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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Melting snowman timer

A free animated classroom timer: a snowman settling into a puddle, and his hat lands on the puddle at zero. Any length, counting down or up, with the clock a small chip in the corner.

15:00

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: a snowman settling into a puddle, and his hat lands on the puddle at zero.
  2. It opens at 15 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 a fifteen minute writing stretch: the snowman changes slowly enough not to be watched.
  • Show a young class the three snowballs and ask which one will go next.
  • Run it counting up while snow heaps back into a snowman, for a wind-down after lunch.
  • Use it in winter as the picture on the board all morning, restarted for each activity.
  • Let a child choose it for a job they find long: a slow picture makes a long time look passable.

Related

Questions

Is the snowman sad at the end?

No. He settles down into a puddle with his hat on top of it, and that is all that happens: nothing on this timer is punished or lost at zero. If a melting snowman is the wrong picture for your class, the koi pond and the train end more cheerfully.

Why are there three snowballs rather than a smooth slide?

Three things to count give a child who cannot read a clock something to hold on to: the head goes first, then the middle, then the base. Inside each one the shrinking is smooth, so the picture still moves second by second.

Will the melting snowman 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.

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