(ENDED) Baby Signs, sign language for babies review & GIVEAWAY (includes a $50 Babies ‘R Us Gift Card)

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AND COMMENTS ARE CLOSED

The Grand Prize winner is:

#95 Sarah

The runner up winners are:

#373 Kim, #162 Courtney, #347 Angela H., #119 Christine

Some parents today have been using sign language as a way to communicate with their babies.  Yes.  BABIES.  Barely old enough to do more than eat, poop and sleep, infants are communicating using their hands.  I’ve seen the videos of babies hardly old enough to sit up who use their hands to signal their wants and needs.  It is pretty amazing.

There is a new book from Sabuda & Reinhart Pop-Ups called Baby Signs that is a fun and simple way to experience and learn 17 basic sign language words.

Synopsis:

BABY SIGNS is based on American Sign Language and will help encourage the use of non-verbal gestures to communicate. Research has proven that babies who are taught to use signs to express their basic ideas before they can say words are happier because they can communicate with others.

I was sent a copy of Baby Signs to check out and both my kids and I are enjoying learning about sign language.  The book is colorful and sturdy and really brilliantly designed.  Each page contains 2-4 sign language words and descriptions, many of which have interactive tabs to help demonstrate the signs.  They are made of sturdy cardboard with a fun large pop-up in the center.  Each sign is described in words and then illustrated either with a pull tab that imitates the movement of the sign or a pop-up illustration.

I don’t know sign language, and so the book was a learning experience for all of us.  My son Jake, who is 5, LOVED the interactive tabs and repeated each sign as he pulled the tabs.  My daughter Abby, who is 20 months old, was more interested in touching the pop-up parts than anything but did watch as we tried to show her the signs.  At least she didn’t eat this book.  Both of my kids are apparently deficient in paper in their diets because all of their books have been chewed on with big chunks missing from them.

I think this book is a great tool for helping teach babies and toddlers how to communicate their basic needs to their parents. Toddlers are likely to want to touch the pop-ups much like Abby did so care will have to be taken if your toddler is like mine. It is sturdy, but not indestructible. The pull tabs were difficult to pull at first, even for my 5 year old but we found that they loosened up after a few uses and now he can use them just fine. You will obviously need to incorporate props in order to get the babies to understand but this book provides a nice framework for parents and kids to learn to communicate with sign language. And as much as this book was designed for babies and toddlers, my son is really interested in it and enjoys it.

You can purchase your own copy of Baby Signs at Amazon.com.

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF BABY SIGNS PLUS A $50 BABIES ‘R US GIFT CARD

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will get: A Baby Signs Pop-Up book plus a $50 Babies ‘R Us Gift Card

Four (4) First Prize Winners will get: A Baby Signs Pop-Up book

How to enter:

Check out the Baby Signs product page and view the sample pages.  Then come back here and leave a comment telling us something you like about the Baby Signs book, or let us know why you are interested in receiving a copy.

Earn extra entries:

• Subscribe to our updates by RSS or email (see top of our page) – 5 EXTRA
• Add our button (see bottom of home page) or our text link to your sidebar or blogroll – 5 EXTRA
• Comment on any of our other non-giveaway posts (please leave the link or name of the post you left a comment on) – 1 EXTRA PER POST COMMENTED
• Follow me on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (include the link to your tweet) – 1 EXTRA PER DAY
• List a word (whether it is in the book or not) that you think would be useful to teach your baby the sign for – 1 EXTRA PER WORD LISTED (UNLIMITED)

Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

Giveaway ends on Wednesday July 29, 2009 at noon CST and is open to the USA.

Winners will be selected from all eligible entries using Random.org.  Winners will be contacted via email but must respond within 48 hours.

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