Yellowknife (Mar 15/06) - Though their fingers may be tiny, babies have all the motor skills they need to learn sign language.

Twenty-month-old Emilie Gaudreault signs the word hot with her mom Natasha McCagg. She is learning French and English, as well as baby sign language. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

Milk, juice, more and enough are some of the signs babies are learning through programs like Weehands here in Yellowknife.

"I started learning sign language when my sister started teaching her daughter," said Weehands instructor Natasha McCagg.

It wasn't until her own daughter began signing that Natasha and her husband got really excited about the program.

McCagg says there are many benefits for babies who learn sign language.

"It enhances communication between the baby and you, and there is evidence it can raise your baby's IQ."

Sign language has become the common language around the house, and 20-month-old daughter Emilie Gaudreault is also learning French and English.

A common misconception about baby sign language is only babies with special needs should learn it. Another aspect parents are concerned about is the possibility that their child won't develop verbal skills.

Weehands founder Sara Bingham says both are untrue.

"Parents have been told by educators to use finger play for 50-plus years," she said. Her examples include the song and finger games from Itsy, Bitsy Spider and the song Wheels on the Bus.

"Children develop motor skills for speech between 12 and 16 months of age, but develop motor skills for sign language between six and 12 months."

Bingham came up with the idea to teach babies sign language after working with people who weren't able to communicate verbally.

But if parents don't teach sign language, how do they know what their babies want?

"You know the difference in their cries," said mom of four-year-old Cecilia Zoe-Martin.

Mother of eight-month-old Zacharias, Lara Ford, said she knows how he's feeling by his level of grumpiness.

"When he's teething he's inconsolable, but if he's okay, I can make him laugh."

She said there are lots of other physical cues, like bouncing, that tell her all she needs to know about his moods.

McCagg teaches the Weehands program through the city and has held sessions for public health workers and day care workers interested in the program.

She will be holding a series of free baby sign language orientation sessions at the library in April.