Signing Activities With Infants/Toddlers (0-24 months old)

• Follow your child’s lead when conversing with her. When a conversation has started, get down on her level. Talk about her interests and use facial expression to convey your absorption in what she is saying. Pause and give her time to respond to what you say.
• Imitate what your child says. This shows your interest in what she is signing and allows you to model correct use of language without correcting your child. Imitating your child also helps both of you to learn to listen. Give meaning to your child’s signs even if you are not exactly sure what she meant. When your child signs something that you might not have understood, tell her what you think she means. Model the correct usage of signs.
• Expand on what your child says. Your expansions should be just above your child’s level of language skills. For example, if your child is using one-word sentences then your expansions should be two- or three-word sentences. Expansion gives your child more information about the world around her.  (For example:  nod head-affirm, point, and repeat signing what she/he said. If your child points at the stuffed bear’s nose- you point at the nose and sign, “YES, (repeats- points) NOSE. BEAR NOSE. BLACK.” [points at your own nose then points at the bear’s nose—and baby’s nose, too])

• Discuss what you did that day or explain what you are doing right now. Keep talking to your child. Take advantage of teachable moments wherever you go. (e.g. What’s the name of the store? (fingerspell name of the store) What’s that vegetable? What color is that? Help me find this food..) 
• Show pictures of events, family members, and/or common things- and point to picture and sign what that is. After several repetitions, expand on what the child says- add more vocabulary. (e.g. TREE- BIG TREE- GREEN LEAVES)
• Discuss what you and your child just did together. (Where did we go? Shopping! Why? We need food to cook. What did we buy? Etc.)  Keep talking to your child even if you are not sure they are listening to you.
• Invite Deaf friends and/or Deaf children over to your home for your child to interact with
• Attend ASL/Book Storytelling events with your family. 
• Watch ASL storytelling or ASL poetry DVDs or videotapes.  (see below for tips on where to find ASL Stories)

1. Focus on an experience that is either common to all students from outside their school experiences (e.g., going to the grocery store) or an experience that is the result of a class trip, class lesson, or activity (creating an english muffin pizza, planting a seed, etc.). Take pictures or show them pictures.
2. Show pictures and introduce vocabulary words that are used in that activity.
3. Have them sign aloud explaining what is being done in that picture. Model signs if needed. You may take pictures of each sign and place them next to the picture. Create a booklet or slideshow.
4. You sign aloud the whole event, model appropriate signs.
5. Invite students to view and retell them retell what happened to their partner or to an adult.
6. Publish that book and show it to their parents.. And have them retell it to their parent and share what they did in this activity.

Resources