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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Koi pond timer

A free animated classroom timer: koi crowding round a handful of fish food, and the last pellet is gulped as the time runs out. Any length, counting down or up, with the clock a small chip in the corner.

10:00

Keys: Space start or pause · R reset · ← → 30 seconds · 1 8 the presets · S next scene · U count up or down · C move or hide the clock · M sound · H hear the sound · F full screen

How to use it

  1. Press Start, or Space. The picture is the time: koi crowding round a handful of fish food, and the last pellet is gulped as the time runs out.
  2. It opens at 10 minutes. Press a preset, or Custom to type a length such as 7:30; press U to count up to the time instead of down to zero.
  3. Press F to fill the screen, C to move or hide the clock chip, M for the sound and H to hear it first.

Ideas for class

  • Use it for independent reading: the pond is quiet, and nothing on it flashes or counts.
  • Put ten minutes on the screen while a group settles, and let the fish do the waiting for you.
  • Count the pellets with a young class as a number line that empties itself.
  • Run it counting up during a wind-down at the end of the day, so the pond fills rather than empties.
  • Pair it with the sound off for a room that needs no more noise than it already has.

Related

Questions

Why do the fish not move exactly the same way every time?

The fish swim themselves, the way the shoal on Peabody's home page does, so they crowd and wander differently on every run. What is never different is how many pellets are left: that comes from the clock alone, so the pond is exactly empty when the time is up.

Is this a good timer for a child who finds a countdown stressful?

It is the calmest of the ten: nothing turns red, nothing speeds up and nothing bursts at the end, just a soft plop. The shrinking disc on the visual timer page is calmer still if even the fish are too much.

Will the koi pond timer keep the right time if I switch tabs?

Yes. The timer compares the clock when you pressed Start with the clock now, so a sleeping tab, a slow laptop or a dropped frame cannot make it drift, and the picture is drawn from the time rather than from its own speed.

Is it really free, and does it need an account?

Free, no account, no ads, and nothing about your class leaves the computer: the length, the picture and the direction live in the address after the # so you can bookmark or share them, and that part is never sent to us.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. Names, lists and settings stay in this browser. No sign-in, no ads.