What are the 5 best resources to learn BSL easter signs? If you are a beginner or brushing up on your signing, our list below will help you. There are plenty of resources to choose from.
We’ve collected the best Easter-themed video tutorials, eBooks, and online activities. You can use them to send holiday greetings in BSL or get involved in Deaf community activities.
10 Easter-themed signs in BSL
There are many key terms for Easter that we all know and love. We’ve created a list below. Just a head’s up that you’ll need to know some of the BSL handshapes for some of these signs. Here’s our list to get you started:
Easter: The sign is a cross on the back of your non-dominant hand.
Egg hunt: You fingerspell the word ‘egg’, then use the sign for ‘search’ or ‘hunt’.
Bunny: You use the ‘N’ handshape on both hands at the sides of your head to show a rabbit’s long ears.
Chick: You mimic a chick’s beak by putting the back of your closed fist at the side of your mouth. Then open and close your index finger and thumb like a bird’s beak.
Good Friday: You use the sign for ‘good’ followed by ‘Friday’.
Easter Sunday: Like Good Friday, combine the sign for ‘Easter‘ with the BSL sign for ‘Sunday’.
Happy Easter: The sign for ‘happy’ is then followed by the sign for ‘Easter’.
Easter egg: The sign for Easter is followed by the fingerspelled word ‘egg’. Or you can also use cupped hands together in front of you to show the shape of a chocolate egg and then spell the word egg.
Chocolate: Tap the ‘C’ handshape twice on your chin. You must also mouth the word ‘chocolate’ at the same time.
Hot Cross Buns: For bun you use the sign for cake. You use the sign for ‘hot‘, then sign the cross on the back of your hands
1. Video Tutorials on BSL Easter Signs
YouTube have lots of Easter-related BSL tutorials. Here is our list of recommended YouTube videos:
Lisa Mills shows you a range of BSL signs for Easter-related topics
Commanding Hands with kids showing you how they sign. Dan shows you the different Easter signs. If you are left-handed, this video will help you create the correct signs.
Signed nursery rhymes Cbeebies presenters perform various nursery rhymes and show various BSL signs you can follow
2. Other online BSL video resources
Remark! have a few fun clips. You can guess how many bunnies, eggs or you can count the chicks!
Christian BSL have a number of Easter-related videos showing the different BSL signs for Christian worship. Signs include, Jesus, Palm Sunday and halleluiah.
Lingvano is an app that teaches BSL signs. You can trial it for free and then pay a monthly subscription to continue learning with the app.
3. Print and Digital Resources – easter BSL
Twinkl has a vast range of BSL Resources. They have an educational PowerPoint with key Easter signs, including ‘Easter egg’, ‘chocolate’, and ‘Good Friday’. There are also paper-based activities for kids to do such as a BSL matching game. You can sign up as a parent or teacher and download the resources. Some resources are free and some are paid.
4. BSL Dictionaries with Easter Vocabulary
BSL dictionaries are always useful. SignBSL is a dictionary that has some Easter signs. Unfortunately, signs like ‘hot cross bun’ are missing but Commanding Hands or CBeebies on YouTube both cover Easter-specific signs.
5. E-Books and Guides for Learning BSL
Let’s sign have a range of books with activity sheets to keep kids busy during the school holidays! Some of their resources are free including Easter-related card games.
If you are lucky enough to live near a Deaf centre, make time to to visit and join in the activities. We hope you have fun learning Easter signs in BSL!