Time Poems For Kids: Miss & The Timeball - Royal Observatory Greenwich

I was incredibly proud to get two of my space and time poems for kids into Space – Royal Observatory Greenwich Poetry Book; it is a beautiful poetry anthology celebrating the 350th anniversary of Royal Observatory Greenwich. The anthology is inspired by the history and work of the Observatory.

One of my space and time poems included is called, 'Miss & The Timeball' It's inspired by the timeball that rises and falls on top of Flamsteed House. The bright red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed House is one of the world's earliest public time signals, distributing time to ships on the Thames and many Londoners.

The Time Ball was first used in 1833 and still operates today. Normally each day, at 12.55pm, the time ball rises half way up its mast. At 12.58pm it rises all the way to the top. At 1pm exactly, the ball falls, and so provides a signal to anyone who happens to be looking.

'Miss & The Timeball' was recently featured on the wonderful new podcast by Rebecca Leek called The Ditty Bag. She reads several poems each episode. I loved her reading so much, I made a little video.

Please share your own favourite space and time poems for kids in the Comments below.

Space and Time Poems for Kids : Miss & The Timeball inspired by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.