After your toddler has learned a good bunch of signs – say 50-100, you might wonder which signs to teach next. You could pick signs at random, but I recommend a different approach.
Seize the moment and let your child decide which words he wants to learn. This is how we added the next 150 or so signs to our son’s vocabulary. We perused a good sign language dictionary to find words that were appropriate and kept these at the ready. When the opportunity arose, we did the sign. It was just about that simple.
When a child is motivated by something you will be surprised by how fast a sign can be adopted – especially with an older baby who already has signing experience. While a word might take several days to master, a sign can be learned in just a few seconds once your toddler understands the mechanisms of signing. If you’re just starting, stick to signing so you can benefit from the true signing explosion where a sign can be added each day and sometimes even more than one.