Fall Back or Spring Forward? Teaching Tots About Daylight Saving Time

This year, Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends on November 3. This means most digital devices will automatically set your clocks back one hour. If they don't, you'll wander around and set all your clocks back by hand.

Now, you might think, "How lovely! An extra hour of sleep!" What could possibly go wrong?

Well, for parents, that "extra hour" might not translate into extra sleep! Instead, it might mean more early-morning time with your kids. Because if children are used to waking up at a particular time, they'll keep doing that, no matter what time the clock says it is!

And how do you get children to go to bed early when they aren't sleepy yet? Good luck with all that!

Explaining DST to kids can be tough. You can try to tell them it started during World War I as a way to save energy. Back then, we didn't have LED light bulbs. So DST was a way to make the most of daylight by setting clocks ahead an hour in the spring ("spring forward") and back an hour in the fall ("fall back").

That's the short answer. Unfortunately, this explanation usually doesn't make much of an impact on a curious three or four-year-old! And it's bound to lead to more confounding toddler questions like:

1. If we set the clocks back, does that mean we get to have breakfast twice?
2. Does the sun know we changed the time?
3. Why can't we set the time back to my birthday so I can have another party?
4. Why can't we just leave the clocks alone and let them be happy?
5. Why are we still doing this?

You don't want to get into a five-hour lecture on the space-time continuum with a five- or six-year-old. So, how can you help kids cope with the changing seasons?

Well, you don't need a flux capacitor or a DeLorean! Instead, turn the clock back to something simple, fun, and engaging: Uncle Goose wooden calendar toys! We have two calendar sets to help kids understand the changing seasons.

Create A Calendar Toy

Create a Calendar is a colorful 53-piece set that lets kids build their own calendar with months, days, and seasons. With rectangular chips featuring the months and square chips showing the days, children can lay out the entire month and decorate it with seasonal illustrations.

Imagine your child piecing together October—adding falling leaves and pumpkin illustrations, when suddenly, bam! They see how the world changes as time ticks on. One minute, it's pumpkins; the next, it's snowflakes. The calendar becomes a living, breathing thing, showing children how we track days and seasons.

Perpetual Block Calendar Toy

Twist and turn these seven smart blocks to create any day of the year. The Uncle Goose Perpetual Block Calendar is a fun way for kids to grasp the concept of months, dates, and weather. You can go from sunny to snowy faster than your weather app can refresh!

Let your child switch the number blocks from a 6 to a 9. It's like magic! Or is it just clever design? Or do we listen to too much Jimi Hendrix? We'll never tell.

We print both of our calendar toys with safe-to-touch inks. They're also made in the USA from fast-growing Midwestern basswood.

With Uncle Goose calendar toys, children can explore the seasons, months, and days in a fun and educational way. And who knows? Maybe playing with the calendar will remind you to set the clock back before you miss your morning coffee!