Ideas for Teaching Signs and Gestures to your Child

Toddlers and Preschool age children are often very gestural. Gestures can supplement a child’s communication and limit frustration.

Learning new word approximations may be difficult for a child with language delays. Learning to use verbal words can also be very difficult for most early talkers when the child is fueled by the need to communicate something that is emotional, like “I really want another cookie”! Gestures may help in these situations.

So how do parents begin?

Choose 3-5 signs to teach. These should be words that your child would be excited to say. Signs made with both sides of the body in a symmetrical way, are easier. The child will approximate the sign, don’t expect exact imitation.

Create a play space in your home that has the following:

• limited distractions
• Defined area with matts or carpet, so that the child doesn’t have free run of the whole house
• A small shelf or area to display toys
• 3-4 toy choices that are developmentally appropriate and that foster language development ( I can help you with this if needed)
• A nonbreakable wall mirror like I have in my play space is great to have also, since the child can see his whole body when imitating.

During play the adult will frequently make the sign during play.

During the first play session the adult will do most of the signing, requesting little from the child, with the exception of staying in the interaction. Encourage the child to stay with the activity that he chose for a few minutes. A good rule of thumb is the number of minutes that the child is old. If the child makes an imitation of the sign, then the adult will respond as if he said a word, by giving him the toy or performing an action. The adult should frequently use the signs in a communicative way, saying the verbal word as the sign is made.

During the second play session the adult will begin to request the child to imitate the motor actions of the sign. The adult will model the signs, but wait in playful expectation for the child to imitate. A likely scenario may be:

The child points to the bubbles on the shelf. The adult says and signs “bubbles”, and waits with anticipation for the child to imitate. If the child imitates either signing or verbally, then the adult responds by saying ” you said/signed bubbles”. Then the adult blows the bubbles. If the child does not imitate, then the adult helps him do the gesture hand-over-hand, responding then by blowing bubbles. You can expect some refusal or even a tantrum because this is new. Up to this point he did not have a way to communicate a word for this and probably does not yet truly understand what/ why we are expecting this new signing. Keep your sessions short and playful. If it seems like work, then we need to rethink what is going on.

Model these signs in playful interactions, with frequency over the first week. A few playful and short sessions during the day are great.

Have fun playing.