Rhymes with Sign is aimed at helping families and educators use their hands to sing their favourite nursery rhymes with Deaf or hearing children at home, preschool, or anywhere!

NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) is the language of the New Zealand Deaf community and one of New Zealand’s official languages. NZSL is a real language, with its own grammatical rules and syntax (Collins-Ahlgren, 1989; McKee et al, 2006).

Why should we learn to sing nursery rhymes in NZSL?
Why not? Learning nursery rhymes in NZSL is a fun and simple introduction to New Zealand Sign Language for anyone.  From a developmental perspective, research has shown babies can learn and use sign language from an early age.  Using sign language together with your little ones stimulates language development and enhances cognitive skills (Baker, 2011; Marschark & Hauser, 2012).

Is there a sign for each word in a song?
Not necessarily.  NZSL isn’t a translation of English, it’s a language of its own.  The Rhymes with Sign team has taken special care to interpret traditional nursery rhymes in a way which bridges the gap between NZSL and English, so the meaning of the signs follows that of the lyrics.  So there might be times when a certain sign may represent two or more words in English, or a word in English may be conveyed by two or more signs.

Is Rhymes with Sign just for New Zealanders?
Not at all!  NZSL belongs to the family of languages known as BANZSL – British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages – so these three languages may be considered as dialects of the same language (Johnston, 2002; McKee & Kennedy, 2000).  So people outside New Zealand, particularly in Australia and the United Kingdom, can use Rhymes with Sign as an effective resource.  Just bear in mind some signs might not be quite like the ones used outside New Zealand!

Ten useful tips to help you get the most out of Rhymes with Sign!

• Practice
  Like anything, practice makes perfect! Lots of practice will make signing easier.

• Eye contact
  Lie baby down or have your child sit facing you to make sure they can see you signing.  If they sign along too, make sure you watch closely – your attention is their reward!

• Facial expressions
  Be expressive and show a range of emotions and actions, e.g. happiness, falling down, disappointment, etc.

• Memorise
  Memorise the signs used in each nursery rhyme to make it easier for you to sign. Make learning the signs a game with your child – see if they can recall the signs before you play the video together.

• Engage
  Lead by example – participate by signing and singing along with the videos and your child. Show you can do it too!

• Sign
  Don’t just sign when you’re using Rhymes with Sign. Adopt a few signs when you’re singing with your child in everyday life – nappy time, play time, class time, bed time – any time!

• Mime
  Sometimes it’s easier to focus on signing when you switch the sound off. You can still mouth the lyrics without using your voice.

• Praise
  Don’t put pressure on your child to sign. Give them lots of praise if they join in – it doesn’t matter if their signing isn’t accurate.

• Captions
  For older children, use the captioning feature and run your finger along the words. Note how each word is highlighted while the song is playing. Using Rhymes with Sign like this is a great way to introduce captions to children who’ll be using them in daily life later.

• Fun
  Enjoy using Rhymes with Sign with your child. Make sure it’s always fun!

Rhymes with Sign would not have been made possible without the support of Penny Went Family NZSL Learning grant and Deafradio.

Check out other NZSL services and resources

Deafradio – deafradio.co.nz
NZSL Online Dictionary – nzsl.vuw.ac.nz
New Zealand Sign Language Teachers Association – nzslta.org.nz
Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand – deaf.co.nz
Kelston Deaf Education Centre – kdec.school.nz
van Asch Deaf Education Centre – vanasch.school.nz
New Zealand Federation for Deaf Children – deafchildren.org.nz
SignDNA: Sign Language Deaf National Archive – signdna.org
NZSL Dictionary app – hewgill.com/nzsldict/