Australian Baby Hands Blog

This weekend we will be at the second event for The Baby Show which launched last year in Sydney.

It was a really good show in Sydney and we expect this event in Melbourne to be just as good with wide range of attractions and speakers.

I will be speaking on Friday 5th March at 3.30pm and again on Saturday 6th March at 2.40pm, about Baby Sign Language and Auslan, visit here for full details.

We also have free tickets worth $20 for all our blog readers.  Just click here to download your ticket and print out a copy to bring along with you on the day.

We are at stand 161, just inside the door on the left near the baby feed and change area so I hope to see you there.

If you are not in Melbourne but live up in North Queensland Emma our Cairns baby sign teacher will be at the North Queensland Baby & Childrens Expo this weekend as well.

If you live in Cairns, or just happen to be visiting this weekend, then you might like to attend the North Queensland Baby & Childrens Expo at the Cairns Convention Centre.

Our Cairns Baby Sign Teacher Emma will be there this weekend, the 6th – 7th of March so pop along and take the time to say hello and ask Emma any questions you may have about baby sign.

We also have discount voucher to save $5 of the admission of 2 adults and up to 3 children which you can get by clicking here and downloading.

The exhibition runs from 9am to 4pm both days with a host of activities for the kids as well as some useful talks and information for the parents.  For a full list of the weekends activities visit here:

We will also be exhibiting at the Baby Show in Melbourne at the same weekend from the 5th – 7th of March so if you are Victoria I hope to see you there

As I posted yesterday we got a short notice call about a story that The Morning Show wanted to do about Baby Hands and Baby Sign Language which we shot in the studio in Sydney this morning.

For those of you that missed it you can watch it below here, I’d recommend pressing play and letting it buffer for a few seconds (this will also allow you to skip over the ad at the beginning).

Thanks very much to Katica and baby Marley for coming in with me.  They have been attending classes with Catherine, our in Inner West teacher.  Marley did really well under the bright lights and pulled out quite an impressive array of signs.  If you watch closely you will even see that when he is first asked to sign “cat” he signs “where” as he is looking for the cat.

If you would like to attend a class on Baby Sign then please contact one of our teachers.

If you can organise a group of 5 or more then, as the organiser, you will get the class for free.

Happy Signing

Jackie

We  just got confirmation that the story The Morning Show on Channel 7 wanted to do on us has been brought forward and will be going to air live tomorrow.

This was supposed to be getting recorded tomorrow morning but now we’re going live instead so hope you can tune in

* The Morning Show
* Channel 7
* Friday 5th Feb
* 11:05am Sydney time

Hopefully I wont look to nervous, I still find it a bit scary going on TV, especially live.

See you tomorrow….

Jackie

From myself and all the teachers here at Australian Baby Hands, we’d like to wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

It’s been a wonderful year for me personally to look back on, with a definite highlight being getting married to my partner Gary back in March.

I hope that you get to take some time to reflect back on your year and look at all the good things that have happened.

I know that many of you will have become parents for the first time and also many of you will become parents for the first time in 2010 which is very exciting.

I look forward to hearing more of your baby signing stories next year and hope that you and your family’s have a safe and happy festive season.

Happy Signing and best wishes

Jackie

Just a very quick post to let you know that you only have a few days before our Christmas special offer finishes.

If you enter “christmas09” into the discount coupon section of the shopping cart then you will receive 10% off your order of any Australian Baby Hands product.

(see here for instructions if you have any trouble)

This includes our great big cuddly Sammy the Signing Bear who we have just got back in stock just in time for Christmas.

He makes a great present for your little one and will provide lots of fun on Christmas day as they unwrap their new toy and then you can make Sammy magically come to life by placing your hands into the special sleeves of his jumper.

Hurry up and get your orders in quickly as we only have a few days left to be able to get your order out in the post to try and ensure that you receive it in time for Christmas.

Happy Signing

Jackie

With less than a week to go, it will soon be December and the count down to your baby’s first/second/third… Christmas is fast approaching.

I love sharing the joy of Christmas with others.  I’m always one of the first to put up my Christmas tree each year and I start the Christmas carols from early December to help get us in the Christmas mood.

So for this reason, I thought I would share my love of Christmas with you all through our NEW Christmas themed baby sign language class.  This one off class where you combine the FUN of Christmas and the benefits of play with baby sign language is available from all our teachers now.

In or new Baby Hands Christmas class you will:

• sign and sing your favourite Christmas carols
• learn signs for your favourite Christmas things
• get a sheet of Christmas signs for you to take home and practice
• meet other baby signers  in your local area
• share in the Christmas spirit

Also, with our special offer if you can get 5 or more of your friends together to attend a Baby Hands Christmas class, as the organiser you will get the Christmas class for FREE!

All you have to do is arrange a class with one of our teachers and bring 5 people from your mothers group, playgroup or other friends and you will get the class for free. Talk to one of our teachers to make the arrangements and they can even come to you if it is within a reasonable distance.

If you are a childcare centre, our teachers can come to you and spread the Christmas joy to your staff and children.  The class will introduce staff to a range of Christmas carols which they can continue to share with the children in the run up to Christmas as well as lots of FUN Christmas activities.

Classes are booking up fast so contact your nearest teacher today.

Apologies to those who are to far outside the current areas that our teachers are in to travel to a class.  We will be starting classes in new areas in other States in the New Year.

If you are interested in becoming a Baby Hands Teacher then please contact us and let us know why you would like to become a Baby Hands Teacher and we will get back to you shortly.

This was a few weeks ago now but I have only just received a copy of the story that I could post here in the blog.

The Daily Telegraph called about doing a feature on Baby Sign Language and came round to ask me a few questions and take some pictures. If you didn’t see the article you can read it by clicking on the image.

Happy Signing

Jackie

It’s that time again for another Pregnancy, Babies and Childrens Expo and this one will be in Melbourne on the 16th – 18th of October (at least my partner is happy this year its not on his birthday like last time).

We will be there over the whole weekend and would love to see you there if you are popping in.

You can get a free ticket for the show here and we will be on stand number D24 which is located in the middle right, near the Imaginative Play Corner.

Do make sure you print off your free ticket and bring it with you as it costs $16 on the door on the day to get in if you do not have one.

• VENUE    The Melbourne Exhibition Centre  Southbank
• DATES     Friday 16 – Sunday 18 October 2009
• TIMES     Friday 10am – 4pm (last admission 3pm)
  Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm (last admission 4pm)
• ADMISSION     Adults: $16   Pensioners: $12   Children under 14: FREE

There will be lots of products on display for the weekend, many of which you wont get to see anywhere else.

There is also free entertainment for the kids with daily shows from Bob the Builder as well as

• Hey Dee Ho Music
• Imaginative Play Corner
• Playgroup Activities
• Toddler Kindy Gymbaroo Circuits

Hope to see you there at the weekend and hear a few of your signing stories.

Jackie

Im really happy today to announce the launch of our latest classes in Sydneys Inner West.

Catherine, our latest Baby Hands teacher, has started her classes covering Sydney’s Inner West area with a fixed venue at the historic Woodstock Community Centre in Burwood.

As well as regular classes in Burwood Catherine is available for private lessons for Mothers Groups, Play Groups and Childcare Centres in the area.

Catherine has been signing with her own son since he was 3 months old using Australian Baby Hands, by 5 months he understood several signs and now at 13 months he has a wide range of signs that he uses everyday.  The benefit that signing brings to the communication level that Catherine now enjoys with her son inspired Catherine to want to teach others how amazing using baby sign can be.

We are lucky to have her on board and if you would like to join Catherine at one of her classes please contact her through the details here.

If you are interested in a class that is in another area please check our Baby Sign Classes locations page.

Happy Signing

Jackie