I started a ‘Sing and Sign’ class with my Daughter when she was about 6 months old.  I hadn’t really heard a lot about baby sign language before then, but was inspired after a local teacher gave a demonstration at the mum and baby group I went too.

 

I really enjoyed that it was based around singing, and my daughter just loved singing.  There was going to be musical instruments, and a cat too!  It sounded perfect for us.

 

The classes were great.  There was a structure so the babies soon got used to the routine.  Everyone would get really excited when Jess the Cat appeared!  It was lovely to meet up with other Mum’s too, and have a coffee and a natter when the babies had playtime at the end.

 

My Daughter soon started to recognise signs like milk and book, but it took a while for her to start using signs herself, but when she did there was no stopping her. 

 

I loved that it was something that the whole family could do, and I’d teach the signs I learnt each week to Dad and Big Brother.  When she started to use signs everyone could encourage her and share in her achievements.  

 

It’s made her more confident, and it’s definitely helped her language and communication.  As a Mum, it gave me another tool in the Mummy box of tricks.   It gave another dimension to reading books and singing nursery rhymes, because it never gets boring does it!

 

My daughter still signs, and she’s 22 months old now.  She signs at nursery, who have encouraged her to keep it going.   They’ve even started a ‘Sign of the Month’ since she she joined.  We are expecting a new arrival in May, and I very much hope that my Daughter will enjoy teaching her new little sister how to sign.  It might just help with some of those rivalry issues!

 

Here’s my daughter in action showing off some of her signs.  There was no one else signing in the making of this video 😉

 

If you’d like some tips on getting started, here’s my latest Signing blog

 

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