Set the timer to 152 seconds

How to use the online timer

While a child listens for familiar coastal names in the Shipping Forecast, you can guide their attention through one hundred and fifty-two seconds without interrupting the broadcast. Ask them to notice the rhythm, repeated phrases or a sea area they recognise, while you quietly follow the countdown. The short window gives the exercise a clear boundary and keeps it manageable during a lesson or a listening activity at home.

As your young listener concentrates on the forecast, keep the device close enough for you to monitor but away from the loudest background sounds. A television in another room, conversation or traffic through an open window can mask the finishing signal. Raising the volume slightly may help, though placing the device beside you is less disruptive than making an alert compete with the broadcast.

When the child is following the final stretch, use the displayed countdown rather than relying on a mechanical timer with a turning ring. Ring markings can make such a brief interval awkward to set precisely, and you may lose a few seconds while checking the dial. If the chosen forecast passage finishes early, use the remaining time to recall one coastal area; if it runs on, let the sentence finish before discussing what they heard.