• Sign as much as possible, interjecting signs into conversations with your child. It is also smart to teach other family members so that they can use signs in conversation with the child as well. To teach the word "eat" you can sign while making the spoon "fly" into the baby's mouth with food on it.

Incorporating simple signs into everyday activities is easy and will allow you to talk with your baby before your baby can talk.

• Use Toys and objects as model for language. With a set of blocks a baby can learn both concrete objects and concepts. For example, when you stack blocks, you can say and sign the word "block" each time you place one on top of the other. But you can also say and sign "up" to indicate the block pile is rising.

Sign language should be fun and keep the attention of your infant or toddler.

• Dolls make for a wonderful opportunity to teach a variety of signs. You can hand an infant or toddler a doll and then help her or him dress it, feed it or comb its hair. Every action can be augmented with a sign for "doll", "dress", "eat", "shoes", "comb-hair", etc. Every time you do an activity with Baby's doll, be sure to use the same words and the same signs.

Being consistent is important when teaching sign language.

• For older children fun ways to learn new signs are by playing games. Some games I use are Peekaboo, Go Fish, Musical Chairs or Freeze Dance. There are many interactive games you can play to stimulate language

Remember the motivational signs we mentioned earlier? Think of physical activities that are common for you and your baby: swinging, bouncing a ball, lifting baby up, and playing with a favorite toy are great examples.

There are so many opportunities for teaching baby sign language. If you don't know where to start, just take a deep breath. The delightful thing about baby sign language is that you can start just about anywhere.

Happy Signing,

Marion Ross, ICI