Signing Activities and Games for Groups
Here are a variety of activities for you to try with groups 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 (can be adapted for groups)
Submitted by M. Harrah
We try to think of as many signs with the same handshape. Then we try to put them together to make crazy sentences. Example: The “Y” handshape might become: SILLY YELLOW COWS PLAY SAME-AS RHINOS
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.
Time to Exercise Your Memory
Submitted by M. Harrah
Concentration (or memory) cards (store-bought or you can make your own) We play concentration, but we have to sign our match before we can get our extra turn.
GO! STOP! GO!
Submitted by K. Fry
My granddaughter and I like to play ‘Go, Stop, Wait’. It is played just like “red light, green light.” I line up at the end of the hallway and she signs ‘Go’ and I run until she signs ‘Stop’. I have to stop and wait while she signs ‘Wait’. Then she signs ‘Go’ and I run until she signs ‘Stop’ again and again I need to Wait. This is repeated until I reach her. At that point I am the signer and she is the runner. If the runner does not stop when the ‘Stop’ is signed – they must go back to the beginning. This can be played with multiple runners and in that case, the first runner reaching the signer gets to be the next signer.
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 Signing Time but not explicitly taught. Have a contest to see who can write down the most signs they see, just by watching Rachel. You could also make a tic-tac-toe grid with pre-selected phrases in each box, depending on what volume you are watching. Put an X through each phrase as you see it. First one to get three X’s in a row wins!
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.