Signing and singing with children go together as naturally as peas and carrots. In fact, lots of children’s songs already have motions to them, but be careful to be clear that they’re “motions” and not actual signs.
Pick out one or two words to sign from each song, instead of trying to sign all the words. Pick words that occur frequently in the song or are part of the climax of the song so that you can be dramatic and call attention to those particular signs. And don’t forget to have fun!
The Itsy Bitsy Spider in sign language
At first, you may want to pick out just one or two of the following signs to use with baby:
Water
Rain
Sun
Spider
After you choose the one or two signs you’re going to focus on with baby, sing and sign away:
The itsy bitsy SPIDER
Climbed up the WATER spout.
Down came the RAIN
And washed the SPIDER out.
Out came the SUN
And dried up all the RAIN.
And the itsy bitsy SPIDER
Climbed up the spout again.
Old MacDonald in sign
A favorite among children of all ages, this song is a great way to practice the various animal signs. The following example uses DUCK:
Old MacDonald had a farm
e-i-e-i-o
On this farm he had a DUCK
e-i-e-i-o
With a quack quack here [sign DUCK as you say “quack”]
And a quack quack there
Here a quack, there a quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm
e-i-e-i-o
Row, Row, Row Your Boat in sign
Two signs are great to use while singing this song:
Boat
Happy (used for merrily)
Here you go:
Row, row, row your BOAT
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily [sign HAPPY as you sing “merrily”]
Life is but a dream.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in sign
At first, you can choose among these signs:
Star
What
Up
Now that you have your signs, here’s your song:
Twinkle, twinkle little STAR
How I wonder WHAT you are
UP above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little STAR
How I wonder WHAT you are
Baa, Baa Black Sheep in sign
This song is a fun way to help children understand that wool comes from sheep. In fact, the sign for SHEEP mimics shearing a sheep.
In addition, you can substitute other colors for black in the song, giving you an opportunity to practice some color signs (here's BLACK to get you started).
And if you’d like to sign the word YES in the song (just because it’s fun), form the sign by making an ASL letter S and simply pretending it’s a head nodding “yes.”
Got it? Good! Here you go:
Baa, baa BLACK SHEEP
Have you any wool?
YES sir, YES sir
Three bags full
One for my master
One for my dame
One for the little boy
Who lives in the lane
Baa, baa BLACK SHEEP
Have you any wool?
YES sir, YES sir
Three bags full
Mary Had a Little Lamb in sign
This song is always a hit with babies and toddlers. Note that the sign for LAMB is the same as SHEEP, and here's the sign for SNOW:
With that info in your back pocket, you’re good to go:
Mary had a little LAMB
Little LAMB, little LAMB
Mary had a little LAMB
Its fleece was WHITE as SNOW