Clockwork Station

Learn to tell the time with trains

Clockwork Station is a calm railway game for children aged 5 to 10. Your child runs a little station: every right answer couples a carriage, and the train leaves when it's full.

Coming soon to the App Store

The first 10 shifts are free. For iPhone and iPad, with iOS 26 or later.

A question on the station clock, quarter past 3, with three railway tickets to choose from

A clock that feels real

Drag the hands of a big station clock and hear it tick round. The long hand moves the short hand, just as on a real clock.

The sky follows the time on the clock, so morning, afternoon and night make sense before they have names.

The station clock at quarter past three, with the time in digits and in words underneath

Help that names the mistake

A wrong answer gets a kind sentence about that exact mistake, and the clock shows why. "The short hand has gone past 4, but it hasn't reached 5 yet."

Everything is read aloud, so children can play before they can read. There are no scores, no lives and no streaks.

A Not quite plate under the clock, explaining that the minute hand is in the past half, with a Show me button

Ten lines to open

Each line teaches one step, starting with a short lesson on the real clock. There are nine kinds of game, including Match Up, Day Planner and Rush Hour.

  1. Meadow: o'clock
  2. Harbour: half past
  3. Seaside: quarter past and quarter to
  4. Orchard: five-minute times
  5. Moonlight: am and pm
  6. Mountain: to the minute
  7. Castle: Roman numerals
  8. Canal: how long a journey takes
  9. City: the 24-hour clock
  10. Grand Terminus: timetables
The map of the station's lines, with seven open and the rest still dotted

A railway to call their own

Every line earns a new engine for the depot. Lay track on a model railway and watch the trains run.

My Day puts your child's own routine on the clock: breakfast, school, bedtime.

A model railway: a loop of track with a green train, a tree and a pond, and pieces to add below

A free clock for the classroom

The clock tool has no game around it. Put it on an iPad at the front of a class or on the kitchen table, with minute numbers, Roman numerals, past and to, and the time in digits or words.

It's free in the app, and you can also use the teaching clock here, in your browser.

The clock tool on iPad, full screen, with the time in digits and words

For grown-ups

  • A profile for each child, each at their own level
  • See what each child knows, and which mistakes keep coming up
  • UK or US wording
  • Progress follows your family across devices with iCloud
  • An easy-reading text option, and support for VoiceOver, larger text and Reduce Motion
  • Works offline

Private by design

No ads, no tracking, no analytics and no accounts. Nothing leaves the device, apart from your family's own iCloud.

Every purchase and every link out of the app sits behind a parental gate. Read the privacy policy.

Questions

Who is it for?
Children aged 5 to 10 who are learning to tell the time, from o'clock up to timetables and the 24-hour clock. Each child starts on the line that suits their school year or grade.
Does my child need to be able to read?
No. Every question and every piece of help is read aloud, so children can play before they can read.
What's free?
The download, the first 10 shifts, the clock tool and the Home Screen widget. The clock tool and the widget stay free.
What does the unlock add?
Every line, as many shifts as your child likes, every child in your family, the full depot, the model railway, My Day and full progress for grown-ups. A grown-up unlocks it from behind the parental gate.
Are there ads?
No. There are no ads, no tracking and no accounts, and nothing in the app links out or sells anything without a grown-up answering a sum first.
Is there a time limit or a score?
No. There are no scores, no lives and no streaks. A shift usually takes about 3 minutes, and a late train just waits.
Does it use UK or US wording?
Either. A grown-up chooses, so it says "five past three" or "five after three", and "analogue" or "analog".
Does progress move between devices?
Yes, through iCloud, between devices signed in to the same Apple Account.

More answers are on the support page.

Get Clockwork Station

Coming soon to the App Store

The first 10 shifts are free. For iPhone and iPad, with iOS 26 or later.