Teach Your Baby Sign Language – The Parents Guide

by | Jun 12, 2012 | Education, Languages

There is something very satisfying about being able to get some insight into what it is a baby is wanting or is thinking about.  A very easy way to do this is to teach them a bit of baby sign language. It is fun, and it will make your life with your baby much less frustrating.

If you are thinking you might want to give it a try, here is a list of the best baby sign language systems, best baby flashcards, videos, books, and apps that will have you communicating with your baby in no time.

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(Remember you don’t need to be fluent in ASL –just try learning a few signs, and it will help you with communicating with your baby.)

Baby Sign Language System

After doing a whole lot of research, if we were going to teach another baby some sign language, the system that we would go with is Signing Time. It has digital downloads for your computer, or you can get their super popular DVDs. This site also has everything you might need available for sale. Babies are crazy about this system for learning baby sign language.

We know three families who have used it and rave about it. The songs are repetitive but catchy, and the graphics are super appealing to babies.  Signing Time also has DVDs for special needs with a Down Syndrome Support Bundle and an Autism Play and Sign Set.

Free Flashcards for Baby Sign Language

Flashcards are an excellent teaching aid for sign language that can be used on their own or as a supplement with some of the other resources. Baby Sign Language offers free flashcards that you can download and print off from your computer. With these flashcards, you can just select each sign individually, so you only need to choose the signs that you are interested in learning. This website also offers nice-looking flashcards that you can purchase.

Baby Sign Language Video

If you are looking for something free that can help you teach your baby sign language, My Smart Hands has a great YouTube channel that has lots of free videos. There are Baby Signing Q&A videos, tonnes of Animated Videos, and also some videos with super fun songs. It’s a fantastic free resource for teaching babies or kids some sign language.

Baby Sign Language Book

We know there are lots of people out there who do not want to put babies and kids in front of the TV, so we did some research on what is the best book out there for teaching babies sign language. The book that we used when we taught our kids was Baby Signs by Linda P. Acredolo, and we thought it was a great book and gave us everything that we needed to teach our babies, but looking into it a bit more it seems the book that is the most recommend  Baby Sign Language Basics.  This book is a good starter set that includes a DVD (that can be helpful for the parent). The first part of the book has a guide on how to start teaching your baby and gives advice on what to encourage and what to avoid, and the second part of the book is a dictionary with instructions on how to do each sign.

App to Teach Sign Language to Babies

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There are a few different apps around for teaching sign language, the app we tried out and like the most is from Baby Sign and Learn – American Sign Language Pro Edition. It has a very user-friendly interface as well as handy video animation of the signs that make it easy and fun for parents to teach their babies.