With basic ideas of mixed Lagrangian formulation and sequential assigning process for initial conditions, the extended framework of Hamilton’s principle (EHP) was recently developed for continuum dynamics. Unlike the original Hamilton’s principle, this new variational framework can fully take initial conditions into account for both linear and nonlinear dynamics, so that it provides a sound base to apply a finite element scheme over the temporal domain without any ambiguity. This paper describes temporal finite element approach stemming from the extended Hamilton’s principle, which focuses initially on classical single-degree-of-freedom oscillators such as Kelvin–Voigt damped oscillator and an elasto-viscoplastic model. In each case, an appropriate weak form is provided and a corresponding formulation is discretized in the temporal domain with the adoption of Galerkin’s method. Basic numerical properties are investigated for the developed numerical algorithms with several computational examples for the elasto-viscoplastic model. For the underlying conservative system, the present method is symplectic and unconditionally stable with respect to the time step. On the other hand, the method provides unconditionally stable and noniterative algorithm for the elasto-viscoplastic model.