and centers (15 min).

Is there a stopwatch?

Yes. Tap Stopwatch and the dial counts up from zero instead of down.

Does it keep going if I switch tabs?

Yes. It keeps time from the clock, so it stays accurate in the background and still chimes when you come back.

Is there a 5 minute classroom timer?

Yes. Tap 5 min under the timer and the dial is set to five minutes. The same buttons give you 1, 2, 3, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes, and you can type any number from 1 to 60.

Can I use it as a clean up timer?

Yes. The one minute preset is the clean up timer. Start it on the board before you ask, and the voice counts down the last ten seconds so the tidying finishes on time.

Does it work with Google Slides or PowerPoint?

Yes. Keep the timer in a browser window beside your slides, or on the second screen in full screen. To open it from a slide, paste the link to this page as a button. There is no add-on to install.

Is there a silent timer?

Yes. Tap the speaker button until it shows the crossed out speaker. No voice, no chime, no cheer. The timer flashes gold when time runs out. The setting is remembered on that device.

Is there a rocket timer or a candle timer?

Yes. Tap Rocket, Candle, Egg timer or Bomb above the dial. The rocket climbs and blasts off at zero, the candle burns down and goes out, the egg timer hand sweeps back to the top, and the bomb fuse burns down to a big BOOM. The digits stay on screen in every theme.

Can it repeat automatically?

Yes. Tick Repeat when it ends and the same countdown starts again a couple of seconds after the chime, with a round counter in the status line. Untick it or press Reset to stop.