Tracing Time!
Build a simple sundial and trace hourly shadow positions on paper using a stick, plate, and markers to explore how the sun tells time.
Step-by-step guide to build a simple sundial and trace hourly shadow positions
Concept of Time | What is AM & PM | Teaching Time for Kids | Introduction to Time for Kindergarten
Step 1
Find a sunny flat spot outside and set the plate down there.
Step 2
Put a small piece of tape or a lump of modeling clay in the center of the plate.
Step 3
Push the stick into the tape or clay so the stick stands straight up in the plate center.
Step 4
Lay the sheet of paper flat under the plate so the plate sits in the middle of the paper.
Step 5
Look at the tip of the stick's shadow and use a colouring marker to make a small dot on the paper where the shadow tip touches.
Step 6
Check the clock or watch and write the current time next to that dot.
Step 7
Repeat Steps 5 and 6 every hour for at least four hours to trace how the shadow moves.
Step 8
After you finish marking times draw a straight line from the plate center to each dot to make hour lines.
Step 9
Color or decorate each hour line so you can clearly see the path the shadow took.
Step 10
Share your finished sundial and what you learned on DIY.org.
Help!?
What can I use instead of a paper plate, wooden stick, or modeling clay if I don't have those exact materials?
Use a shallow plastic lid or a circle cut from cardboard as the plate, a pencil, skewer, or straight marker for the stick, and a small wad of aluminum foil, rolled putty, or tape ball in place of the modeling clay when following Steps 1–3.
My stick keeps tipping over or the shadow tip is hard to find—how can I fix that?
Make sure the plate is on a very flat sunny spot (Step 1), press the stick firmly into the tape or modeling clay so it stands straight up (Step 3), and do the marking when skies are clear so the shadow tip in Step 5 is sharp and easy to dot.
How can I change this activity to suit younger or older kids?
For younger children have an adult help write the time and limit repeats to two or three hourly dots (Steps 5–6), while older kids can repeat Steps 5–8 across more hours, measure angles between hour lines, and label the sundial with clock hours.
What are some ways to make the sundial more accurate or more fun after I finish the hour lines?
After drawing straight hour lines from the plate center (Step 8) and coloring them (Step 9), glue the plate to a board, use a compass to orient the gnomon toward true north, add numbered hour labels and decorations, and photograph it to share on DIY.org as suggested in the final step.
Watch videos on how to build a simple sundial and trace hourly shadow positions
Learn to Tell Time on a Clock | Analog Clock Practice for Kids | Rock 'N Learn
3 Videos
Learn to Tell Time on a Clock | Analog Clock Practice for Kids | Rock 'N Learn
Telling Time - A.M. and P.M. | Math for Kids
Clock And Reading Time | Mathematics Grade 1 | Periwinkle
Facts about sundials and solar observation
☀️ Sundials show solar time — because Earth's orbit and tilt aren’t perfect, sundial time can differ from clock time by up to about 16 minutes.
🕰️ Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians used early shadow clocks and sundials over 3,500 years ago to track daytime hours.
🪵 The stick that casts the shadow is called a gnomon — for best accuracy its angle should point toward your local North (or the celestial pole) and match your latitude.
📐 Hour lines on a sundial depend on latitude, so a sundial made for one place won’t read correctly if you move it far north or south.
🧭 Shadows on sundials move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere but appear to move counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
How do you build and use a simple sundial to trace hourly shadows?
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