Bee

Signing: Bee is a two part ASL sign that looks like a bee landed on your cheek and you swatted it away. Start the sign with you dominant hand open, thumb and index fingers touching to make a little bee. Touch the tips of these two fingers against your cheek, then open your hand and swat past the spot on your cheek with the open hand.

In baby sign language, we will sometime just do the first part of the motion to make it simpler for baby. We will also sometimes start by using the word bug, to describes bees and all other insects.

Usage: While teaching the bee sign, be sure to accompany the sign and word with lots of buzzing sounds. Animating the sign with a sound make it much more vivid to baby. Babies tend to be attracted to signs like bee and ant, because there are plenty of opportunities to see them in real life. Once you teach these signs, you will be surprised at how often baby’s sharp eyes spot them.

As baby gets more confident with her signs, you can start to link the bee to the environment or describing the creature’s motion. The bee is landing on the flower.

Learn More: Baby Sign Language Flashcard Coming Soon.