Baby sign language is such a simple way to connect with your child. I have been doing baby sign language with my daughters since my oldest was 6 months old. Now she is 3 and my youngest is 19 months and we still do some signs. It never ceases to amaze me how they can give their full attention to me when I start to do some signing.
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8 Songs that Are Perfect for Teaching Signs to Your Baby
We love to sing songs together. Almost any song we sing can become an action song by adding a few signs in the mix. I’d say most of the songs we sing are now action songs!
Have you done some signing with your baby? These songs all have key signs that you might have already taught your child. Surely there are more songs you can add actions to, but these are the ones we love to sing.
“If You’re Happy and You Know It”
“If You’re Happy and You Know It” already has action to it. The clapping will capture your baby’s attention no problem. But you could also sign “happy” to make it even more engaging.
“The Itsy Bitsy Spider”
The spider sign that you are probably used to signing in “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” is actually not a true sign. It’s completely fine if you do it that way, but it’s not how someone who uses ASL would sign it. The other signs you could do in this song are “rain” and “sun.”
“The Wheels on the Bus”
You can do a new action for each verse in “The Wheels on the Bus,” but the ones your baby probably would recognize the most are “bus,” “baby,” “mommy,” and “daddy.”
“Apples and Bananas”
“Apples and Bananas” is really fun because you can sing it at snack time while you’re eating apples and bananas! You can also change the words to “peaches and pears” or “carrots and crackers.” If your child loves a certain food, find out the sign for it and use it in this song. The other sign we always use in this song is “eat.”
“5 Little Ducks”
You may already know the sign for “bird,” and “duck” is just a little different with two fingers on top instead of one. When you are singing “5 Little Ducks,” do the sign for “duck” when you sing it and again when the mama duck says “quack.” My 19 month old has really been getting into this one lately.
“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
We sign throughout “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” but they are all made-up signs except for “star.” This is definitely a bedtime favorite.
“Rain, Rain Go Away”
For some reason my 3 year old loves to sing “Rain, Rain Go Away” even when the sun is shining. Both “rain” and “play” are signs to reinforce in this song.
“You Are My Sunshine”
“You Are My Sunshine” is another song where we sign almost the whole time. Some of the signs are made-up, but we always use “sun,” “happy,” and “clouds” (where it says, “when skies are gray”).
Baby sign language has made our singing time even more special. I hope as my girls get older that we can continue to sign in whatever song we sing.
If you want to do baby signing with your child, but you aren’t sure where to start, read my post about getting started with baby sign language.
What song could you turn into an action song?
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