Back to Glossary
Minute Hand
The minute hand is the longer, thinner hand on an analog clock that indicates the current minutes past the hour.
The minute hand makes one complete rotation every 60 minutes. When it points to 12, it's exactly on the hour. When it points to 6, it's 30 minutes past (half past). Children typically learn the minute hand after mastering the hour hand. Understanding the minute hand requires counting by 5s (each number on the clock represents 5 minutes). I Can Tell Time lets kids physically drag the minute hand, which builds an intuitive understanding of how minutes work on a clock.