Unlike adults, kids have the wondrous ability of being able to pick up a new language in record time! So why not expand their range by teaching them the basics of sign language? Teaching ASL to your children is a sure way to get them moving, make them more aware of their own body language and facial expressions, and unite them as an ally to the hard-of-hearing culture. Take a look at these fun-filled ways to teach your students all about ASL and engage them in lessons that they’ll cherish for years to come.
1. Use Sign Language as A Warm Up Every Morning
Switch up your daily warm-up routine for a couple of weeks by having your kids learn one or two of these top 25 ASL signs. Challenge them to pick up one sign a day that they can then practice in pairs to perfect the correct movements.
Learn More: YouTube
2. Write A Play in Sign Language
Here’s an activity that’s fantastic for your imaginative thinkers! Invite your class to come up with a short play by having them respond to various situation prompts using ASL. Divide them into groups or have them work alone to see what interesting conclusions they can come up with.
Learn More: Twinkl
3. BOOMERANG Fun!
If your learners have access to a smartphone, this super simple activity is sure to be a hit with your whole class. Encourage them to put their ASL skills to the test by having them create fun Boomerangs of themselves doing certain signs and then sharing them with their friends.
Learn More: YouTube
4. Create an ASL Choreography of Popular Song Choruses
YouTube has tons of music videos created by the Hard of Hearing Community. In this activity, you’ll invite your kiddos to select one song and then have them spend a little time every day learning the chorus in ASL before letting them perform their songs for their classmates!
Learn More: YouTube
5. Emojis to Demonstrate ASL Facial Expressions
There’s more to ASL than just hand movements, as a signer’s expressions play a massive role too! To introduce your pupils to the art of expressing their emotions, have them create a list of statements with an emoji for each one that would match an ASL signer’s expressions. If they need a helping hand, check out this helpful website that explains the use of ASL expressions and how they’re incorporated into ASL.
Learn More: Boise State University
6. Brainstorm Ways Students Already Use Sign Language Daily
Your children have probably used a few signs in their everyday lives without them even knowing it! Teach them how much they already use these signs by tasking them to work in groups or individually to come up with at least three ASL signs that we already use in our culture – think waving, snapping, or a thumbs up.
Learn More: Cudoo
7. Sign Language Doodles
This amazing artist has designed an ASL alphabet with doodles playing on hands making signs. Have your budding artists check out the list to provide them with some inspiration before you challenge them to come up with their own doodles to add to various ASL signs.
Learn More: Adobe Stock
8. ASL Sentence Structure Puzzles
Here’s a quick worksheet-style lesson that your kiddos can complete once they’ve mastered a few of the ASL basics, like sentence structure. Simply hand out these engaging worksheets before you challenge them to convert each English sentence into the grammatically correct ASL structure.
Learn More: Teacher Jeanell
9. ASL Jeopardy
Who doesn’t love an exciting game of Jeopardy? In this version, you’ll challenge your students to a thrilling round of ASL jeopardy where they’ll play in teams to see who can rack up the most points by signing the correct answers.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
10. ASL Math Class
ASL isn’t just about words and letters, but numbers too! Teach your kids ASL numbers from 1 to 20 before tasking them with creating formulas using signs. When they’re finished, allow them to present their formulas to their class who’ll then have to answer their sums in ASL.
Learn More: Printablee
11. Holiday Cards
Get your children into the festive spirit with this ASL holiday activity. Start by showing them this informative video where they’ll learn the different signs that represent various holidays like Christmas, Easter, and even Earth Day. Next, invite them to create their very own ASL holiday cards by allowing them to print images of the signs, draw them on their own, or make them on a computer.
Learn More: YouTube
12. Deaf and HoH Culture Day!
Hosting a HoH Culture Day would be a fantastic way to raise awareness about deaf culture in your classroom. Invite a deaf or hard-of-hearing speaker to spend a day with your kiddos or check out this inspiring TED Talk where they’ll discover more about life for the hard of hearing.
Learn More: YouTube
13. Deaf and HoH Weather Channel
In this interactive activity, your kids will spend a week being your classroom weather forecasters! Simply start by introducing them to some basic weather signs before allowing them to take turns throughout the week to present the forecast of the day using ASL.
Learn More: YouTube
14. Use Apps
Why limit your class to in-person resources when apps provide a great way to learn and track their progress? Peruse through this incredible list of ASL apps that you can incorporate into their daily lessons. “Hands on ASL” is one of my favorites as it creates a 3D model of each sign which will be perfect for your more visual learners.
Learn More: Healthline
15. Walking In Their Shoes
With this captivating activity, you’ll invite your students to step into the shoes of those who are hard of hearing while also teaching them the important value of empathy while doing it. Start by dividing them into two groups, hearing and deaf, where the deaf group will have to work through simple situations without the use of their hearing. For instance, you could give them verbal instructions without facing them to really get them thinking about the simple abilities that they may take for granted.
Learn More: National Deaf Children’s Society
16. Review a Movie Starring a Deaf Character
Have your kiddos ever read or seen El Deafo? It’s a wonderful cartoon about a deaf bunny making his way in the world. Invite them to watch this endearing cartoon before encouraging them to review it from the perspective of a hearing student.
Learn More: YouTube
17. Accessibility Lessons
Introduce your older pupils to the topic of accessibility with this in-depth lesson. Begin by having them choose an accessibility feature like assistive listening devices or closed captioning. You’ll then challenge them to do a bit of research on their chosen topic before allowing them to present their findings with brief explanations and a few images or videos.
Learn More: NCDHHS
18. Self-Recorded Monologue
Ignite your learners’ creativity by having them create a self-recorded monologue! This educational video will help them understand the basics of conversational ASL which they can then use to write a small script, using signs to introduce themselves.
Learn More: YouTube
19. ASL Quizzes
Students love to challenge one another, so why not have them design quizzes that they can use to test their classmates? Task them with using Quizlet to create ASL multiple-choice quizzes that you’ll then share amongst their peers to see how far they’ve developed their ASL skills.
Learn More: Quizlet
20. Celebrity Slide Show
In this activity, your kiddos will get to learn more about famous and prominent people in society who are deaf or hard of hearing. Invite them to create and present slide shows to their peers where they’ll insert information about well-known individuals who’ve surmounted the challenges of being deaf.
Learn More: Slideshare
21. Have Students Spell Their Names
Teach your children about the ASL alphabet by treating them to this creative art project. Simply print out a bunch of hand signs before prompting your kiddos to find each letter that makes up their name. They’re then free to decorate their signs with colorful markers or crayons before gluing them onto a page in the correct order.
Learn More: Empowered by Them
22. Spell Sight Words
Familiarize your little ones with basic sign language words with this sight word spelling exercise. Have them pick up a random ASL card before challenging them to match the correct letters of the alphabet to each hand sign.
Learn More: Ms. Giraffe’s Class
23. Sign Search
Your older pupils will get to show off their sign language skills in this tricky word search. Challenge them to uncover the hidden words amongst the jumbled ASL letters by encouraging them to connect signs together to spell out and reveal each word.
Learn More: Life Print
24. Sign Language Art
Here’s another wonderful activity that not only makes room for creativity in your classroom, but diversity and inclusion too! Start by having your young minds paint the background of their canvas before prompting them to carefully sketch out the hand signs that will either make up their name or a powerful message.
Learn More: Artistic Freedom
25. Memorization Game
A memory game is a fantastic way to help your kids along in their learning process, especially when it comes to ASL. After they’ve mastered the basics of the ASL alphabet, invite them to brush up on their knowledge by practicing signs with these sign language flashcards.
Learn More: Thrifty Mommas Tips
26. Snakes and Ladders
Your class will love reviewing basic number signs with a fun-filled game of Signs and Ladders. Similar to the classic game of Snakes and Ladders, the aim is to get their token to the end of the grid by rolling a pair of dice. However, in this version, there’s also a possibility that they’ll land on a shape, in which case you’ll prompt them to complete a task card to practice their signs.
Learn More: I Can Sign
27. Sign Letter Match
This letter sign matching activity is a fabulous choice for your younger learners in deaf education or your kids who are beginning a sign language class. Simply pass out these puzzle pieces to them and then challenge them to match the letters with their corresponding sign.
Learn More: Look We’re Learning
28. Calendar Sign Time
Do you start your days off with a calendar time of some sort? If so, it’ll make the perfect time to introduce your children to a few common expressions in sign language. Throughout the year, encourage them to learn how to sign things like time, seasons, numbers, weeks, and months. You can even teach them how to sign different types of weather!
Learn More: Breezy Special Ed
29. Task Box Activities
Looking for a way to teach your kiddos sign language in a hands-on way? Try implementing these interactive task box activities into their daily routine. Simply fill your task box with a variety of ASL activities that they can then use to practice their ASL basics.
Learn More: Etsy
30. ASL UNO
What better way to incorporate sign language into your classroom activities than with a game of ASL UNO? In this version of the iconic game, your young minds will use these special UNO cards to challenge each other to rounds of fun, and instead of shouting “UNO” at the end, they’ll need to sign “1” instead!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
31. Classroom Management with Signs
Minimize the classroom chaos with these basic sign language words that you can use to manage your class’s behavior. For instance, if you’re in the middle of teaching and one of your learners needs to use the bathroom, they can show you the bathroom sign instead of raising their hand in the middle of your lesson.
Learn More: TPT
32. Sign Match
Your little ones will become ASL masters in no time with this simple matching activity! Simply provide them with an alphabet mat before challenging them to match various hand signs to the corresponding letters on their mats.
Learn More: Two Pink Peonies
33. Clip Charts
Here’s a hands-on way to encourage your learners to practice their ASL signs. They’ll get to exercise their little hands as you task them with using clothes pegs to select the correct noun and verb that’s shown on each picture card.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
34. Coloring Pages
Adorn your classroom in color with these basic ASL alphabet pages. They’re the perfect tool to help your kiddos connect hand signs and letters to objects by inviting them to color in the pictures on these creative coloring sheets.
Learn More: Two Pink Peonies
35. Building Names and Words
Your kids best retain knowledge when they’re able to become active learners and participate in their learning process. One way of doing this is to engage them in some hands-on activities, like these interactive worksheets where you’ll task them with spelling their names with signs, building words with letter signs, or using ASL to write down words.
Learn More: Miniature Masterminds
36. Learn Food Signs
Immerse your kiddos in the delicious world of food signs with this dazzling video! These awesome videos will help them grasp the meanings of various food signs by breaking down each sign in slow motion to give them a better understanding of how each sign works.
Learn More: YouTube
37. Sign Language Valentine
Spread the love on Valentine’s Day with these ASL love cards. In this funky craft project, you’ll invite your children to trace their hands, cut them out, and then paste their fingers down into a love sign. If you’ve already got your Valentine’s Day activities sorted, why not try out a St. Patrick’s Day theme where you’ll have your learners create a “luck” sign?
Learn More: Taming Little Monsters
38. Matching Letter Signs
While this specific resource is holiday-themed, it’s easily customizable to meet the needs of your young minds. In this whimsical Christmas-themed activity, you’ll engage them in matching upper and lowercase letters to their corresponding sign by matching up the tiers of mini Christmas trees.
Learn More: A Day in Our Shoes
39. Teaching Safety Signs
If your little ones end up in a situation where they’re unable to speak or make a noise, these signs might just save a life! Simply work through this helpful list of signs that you can teach them to use in situations where they may be in danger or when they need to alert an adult.
Learn More: For Dummies
40. Adapted Reading Books
As a teacher, we’re pretty sure you’re always looking for various ways to differentiate your lessons or teaching materials. This can prove to be especially difficult when it comes to ASL. That’s why we’ve included this amazing ASL resource where you’ll engage your students of all levels in adapted reading, where they can interact and physically participate in their reading time.
Learn More: Mrs. Burgen’s Sign Me Up
41. Sign Language Songs
Here’s a super cute sing-along that’s been specially created for your deaf or hard-of-hearing students. Invite them to belt out the tunes to this color song where they’ll be able to follow along with each word by signing out the colors. Your hearing pupils are also welcome to sing along and learn how to sign different colors.
Learn More: Living Montessori Now
42. Hand Sign Scrabble Tiles
Looking for an innovative way to switch up your usual classroom Scrabble games? Try these fantastic wooden hand-sign Scrabble tiles! The game will work exactly the same, except in this version you’ll encourage your players to build words using letter signs instead of printed letters.
Learn More: The Laser Cutter
43. Emotions
Give your curious kids the tools they need to express their emotions with this wonderful ASL emotions unit. With these colorful picture cards, you’ll teach them how to communicate their emotions using sign language by prompting them to clip a clothes peg onto the word that correctly describes the signed emotion.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
44. I have, Who has
We’re always on the lookout for activities that you can use to get your little ones moving and excited for a day of learning. This game of “I Have, Who Has” invites your entire class to play! Simply start by giving each of them a card with a letter sign on it and then allowing them to take turns saying “I have the letter sign _” before signing the letter. Encourage them to continue signing until every letter is mentioned.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
