Chatterbub Signing School

You are invited to the New Mom Summit….

I have been invited to be part of the New Mom Summit, where I will be joining 18 other experts who will be sharing insights and knowledge about birth, postpartum, breastfeeding, and newborn care.

It’s a FREE event starting on Nov 1, thanks to our very knowledgeable and generous host, Leah Parker.

Leah aims to empower new moms and seasoned moms with knowledge to reduce distress and overwhelm and increase overall wellness.

The Summit is virtual event and will run for almost three weeks. You will have direct to specialists who will provide a complete and accurate picture of early motherhood so you can enter into this journey with your eyes wide open and have all your questions answered.

To get your ticket, register at www.Balancedmommas.com/new-mom-summit

Can’t wait to see you there!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

We love Sensory play. At Chatterbub, we love simple sensory activities that don’t require a long shopping list or extensive set up.

You and your little one will love this Ice Activity. Freeze a toy/object and your baby can explore the shape of the ice mass, its cold texture and discover that ice melts and transforms into water. Your baby will experience a sense of achievement as the water melts, and they discover the frozen toy/object.

Not only will this activity be a fun opportunity to sign, but it is also great for language development, imaginative play and is guaranteed to bring joy and excitement to your day.

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Method

· Fill a container with water and then freeze overnight.
· Toys such as cars, plastic sea animals, rubber ducks and building blocks work well. You could also pick some flowers and freeze.

Signs to practice

· Car
· Duck
· Marine animals such as fish, shark, crocodiles
· Flowers
· Cold
· Water
· Hot (Pour warm water on the ice to make it melt more quickly)
· All Done

The Chatterbub Baby Sensory Activity Guide is one of the bonuses you receive when you sign up for our How-To-Guide for Baby Sign Language online course. Www.chatterbub.com

Sensory activities or messy play provide a great opportunity for language development.

The Mud Bath is one of our favourite activities and it is easy to set up too and this is a great activity to practice signs and animal sounds.

Your baby will love scrubbing their toy animals in a mud bath. You may already have some Duplo farm/zoo animals you can use, otherwise, plastic figurines are easy to find in most toy shops.

The following signs work really well with the Mud Bath:
✨Dirty
✨Clean
✨Water
✨Bath
✨Dog
✨Duck
✨Pig
✨Cow
✨Sheep

And here is the recipe for the ‘mud’.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups flour
2 cups water

Method
· Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir until smooth.
· Using equal parts flour and water gives a nice consistency but if you’d like thicker mud, then add more flour.
· If the mixture starts to solidify, just add a little more water until you get the right consistency.
· Next step, clean the animals. Fill an additional bowl with water and wash the animals.

📷 .and.learn.activities

Signing in the Supermarket!

You are likely to visit the grocery store/supermarket at least once a week with your baby/toddler. This ‘routine’ activity will likely be a highlight of your week. As you wander through the colorful aisles full of fruits, vegetables and packaged foods, you will be surrounded by opportunities for signing, and as a result, language and vocabulary exposure.

You can talk and sign to your baby about all of the food your family eats at home, and if you are shopping with an older toddler, you can ask for help to collect certain items and put in the shopping cart/trolley. The ‘’where is game is also a great one. Challenge your little one to spotting food item. They’ll love being actively involved in your shopping trip.

Bath time is not only a great way to wind down and scrub your baby clean, it a great opportunity for language development. It’s also a great time to practice signs and for introducing new signs/words as your baby is likely to be relatively relaxed and less mobile.

Your baby with take a bath daily, but no bath needs to be the same.

Here is a list of activities that you can incorporate into your bath routine that are not only rich in language, but are fun and likely to motivate your baby to communicate.

🛁Blow bubbles – Blow bubbles to your baby while they soak. This will have a calming effort (on both of you) and help you both wind down.
💦Read a book – Bath books are great addition (They are plastic so are designed to be played with in the bath). We love Sandra Boynton’s Bath Time.
⛵️Pretend play – Switch up the toys that you put into the bath. Some of our favorites include boats, baby dolls, ducks and fish
🌻Sensory Bath – Pick some flowers from the garden and add to the bath. Your baby will enjoy touching, smelling and looking at the pretty flowers.
🖌Art session – Take the opportunity before you run the bath to get messy and finger paint the bath. Use yoghurt and food colouring to make edible finger paint, which is super easy to rinse off.

Baby sign language will help you understand your baby's needs faster

Amazing, right?

While pointing is a helpful tool for communication and a great way for your baby to get your attention, signing takes communication to the next level.

By using signs, your baby can be very specific about what he/she wants. Perhaps it is milk, a snack, or maybe they want more of something, such as a snack or at playtime, more bubbles, music or perhaps time on the swing.

Baby sign language also provides lots of opportunities to grow your baby’s vocabulary. Through signing, parents will have an increased ability to understand what their baby is saying.

LOOK AND FIND BOOKS

Hands up if you are a family of book lovers!

My daughter really loved Axel Scheffler’s Pip and Posy, Look and Say book. This book provided hours of fun for our family.

Pip and Posy Look and Say fits into what we call the Look and Find category of books, which are great for building language skills, vocabulary, listening and comprehension skills and memory too.

Your little one will love the thrill of locating and pointing at objects either that they recognise or you’ve asked them to find. Look and Find books also provide loads of opportunities for open-ended conversation about all things you see on the page.

Pip and Posy, Look and Say is best suited to an older toddler. If you have a younger baby, any brightly coloured book with familiar objects on the page will work for your own Look and Find game!

Do you have any Look and Find books in your collection?

We’d love to hear about your favourites…