First Signs - Animals Board Book

First Signs, Animals is designed in New Zealand, featuring the two official languages of New Zealand - Māori and New Zealand Sign Language.

Children understand hundreds of words and concepts before they can communicate verbally, and teaching basic signs to children benefits both them and their parents by providing a means of communication before and during speech development.

“First Signs” from Jenna Brockett gets you started with key signs to help you communicate with your little one, easing frustration (for everyone!) by giving them a means to express their wants and needs.

You can begin introducing signs as early as you want, but studies show that babies as young as six months old can remember and recognise a sign. By eight months, some children are able to imitate gestures or communicate using simple one-word signs.

Keep eye contact as you sign and say the word out loud, using the sign in direct context. For example, sign dog when you see a dog in real life or in a book, and repeat the sign every time you see the animal. It’s very likely that your child will invent their own signs or use variations of a sign you use. If they do, that’s fine. Keep using the ‘official’ sign and let them do their sign. Using sign language as a pre-verbal aid is all about the joy of communicating, not about them ‘getting it right’.