Donal Skehan has told how he taught his sons how to use sign language after he was blown away filming a new RTE series.
In the first episode of Dizzy Deliveries, Donal bakes scones with Julie, a wheelchair user who is non-verbal and has global development delay.
Julie uses Lámh – Irish for hand – along with other technology to help her communicate in everyday life.
Read more: Donal Skehan says Swedish ski trip with two young kids 'not easy'
Donal, 36, told Irish Sunday Mirror: “In some ways we all get busy and you forget this is a big part of other people’s lives, having to sign.”
Dad to four-year-old Noah and three-year-old Oliver, the global TV star said: “We showed the programme to the boys at breakfast time and by the end of it Ollie our youngest was doing all the Lámh hand signs.
“Even if your kids aren’t visually impaired or anything like that, it’s an important thing we should all know.
“I can only do the few bits I was taught.”
Donal, who now lives in Dublin after a stint in LA with Swedish wife Sofie and their brood, said he’s planning a ‘traditional’ Halloween.
He said: “I tried to introduce Noah to the idea of the homemade Irish costume, you know the way we all used to do it with the black bin bags? He said he wanted to be a garbage man.
“We got a black sack and taped all the garbage on and I’ve never seen a child look more disgusted in his life.
“But he was spoiled, he had a few American Halloweens before his first Irish one.”
As for Halloween recipes, he’s all about keeping it fun.
He adds: “So we were cutting out the boys hands with the pastry and putting on almonds as fingernails, which looks really spooky when they bake off.
“If you get the kids to do it on a piece of paper as a stencil.
“They have them with tomato sauce, which they love dipping their hands into.
“They love the fact they’re eating their own hands, gooey and gruesome – all the things you love for Halloween.
“It’s great and affordable too.”
Each episode of Dizzy Deliveries runs at 09.50am and at 12.10pm and 4.30pm on RTEjr, and goes to the RTE player.
Donal’s episode, called The Bakery, airs this Thursday, October 27.
