Natural Gestures

“Natural gestures” — or body language — are actions that parents normally do to help children understand a message. For example, if you want to ask your toddler if he or she wants to be picked up, you might stretch out your arms and ask, “Up?” For an older child, you might motion with your arms as you call for him or her to come inside. Or, you might put your first finger over your mouth and nose to show that the child needs to be quiet.

Babies will begin to use this building block naturally if they can see what others are doing. This building block is not taught, it just comes naturally. It is always used with other building blocks.