How to Sign “The More We Get Together” with ASL Signs
Music is a powerful & fun learning tool for young children. Learning familiar melodies through repetition provides opportunity to practice and master new vocabulary – both spoken AND signed. One of my favorite songs to sign & sing with little ones is “The More We Get Together” by Raffi. It has 3 great ASL signs to introduce to young children: more, happy & friend. You don’t have to sign every single word in the song. Picking key words gives you time to model the sign slowly and provides little ones ample time to observe & try it themselves. Using about one sign per line of lyrics is usually about right, but do what feels right for you. If you only use one sign for the whole song, that’s fine too!
Lyrics to “The More We Get Together” by Raffi
How to sign “more” in American Sign Language
To sign “more” simply bring all your fingertips together, and then tap your two hands together twice.
How to sign “happy” in American Sign Language
To sign “happy” brush your flat hand in an upward motion on your chest twice.
How to sign “friend” in American Sign Language
To sign “friend” hook your bent pointer fingers together (this bent finger handshape is the letter “X” in ASL), and then switch them.
How to sign “The More We Get Together” in American Sign Language
Here’s a video of me singing & signing at one of my Tiny Signs classes. The video was captured by a mom (hi Anna!) who’s little guy loved it so much, they would watch the video in between our weekly classes. I also add the sign “together” when we do this. You can too! To sign “together” place your two fists (with thumbs up) together and circle them in front of your body.
Video of How to Sign “The More We Get Together”
You might notice I’m wearing a bear! This stuffed bear was specially made for teaching young children sign language – they love to give “Honey Bear” high fives at the end of class! I don’t know where you can find one (I purchased mine through a sign language training program years ago), but you could easily make one by putting a long sleeve t-shirt over a large stuffed bear and putting your arms through the sleeves.
Free Printable!
Add a few simple ASL signs to songs you already know & love is such an easy way to start building your sign language vocabulary. I hope these instructions and video have demonstrated just how simple it is to get started!
To make it even easier for you, I’ve created a free printable you can download and print, to help you remember the signs. To have the printable delivered straight to your inbox, simply enter your name & email below. You’ll also get updates on new lessons just like this as they become available!