Signing Activities For Ages 8 and up

Here are a variety of activities for you to try with your 8 + year old to encourage and reinforce the use of sign language in everyday life. Submitted by Signing Time fans from all over the world, they show how easy it is to get in your “signing time” every day!

Got your own ideas, songs, games, or activities to share with us? Send an email to info@signingtime.com. Be sure to include your first and last name. All submissions become property of Two Little Hands Productions.

Creative Handshape Sentences
Submitted by M. Harrah

We try to think of as many signs that use the same hand shape. Then we try to put them together to make crazy sentences.

Example: The “Y” hand shape might become

SILLY YELLOW COWS PLAY SAME AS RHINOS

Be a Signing Time Detective!

This is a great game that helps older children to watch closely, pay attention, and find ASL signs that are shown in the Signing Time Series but not explicitly taught. See what new signs you you can learn, just by watching Rachel closely. You could also make a tic-tac-toe grid with a phrase in each box. Put an X through each phrase as you see it. First one to get three X’s in a row wins!

Here’s an example using signs seen in Volumes 4,5,& 6 of Series 1:

Count to 5 in ASL (pay attention to the number 3!)
Sign ‘Every Day’
Sign ‘Count’
Sign ‘Maybe’
Sign ‘Healthy’
Sign ‘Try’
Sign ‘People’
Sign ‘Goldfish’
Sign ‘Quiet’
Sign ‘Same’
Sign ‘Pay Attention’
Sign ‘Work’
Sign ‘Harder’
Sign ‘Different’
Sign ‘Enough’
Sign ‘Proud’
Sign ‘Need’

What other signs can you find?

Signing Bingo!
Submitted by M. Harrah

BINGO cards (I make my own with Words or Pictures from our lesson) Play like regular BINGO, but the leader signs, and the players find the matching word or picture. Whoever gets BINGO first, signs all of the words or pictures in the winning row.

Time to Exercise Your Memory
Submitted by M. Harrah

Concentration (or memory) cards (you can make your own) We play concentration, but we have to sign our match before we can get our extra turn.

Find a Word, What’s its Sign?
Submitted by T. Costa

Works great with picture books or magazines, but in a pinch to entertain or distract I will use billboards, doctor signage, posters (you name it, I’ll use it) We play the “I know the sign” game. We look at the first page in the book and take turns saying “I know the sign for ___.” Then the next person goes and chooses something they know the sign for and they say “I know the sign for___.” We continue until we cannot name anymore signs for items on that page, and then we turn the page. It works great as a distraction in a boring doctor’s office also, because you can use the posters or magazines and even include the other children and teach them signs that your children know. I’ve done this quite a few times!!

Add Signing To The Games You Already Know!

Adding signing to the games you already know lets you practice your signs inside, outside, or in the car!
I spy with my little eye… sign what you see and everyone else has to point it out!

Alphabet game –
 look for your ABCs in the world around you. Sign each letter as you see it in print, on a sign, or an object that starts with that letter. First person to get through the alphabet wins!

ABC Race –
 how fast can you sign your ABCs? Can you keep up Leah on Volume 5? Race each other!

Red Light, Green Light –
 use your color signs, or the signs for stop and go.

Invent Your Own Lyrics- The Sillier Pizza Song!
Submitted by Mindy, mom to Lilium

Sing the Silly Pizza Song from Everyday Signs (Vol 3) and Time to Eat (Vol 12) and substitute other food signs you know, like this:

I like peaches on my pizza…or
I like grapes on my pizza…
Watch My Favorite Things (Vol 6) and Time to Eat (Vol 12) to learn more signs for food, fruit, and veggies.

Or, substitute other fun signs you know, like this:

I like airplanes on my pizza…or
I like flowers on my pizza…or
I DON’T like socks on my pizza…

You can add on as many things as you’d like!
Other versions of the Silly Pizza Song (making up new lyrics to the same melody)

“I like babies while their sleeping, I like sleeping babies please!
Put the babies in their beds; don’t forget to kiss their cheek!”

‘Have we beaten this song to death? I still like it ;-)’

Silly Pizza Matching & Stacking Game
Submitted by Jennifer Ackerson

We have play food items to match the foods in the song. When the song starts you have to sign the words and be able to keep up with Rachel. For every sign you can do correctly you get to keep that food item. When the song ends you can see who has the most food items and know which words you need to practice more.

We have a variation of this game where you have a tray, which is the pizza, and you stack the play food items on top of each other to see who can make the tallest stack. We had to substitute blocks with pictures of the food for things like apples because they won’t stack. You can stack them in order as they show up on the screen. At the end you have a huge stack of silly pizza just like on the show.

Sometimes one person stacks the food while the other person signs ‘I want _______ on my pizza’ You have to figure out what the sign is and stack the right food.

While we play these games the kids get lots of practice with signing and have lots of laughs!

Signing Bingo!
Submitted by M. Harrah

BINGO cards (I make my own with Words or Pictures from our lesson) Play like regular BINGO, but the leader signs, and the players find the matching word or picture. Whoever gets BINGO first, signs all of the words or pictures in the winning row.

Got your own ideas, songs, games, or activities to share with us? Send an email to info@signingtime.com. Be sure to include your first and last name. All submissions become property of Two Little Hands Productions.
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