For grown-ups ·
Questions about Their First Bus
Their First Bus is a free musical bus toy for children about 2 to 4. Tap people onto a painted bus, tap its parts to hear their tune, and ride to places around the world from morning to night. No reading, no menus, no ads.
The ride
What does my child do?
Tap someone waiting and they hop on. Tap the bus, full or empty, or pull it like a wagon, and it drives to a place around the world, or home after two. On the road, tap the wheels, the horn, the wipers or the door: each answers at once with its own sound, and its tune plays next. At the stop, tap a passenger to let them off, or tap the bus to ride on. Every tap answers, and there is no wrong place to touch.
Who chooses where the bus goes?
The bus does. It picks from twenty places around the world, skipping the last six it visited, so a week of rides never feels the same. Two places a day, then home at dusk. See all twenty, with who waits at each stop.
Who are the riders?
Four wait on Home Street each morning, a different four every day, drawn from forty-five groups in the app: the five Home Street neighbours and the two local families of each place. At every stop the bus reaches, its two local families wait at the kerb and can join when there is room. There are eight places on the bus: five windows and three on the open top, filled in boarding order.
Is it the song I know?
The tune may be. “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” is a traditional tune, and the app plays it without words, in our own arrangement. No one sings in the app. We wrote our own words for the bus, and they are on a page in Settings for you to sing along.
What does my child hear?
The tune, the sounds of the bus and each street, and Hope, the app’s voice, speaking a few short lines: “Good morning, bus.”, each place’s name, like “Paris. France.”, “Home again!” and “Goodnight, bus.” There are no sung words. Settings can turn the sounds or Hope’s voice off.
Is it loud?
It is bouncy, never shrill. The horn is a soft, round toy horn, and the tune plays only when your child does something; otherwise each street has only its own quiet sounds.
Does it end?
Yes. After two places the bus heads home at dusk, and it is night on Home Street. One tap on the bus and everyone still aboard walks home, one after another; when everyone is home, the bus closes its headlights like sleepy eyes: “Goodnight, bus.” The next tap wakes it to a fresh morning. From 7 in the evening to 6 in the morning, by the device’s clock, the app opens on the sleeping bus, and one tap wakes it.
Is it for a two-year-old or a four-year-old?
Both, on one screen. A two-year-old slaps and taps, and every touch answers with a move and a sound. A four-year-old aims: who gets a window, who rides on top, who gets off in Tokyo, where the bus will go next. Nothing needs reading, and there is no menu to get lost in.
Practical questions
Is there anything to buy or sign into?
No. No purchases, no ads, no accounts, and no tracking. Everything is open from the first tap. In the browser, grown-ups can leave an optional tip; it unlocks nothing.
Phone, tablet or browser?
Any up-to-date browser on a phone, tablet or computer, held sideways. You can add it to your home screen from the browser’s Share or menu button. The iPhone, iPad and Android apps are coming soon.
Does it work offline?
In the browser it needs a connection to open; the places and sounds your child has played are saved, so they come back quickly. The iPhone, iPad and Android apps, coming soon, play fully offline.
What does it remember?
Only the grown-up switches and the last six places the bus visited, on this device. Nothing leaves it. Clearing the browser’s site data forgets both. Read the Bus privacy page.
How do I sing along?
Open Settings (the button at the top right) and choose the words page. Our verses sit there, ready to sing to the tune, one for the wheels, the door, the horn, the wipers, the bounce, the baby and the dog.
How do I turn the sound off?
Settings has two switches: Sounds, for everything, and Hope, for her voice. Either way the ride keeps working by touch.
Where can I get help?
Email support@theirfirstwords.org or visit the support page. Tell us the device and the browser, and what the bus did.
The bus is waiting at the stop
Open the app overview to see the real street, or go straight to the bus in your browser. Curious where it goes? All twenty places, with who waits at each stop.