Baby Signs - Powerful Language

Signing is such a cool way to communicate. And while there are certainly signs that mean specific things it's a language that is so alive and leaves a lot of room for creativity!

Check out this little guy

Now you might think he's having some sort of temper tantrum... but he's actually giving the sign for DINOSAUR...with his own dramatic flair! ;-)

And that's the thing about signing...embellishing usually enhances the sign. It's also important to remember that when your little one is learning signs applaud her approximations! Close enough is good enough. For you too!

So have fun and let yourself get into it. Release any concerns you have around 'getting it right' and simply let yourself feel the 'rightness' in the action. Play with it!

When my two oldest boys were very young one of their best friends happened to be deaf. He taught us all to sign. And we were very lucky that we were introduced to sign language by this very creative young lad. As we learned the signs he gave us for our names it struck me as sheer inspiration how he would form the first letter of our name and then either apply it to a body part or a particular gesture that to him... defined us. For instance, for me he would form the "M" and tap his mouth because he thought I talked... a LOT! LOL

I'd be remiss if I didn't share my highest recommendation with you. I can't let you go without mentioning Wendy Jensen's Signing4Kids.

The cool thing here is that Wendy provides SO much for SO little! In addition to her eBook you get over twenty videos like the one about Emotions below. Covering a wide range of topics ~ things like Lunch, Dinner, Colors, Clothes, Toys, Outside, Bathroom, etc. You really ought to check her stuff out and start talking WITH your baby not just TO your baby!