Milk & Cookies: Baby Sign Language

01/17/2014

What does baby sign language have to do with milk and cookies? Well, it all started with a catchy tune, that goes a little something like this:
“Milk and Cookies.
Milk, milk and cookies.
I said, Milk and cookies.
Milk, milk and cookies.
Mommy I’m so hungry,
May I have milk and cookies?”
Now imagine those lyrics to one of those easy beats that get trapped inside your head for long periods of time. As I write this there’s numerous moms in Calgary, that at one point or another have found themselves bopping their heads or tapping their toes to that song. I take some credit for that one, as it was played when I took my Mommy Connections class, and I loved it so much, I requested it be done for this new group of moms in our weekly Mom & Baby classes. (see below for the video and tune)

The song is actually called ‘Snack Rap’ and is one we learned in our baby sign language demo class. It’s not only easy to remember the words, but the signs are very simple to do and easy to learn. In fact learning about how to sign, and doing signs with my one year old was not only fun, but a great way to communicate with her.
Here in Calgary there’s two very talented women, Melody and Laura of ‘My Smart Hands’, who did the baby sign language demo for our classes. If you are interested in doing sign with baby, but want to know more, here’s a few of the intellectual as well as psychological and emotional benefits (information supplied by My Smart Hands: Educating Young Minds):

INTELLECTUAL BENEFITS:
* Learning sign language does NOT delay speech, but rather aids in speech development.
* Using signs helps babies to learn more quickly because they are able to express their thoughts/needs and move on to the next thought process because the parent/caregiver can respond appropriately.
* The kinesthetic elements of signing reinforce verbal skills and support the fact that we all learn differently.
* Studies have shown that sign language strengthens connections in the brain that are used for speech development.

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS:
*It gives your infant a means of expressing emotions.
* Frustration over the inability to communicate is greatly reduced (reduced frustration leads to less biting).
* Happy babies turn into happier toddlers.
* Confidence and self-esteem are improved.
* It enables your baby/toddler to engage in meaningful conversation.
If you are interested in taking one of these classes with your baby, I highly recommend ‘My Smart Hands’ here in Calgary. Both are experienced teachers, with a background in education. They both offer a variety of classes in various parts of the city.

For more information on Calgary South Classes – contact Melody at:
Melody@MySmartHands.com
For more information on Calgary North Classes – contact Laura at:
LauraSmith@MySmartHands.com
And if you want to watch the ‘Snack Rap’ as I mentioned above, you can find it here. But be warned, it is catchy and will get stuck in your head. In a good way!