Customer Reviews

Time Timer, 8 Inch

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Autistic children are visual learners so this device is perfect for them. This timer is great for working with special needs children both at school and at home. It helps with the anxiety and temper tantrums often related to transitioning between activities. I've used this timer in working with my own autistic son for homeschooling purposes in past years. He has always liked using it as an aid. Since he is now a young teen but still has difficulty judging time, it is still a great way for him to pace himself. I would think that this could be used for all classrooms as a subtle cue for any timed activity. As far as durability, the face of the timer is open (no protective piece over the face) and the face material appears to be only a thick type of paper. It does not appear to be sealed or laminated so you would want to handle it with some care.

As soon as this timer arrived I didn't think it would last, and I was right. Currently we use a big, old loud bell kitchen timer to limit my son's TV and computer time. I wanted to try a visual timer as I heard it was great for kids on the Autism spectrum as they don't really understand the concept of time passing. I chose this one because it also had an audible alarm so he would hear it if he was concentrating on something else. Right out of the box the thing felt so light and cheap I couldn't imagine letting my 3.5 year old touch it. Basically the red part that shows time passing is a thin piece of plastic you dial around the clock part and the alarm is so quiet it might as well not be there. You certainly can't hear it from another room-it's just a tiny "beep beep". Still, I'd heard great things so I gave it a try. My son mostly ignored it, but the thing still broke when he wasn't even playing with it. The flimsly red thing kept coming off line and getting stuck. Within a week it stopped counting down the minutes, but would just beep for no reason. I had it sitting on my dresser and I just gave up on when my son found it and promptly ripped the red part right in half (the plastic was that thin and flimsy that he ripped it like a candy wrapper.) Now I'm sure I can't return it and it was a huge waste of money. Good concept, but they need to make a stronger product, especially if it's going to be anywhere near a kid.

We have a time timer for our 3 year old son and 18 month old daughter.

We use it to help them transition through activities throughout the day and teach them about the passing of time. A great example is nap time... which used to be a difficult time of day until we started with the time timer. Here's how I use it: First, I explain to my son that when the time timer goes "beep beep" it will be time for bed. I set the timer for around 30 minutes (or whenever nap time is supposed to be) and my son and I settle into an activity. Throughout our play I ask him how much red he has left and if he wants to do more things, he'll make sure to move on to the next activity before the red disappears. When the red is gone there is a quiet, short tone sounds. I intentionally bought the product with the tone for this very reason - its not loud or on-going like an alarm clock so you'll need to stay close by but its just enough to get your attention. My son shouts out 'beep beep' and gets up and heads to his room. He's getting to the point that he doesn't need us to remind him to watch the time but instead, he points it out to us as if to say "look how much red is left!"

I have read the previous reviews that say its flimsy. I think the time timer is a tool that we as parents / educators use and then set it up on the shelf for the children to watch. I didn't want my son to play with it as I was concerned he would want to change the time, drop it, etc.

This is a great product for teach toddlers how to transition, maintaining routine (which toddlers thrive with!) and helping them learn about time management.

I teach second grade and my students love this timer. It has withstood being knocked over and wound time after time. It is a great visual for keeping time and reduces the number of students who ask, "how much time do we have?" Instead they are asking if they can set the timer for me! It's a huge privelage.

This is the best way I have found to get my ADHD child to smoothly transition from one activity to the next at home. I would highly recomment this to any parent who has children who have a hard time making transitions!!!

I purchased this clock for a first grade class. Concept is great - to allow young students to visually keep track of remaining time. I envisioned the students working at their centers and visually keeping track of remaining time before they would hear the "audible" beep to signal moving to the next center. Unfortunately, the unit is cheaply made and not worth the money. The "audible" beep can hardly be heard unless there is complete silence in the classroom. Two barely audible beeps - that's it. I have to set a regular timer to ring a sound that can be heard. Time Timer has the right idea, but construction is cheap and "audible" beep can barely be heard even in complete silence. Does it help my students visually keep track of remaining time? Yes, it does, but cheap lightweight plastic and cardboard which is not even laminated for this price is a rip-off. Time Timer is nothing but a piece of JUNK with an expensive price tag!!

We got this timer to help our young kids (4 and 6) know how much time is left before having to leave the house for school in the morning. We set it after they have finished breakfast and getting dressed. So during "Play" time, they know they have 10 minutes, or 20 minutes, etc (depending on the day).

It is easy to set and the kids can set it themselves.

It doesn't feel very durable, but in our household, it would have been destroyed if it wasn't. It still looks new. I don't think it would be appropriate for younger children.

I love this timer. It is one of my favorite tools for all children, special needs or not, for the classroom or at home. I even use the small one for myself--to help me get out the door on time in the morning. If you let a child fiddle with it, yes, it will malfunction or break. BUT, if you let a child fiddle with it, the time you allot suddenly becomes negotiable, and you've negated the benefit of this tool, anyway. I'm very clear from the get-go (words and gestures): "This is for you to look at with your eyes, and for me to touch with my hands. You use your eyes; I use my hands." Then, if needed, I put it out of reach. The chime at end (which can be turned off) is very soft, which is perfect for children with aversions to jarring sounds. The older version doesn't have a chime. Maybe the next version will have a couple of volume settings for the chime, for those who would like to hear it in noisy settings?

The flaws with this item are well covered in other reviews, but I took my chances and ordered it anyway thinking that we would be extra careful with it and it would last longer than other reviewers reported. We were indeed careful. And it lasted two days. Yes, ONLY two. Then it stopped working entirely. I changed the battery, tried turning off the audible noise so that only the red, disappearing timer part would be engaged. But it still did not work. I am returning it for a refund and will continue to look for a better solution to the visual/audible timer need. For the two days it was functional, the time was a great help in keeping my ADHD child aware of time when completing activities (getting ready for school, practicing piano, etc.)

If anyone has a recommendation, please post. I stayed away from the vertical, green-yellow-red visual timer because of the trouble people reported with programming it for different lengths of time.

although the idea behind this is correct, it surely could've been made much more sturdy and durable. I didn't realize until after I got it, it was made in China, so who knows if there's lead paint in it? It's definately not worth the approximately $30. I paid for it. I feel like I wasted my money because it's a piece of junk.