Free Printable Sign Language Words & Letter Activities

Sign Language is a very useful skill to teach your children. It is something I even started incorporating into our home by teaching all of our children baby sign language. These free printable sign language words & letter worksheets and activities are a great way to introduce your kids to ASL.

Using printable sign language words can be good visuals for those learning ASL. These free printable sign language words, free ASL flashcards and other resources can be a great addition to your ASL studies.

American Sign Language (ASL) as a Foreign Language

Of all the foreign languages that we can expose ourselves to and learn in our homeschool, American Sign Language or ASL has been one of my favorites. Even just learning a few key phrases and signs can be very helpful in the real world.

My son used some of these resources when he was in our high school and has been able to use many of the signs he learned as he worked as a cashier at our local grocery store.

What are the Benefits of Learning Sign Language?

Learning sign language is not only a benefit to students. Imagine the gift they can give those who rely on ASL for communication. Can you begin to think what life would be like if you were surrounded, every day, by people who could not communicate well with you? How would it make you feel? How frustrating would it be?

By acquiring a knowledge of ASL, even if not as a second language, and being able to communicate using it, your students can give a great gift to those who depend on it.

They can communicate with deaf people in the language they are most comfortable with. They can cross the bridge of silence that tries to cut them off from the rest of society and show them by their actions that they care about them and they have value.

Facts About Sign Language (ASL)

There are some important facts about sign language that you might like to familiarize yourself with before you get started. For example:

• Did you know that different countries and different languages have different sign languages as well? ASL is not a universal language used by everyone in the deaf community.
  
  For example: American Sign Language is used by English language speakers in the United States, but Australian Sign Language, British Sign Language, French Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language, and many others are used around the world. The world of sign language is diverse, depending on where you live in the world.
  
• Did you know that the facial expressions and body language you use while signing as well as where your hands are positioned in relation to your body all have an impact on sign language? Sign languages are visual languages, so everything you communicate visually is part of what you are saying.
  
• Did you know that the only completed translation of the Bible into a signed language is in American Sign Language – and that it wasn’t available until 2020? That means every other person who is deaf in the world is still waiting for the Bible in the language he or she truly understands and relates to.
  
• Did you know that to sign people’s names in ASL, you don’t just spell the names. Each person has a unique name sign that is used, and the sign is traditionally given to them by the Deaf community, not the hearing community. In this way, the names of people who are deaf are even more personal than names used by the hearing community.
  
• Did you know that just like you don’t speak all sentences at the same pace, you don’t sign everything at a steady pace either? Some signs are fast while others are slow. 
  
• Did you know that the ASL sign for “I love you” combines the sign for the letters, “I” and “L”? Extend the little finger (the letter “I”) and your index finger and thumb (the letter “L) while keeping your ring finger and middle finger down.

Free Sign Language Worksheets and Resources

If you are looking for some free worksheets and activities to start your lessons, be sure to grab these options from Homeschool Giveaways:

More ASL Activities

We’ve also found a few other ASL activities from across the internet to help your students with there lessons:

• ASL Preschool Printables from Preschool Mom has free sign language alphabet printable worksheets for every letter of the alphabet in upper and lowercase. This printable set is great for young children.
  
• 40 Early Signs Descriptions and Locations – This post is super helpful with ideas for teaching specific ASL words to your beginning signers.
  
• American Sign Language Alphabet Printables – Have fun decoding secret messages using these sign language worksheets and printable sign language words.
  
• 50 Common Sign Language Words for Beginners – Here are some great resources such as: free printable sign language words flash cards, My Sign Language Word Book, free printable worksheets and more!

Learn American Sign Language Words with FREE Lessons

• Life Print has a completely free ASL resource called American Sign Language University. There are so many free sign language lessons. You can learn 100 basic signs for common words, finger spelling, and complete sign language lessons.
  
  There are printable sign language words as well as video lessons. They have an awesome self study schedule that my son used to teach himself with the videos.
  
• Look We’re Learning has 11 different free sign language lessons and videos, with free ASL printables to go along with them.
  
• Pocket Sign ASL – This is a great site that has visual courses that teach sign language. Once you sign in, you can do lessons each day and it saves your progress. You can move on to a new lesson after you complete one. This is great for middle school or high school students that can use them for some independent work.
  
• Signing Savvy is an ASL website that can help you learn sign language. You can watch videos,  build your own word lists and share them with others, create virtual asl flashcards and quizzes, download printable sign language flash cards for word walls, build sign phrases and more!

ASL Dictionary to learn Sign Language Words

Hand Speak is an online resource for sign language and Deaf culture in North America for language learning, practice, tutorials and self-study.

There is an online ASL dictionary, ASL for kids, a children’s ASL dictionary, learn the ASL letters of the alphabet and sign language numbers. There are sign language videos for teaching sign language word of the day video, and more.

Final Thoughts

If you want to teach your kids to learn a foreign language, we highly recommend American Sign Language as a place to start. Who knows, it could even become a life long career for them!