Sign Language for Toddlers is an invaluable tool for toddlers to communicate before they have fully developed their speech.

The toddler years are full of frustrations and tantrums; providing some mutual understanding can help to relieve some of this tension. Their speech development is especially important during these first two years and is more rapid than at any other time in their life. Sign Language for toddlers can be used to compliment speech development and fill in the gaps where they don’t quite have the words yet.

Toddlers are exciting little people. Everything happens at such a pace; it is a time for growing, developing and exploring. Parent interaction during this crucial period is so important. Proper speech development will allow them to engage in proper social interactions which will develop their social skills. Speech and social development are some of the most important milestones; how they progress these two vital skills will play a major role in the way their future plays out.

Sign Language for Toddlers is the use of gestures to convey the meaning of certain keywords. Some begin this sign language much earlier and refer to it as baby signing or baby sign language. There is no difference between baby sign language and toddler sign language, just the name. These baby signs are very simple to perform and are universal gestures that can be used in any country worldwide.

Although toddlers are able to speak a few words by their first birthday, they are still learning their language skills right up until their third birthday. It will take this long for some toddlers to be understood by their family members let along strangers and other caregivers. Toddlers are so demanding and expect everything to go their way. They also know exactly what they want and when they want it. By providing them a means to communicate these things without the frustration of not being able to speak properly, you can reduce frustration. Frustration, especially in boys can lead to aggression problems later on. It shouldn’t be considered as a means to give in to the toddler, in fact, sign language for toddlers can often be used to re-direct the behavior to a more appropriate solution.

Some parents report that their toddlers revert back to baby sign language when frustrated. Not being able to spit out what they are trying to say but still keen to get their point across. Sign Language for Toddlers offers them a release for their frustrations allowing the temper to dissipate.

Teaching Sign Language for Toddlers is easy. Toddlers are very keen to copy anything that their parents do. Providing that the gesture is always used with the word, it will be picked up on very quickly. Choose some keywords that are important to your toddler. Try to chose words that are not spoken by your toddler yet. Learn the sign language gesture for these keywords and use these simple gestures every time you speak that keyword. Only ever use the gesture in a relevant situation so that your toddler understands the relevance of the gesture. They should catch on very quickly and be able to mimic and replicate your signs.

Children that may be suffering from a slight language delay are also great candidates for learning Baby Sign Language. A visual stimulus enables the toddler to develop their language comprehension as the words take on shape and have more meaning to the toddler. Sign language for Toddlers has also been shown to improve speech development when accompanied with the spoken word. Parent’s who use baby sign language are more likely to spend quality time with their toddlers and take a vested interest in their development.

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.

Toddler Signing is a wonderful method for early communication development.

When I first started to sign to my baby, she was only 4 months old. I have to admit, at this age it seemed like it would be a long time before she would be signing back to me. Now she is 16 months old and I am so glad that we did engage in teaching her baby signing from such as early age, the benefits are just amazing. Ian has been signing for many many years, he has worked in the disability sector as a sign language instructor. I am a research scientist and as a parent I am very proactive in researching what the best thing is for my kids. In fact, it was Ian’s idea and goal to have his baby daughter learn sign language; he has had this dream for a long time now. You should see how he is with her toddler signing now, he is so proud.

When we started our sign language journey with Scarlette she was so little. There had been some complications but she was a very healthy but a very little baby. I remember her little innocent face, taking it all in as we talked to her. I have always been really animated with my little ones, I know how much they love to read your facial expressions. Introducing toddler signing just gave us another medium for interaction. It was met with a little bit of curiosity to begin with but I am sure that she understood us after 2 weeks of consistent signing. We followed the principals of Toddler Interpreter, where you only begin with the first sign until they shown a ’sign’ of recognition. For us, it was very clear. We would sign for ‘milk’ and she would get excited. At this very early stage we knew she understood because she would squeal, flap her arms and look pleased. That really is all they can do at that early age. It was only a short while though until she was old enough to look around the corner and make sure that I had in fact prepared a ‘milk’ for her. I will always remember this day because I was walking down the hallway explaining to her after she woke that it was time for ‘milkies’. She tipped her head around the corner as I approached the kitchen to see that her bottle was waiting in the warmer. I rang Ian so excited…she had got it! My signing and talking was actually making sense to a 5 month old baby and I was just amazed.

This really was a small step now that I look back at our toddler signing journey. It was going to be a long time until she could sign to us however I didn’t care, it had already proven to work for me. As long as she could understand me we were half way there. The thing that grabs me the most is how much these tiny little babies understand. It isn’t until you provide them with a means of communication that you actually get to see how much of what we say makes sense to them.

Looking back at how far she has come I am so proud of her. She uses her toddler signs every day to let us know what is going on in her world. There is such a big personality in there that I am sure wouldn’t have developed as much it it weren’t for the fact that we introduced toddler signing to her at such an early age. Now when she sees a puppy dog she furiously signs for ‘puppy’, when she needs to go to the toilet she does the sign for ‘toilet’ and when she is hungry or thirsty she also signs to us. She has about 20 toddler signs that she can do very well now and there are new ones each day. In fact the other day, she did the sign for ‘baby’ which is one that we hadn’t shown her for many months. She also gives us loads of kisses and cuddles which is all you can ask for as a parent. We are so lucky to have a healthy and happy little baby and even luckier to have one that is so clever with her little hands.

Toddler Interpreter teach Baby Signs and they offer the best Free Baby Sign Language Chart  available online and their Baby Sign Language Book is used by parents and childcare centres in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to Teach Baby Sign Language. Sign Language for Babies is easy using Toddler Interpreter’s comprehensive Baby Sign Language Dictionary. Sign Language for Toddlers can help reduce frustration and Baby Sign Language has proved very beneficial for Premature Babies, children with Velo Cardio Facial Syndrome and other babies at risk of developing a speech delay.