Astronomy was the one of the first ways early cultures marked the passage of time. People could tell by the phases of the moon that time changed. The first calendar was a lunar calendar .
A solar year is the time it takes to go from the winter equinox to the next winter equinox. Ancient people determined the equinoxes and solstices by where the sun rose in the morning. Some examples are Stone Henge, and the Mayan pyramids.
Calendars were the easiest invention to keep track of time in days, weeks, months and years. Clocks are more complicated in that they can keep track of hours, minutes and seconds.
3500 BC — the first clock was a gnomon or an obelisk. The Egyptians placed the stick vertically into the ground and when the sun hit the object it made a shadow. By measuring the different positions you could tell the time. It was like a large sundial. The sundial was even used during biblical times.
You can get more information for research or vocabulary root word cards for months, weeks and days of the year from this link, Meaning and History of Months and Days Names .
This needs to be done with an adult.
Here is a clock matching game. Use the tiles to match up with the correct clock. You can also use these cards to make a bingo game . ( DLTK has directions, markers and everything you need to play bingo.)