10 Free American Sign Language Resources for Kids

Up until about a year ago, Snapper did not talk at all. There was no babbling, no trying, nothing. While waiting for the testing to start- hearing tests, addition physicals, autism testing, and more- I took a leap and decided to start teaching her sign language. I had taught Tbomb some baby signs when he was an infant, I took sign language in the 5th grade, and I was always fascinated with it. She took to it and started communicating with me in sign language. She picked it up very quickly. I knew then that she wanted to talk.

I had so many family members, friends, and strangers tell me not to teach her sign language, that it would make her "lazy" and not talk. My theory on this is that scientists have shown studies that it helps language development and talking is much easier than sign language. When it came down to it, I listened to my mother's instinct and still believe I made the right choice.

Her developmental pediatrician encouraged this and said that if nothing else, I "was giving her a way to communicate" and helping her anxiety stay at a minimum. Eventually, we found that at some point, she had fluid behind her ears, causing a delay. She was diagnosed with anxiety and expressive language disorder. Her diagnosis also included that she is very intelligent for her age, above developmentally (except for speech), and very socially intelligent. Even though she is socially intelligent, her anxiety and speech delay cause problems when socializing with other children. When playing with other kids, she often reverts to using sign language. One of her speech therapists use sign language when she talks with Snapper, and it really seems to help.

She now talks all the time and can tell me just about anything. I often think about last year and what we were going through and the nervousness I felt- but all I knew what that I love my daughter no matter what and that I would do what it takes to help her and teach her. She is still being monitored and there is something else going on with her needs- but she is going to have to be a little older to figure that out.

I wanted to share with you some of the resources I found while teaching her sign language. We still learn sign language in school because I want my children to know it- you never know when a deaf person or person with language disorder crosses your path.

1. ASL File Folder matching game from FileFolderFun.com

2. Printable sign language basics chart from StartASL

3. ASL cheat sheet from Signing For Dummies

4. ASL video dictionary at SigningSavvy.com

5. I have found a lot of sign language resources at Pinterest - search "free sign language"

6. Free Alphabet Printable Chart at SignLanguagePrintables.com

7. Free Worksheets at Teach-Nology.com

8. Free Courses for kids at ASL-Kids.com

9. Other free printables at TeachersPayTeachers.com

10. There are a ton of free handy resources at KidCourses.com for sign language.

Many of the above resources have a whole library of items that can help you teach your children.

There are a ton of free and inexpensive resources for sign language available. Whether you want to teach it as a second language to your children, learn it yourself, or have a child with a need to learn it, there are resources available, even if you do not have funds available.

If you have resources not listed here, please contact me- I am very interested in cataloging free resources for other mothers.