By: Lydia Stimpson

Before children say their first words, they communicate with you. One of the ways we interact with our young kids is through gestures! From as early as 9-months old, gestures are used during everyday activities to communicate with others, with roughly 2 more gestures added each month to the repertoire.

Maybe your child is already using gestures, but the communication behind it was overlooked!

Check out this list and see if your child is already communicating with you with their gestures —

• 9 months: Give (hold out hand), Shake head (“no”)
• 10 months: Reach (take objects or be picked up), Raise arms (asking to be picked up)
• 11 months: Show (hold up objects), Wave (greeting others)
• 12 months: Open-hand Point, Tap. Both used to draw attention to something of interest. Now, gestures may be accompanied by grunting or early speech sounds.
• 13 months: Clap, Blow a Kiss
• 14 months: Index finger point (reference things at a distance), “Shhh”
• 15 months: Head nod (“yes”), Thumbs up, Hand up (“wait”), Wave in front of face (“stinky”)
• 16 months: Shrug (“I dunno”), High five, peace sign

Children learn all these gestures through observation – by watching and imitating others. Gestures promote vocabulary building, social interaction, and drives their learning.

Try incorporating these gestures into your daily routines at home to promote language development and enhance interactions with your child!