Supports two important signed communication benefits for children.
Three Blind Mice is a very old Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme. Teaching rhymes, like Three Blind Mice, to children provides them with two important communication benefits. This and other nursery rhymes have long bee known to support early learning. Now we know there are many more benefits.
“Three Blind Mice” dates back to the early 1600’s and has been recited and sung to and with children for over 500 years. The music from this rhyme has been used many times in symphonies, as theme songs for TV shows, and in the movies.
We have just added a Three Blind Mice ASL Song Video to our We Play Along YouTube channel for you to learn to sign this old nursery rhyme. If you want to learn the signs for this song first, before you sing and sign it, just watch our Three Blind Mice ASL Instruction Video and learn all the signs you need to know.
As with other nursery rhymes we have posted on We Play Along YouTube channel, signing and signing or reciting these rhymes offers toddlers and preschoolers many benefits. One of the fun things I’ve always loved to do is to teach children animal signs. In Three Blind Mice children get to learn the sign for MICE or MOUSE. Once you begin to use it you can use this sign with other songs and book with mice in them.
We have lots of songs featuring ASL signs for animals. One of the most popular ASL animal songs is Animals of the Alphabet. In this song you get to learn ASL signs for 26 animals including some of my favorites BEAR, CAT and MONKEY. Use these signs every opportunity you can with your toddler and preschooler.
BEAR – Cross your arms at your chest and scratch with your fingers up and down repeatedly
CAT – Make letter F with both hands. Start with signs on either side of your mouth then pull outward. Repeat
MONKEY – With both hand curved, scratch your sides in an upward movement.
Two important benefits of signed communication.
- Signed communication skills are a wonderful way for a child to feel important and needed.
- Signed communication skills allow your child to build a powerful sense of autonomy.
Toddlers and preschoolers are naturally inquisitive and using American Sign Language enables them to expand their vocabulary by empowering them with more words, both signed and spoken. Signing is also fun and challenging for these ages and they love learning it along with spoken words.
By having words that they can express verbally and or with sign they have a much greater ability to express themselves, to talk about what they have found or what they are interested in, to ask questions, or to express how they are feeling.
Offering all children the ability to communicate in multiple ways it allows them to know you hold their thoughts, ideas, and conversation to be important. That you want and need their interaction in your life. It helps young children to feel special in a way that only parents and teachers can do.
Signed and spoken communication skills provide toddlers and preschoolers with a sense of autonomy because they can now tell you what they want or what they are thinking in two separate ways. Signing provides toddlers and preschoolers with more usable words that allow for enhanced conversations, deeper understandings and more ways to express themselves.
Using Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, like Three Blind Mice, offer children a fun and playful way to learn signed words that can be used repeatedly. Repetition of the signed words will foster their use for signed communication and signed communication, as we have stated, will lead to gaining these two important benefits.
Enjoy our We Sign DVD that offers Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme instruction as well as a CD of nursery rhymes you can sing and sign along with your child for hours of family fun and learning. You can also visit our website 4parentsandteachers and see all our wonderful award winning ASL products.
