Baby Sign Language Is a Fun Way To Learn

Help your little one to develop a love of learning early on as you learn baby sign language with them. Have fun with signing as you incorporate interactive games and songs to educate your child and bond with them. Making learning fun early on can encourage a love of learning later. There are many games to play in sign that will not only help your baby to learn sign but also entertain them for hours on end. This form of entertainment will be one of the most beneficial ways to spend time with your baby as they learn and grow. Incorporating song into learning to sign can also be very beneficial. Adding music to learning helps the brain retain the memory, plus it’s fun! Enjoying the process of learning is a great motivator to continue to learn. Establish a habit of fun learning early in your child’s life.

Signing Impacts Social-Emotional Development

In addition to being a fun way to learn, parents who use signs with their hearing children before they can talk report lots of different benefits for themselves and their children. Parents report that their signing children have fewer tantrums and better social skills, and that both the children and parents are less frustrated. As you are using different activities to teach and reinforce signs with your child you are modeling how to interact.

Researchers have tested some of these claims by comparing families who use signs to families who don’t use signs. Parents who use signs with their children have less parenting-related stress, their interactions are more affectionate, and parents have an easier time responding to their children when children are upset. Also, studies by Claire Vallotton have shown that children who use signs before they talk can use signs to talk about their feelings and to control their own behavior in order to comply with adults’ requests [1].

For our Signing Families

We asked some of our Signing Time families to complete the sentence “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to learn…” Here are just a few of their responses:

Nicole S. “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to learn everyday vocabulary… because communication is knowledge!”

Arleigh L. “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to learn what’s on your baby’s mind.”

Anna L. “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to teach attention and eye contact.”

Annie Y. “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to how others communicate.”

Bree L. “Baby Sign Language is a fun way to learn what is going on inside your child’s little head 😉”

Sign Language Activities

We have complied different activities from Signing Families just like you to help you know where to start.

Suggested Signing Activities for BabiesSuggested Signing Activities for 3-7 year oldsSuggested Signing Activities for ages 8 +

Suggested Signing Activities For GroupsSuggested Signing Activities for Children with Special Needs

Here are some downloadable pages we’ve created with more great ideas for activities that will reinforce your ASL vocabulary using our Signing Time videos. Use these at home, at school, or in groups. Feel free to make as many copies as you’d like (most of these pages are full-color so be aware!)

The letters and numbers indicate which series and volume of Signing Time that the activity corresponds with – like this:
Series #, Volume # (Title of Show) – Name of Activity

Signing My Pets – Practice your math and animal signs at the same time.

Fast or Slow – Grab your friends and play a game with Hopkins.

Hopkins Puzzle – Cut this Hopkins puzzle apart and then put him back together.

References:

1. http://c445781.r81.cf0.rackcdn.com/wp_SigningwithBabies&Children.pdf

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