BaaBaa Babies
Activities That Stimulate Little Minds, Exercise Little Bodies And Are Fun For All
WHAT IS BABY SIGNING?
Baby Sign describes the practice of using sign language with hearing babies to enable them to communicate before they can talk. Babies have a natural ability to using physical gestures before their verbal communication has developed.
By introducing simple signs at an early stage, we can enable babies to communicate their emotions and their needs. Babies are able to coordinate and control their hand muscles much earlier than the muscles used for speech, meaning that they can produce recognizable signs from a very young age.
Baby Sign is rapidly growing in popularity in Britain and many nurseries are now training staff in Makaton as opposed to British Sign Language which is mainly used for hearing impaired children.
Contrary to concerns that signing with babies may inhibit their speech, research shows that signing with babies actually helps babies develop a wider vocabulary. One study concluded that using baby signs improves language and cognitive ability which did not end when babies started to talk. In fact using signs has far reaching positive implications long after the child has stopped using the baby signs. It has been shown that children who baby sign have 50 more spoken words in their vocabularies by the age of two than children who didn’t sign.
Baby sign does NOT replace speech; each time you sign with your baby it is vital you reinforce the sign by using the
word as well to provide baby with a multi-sensory environment.
Great resources to learning Makaton at home visit www.singinghands.co.uk
WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAKATON & BSL?
Click here for Baby Sign Language Dictionary (BSL) & Games to play
FAQ
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