The Fun and Learn Phonics Bus is a 1996 alphabet/phonics toy released by LeapFrog.
This toy was updated in August 1999, with 4 characters on the bus (including Leap), and then again in August 2001 with three characters from Leapfrog Learning Friends.
Product Description[]
It's time for a wild - and fun learning ride on the Phonics Bus! It's carrying an encouraging gang that can sing, talk and play games. You can learn the alphabet when you have fun with this toy!
Characters[]
1996 edition[]
- Frog - Driver's seat
- Dog - 2nd row
- Cat - 3rd row
- Duck - 4th row
- Pig - Backseat
1999 edition[]
- Leap - Driver's seat
- Dan
- Callie
- Darcy Duck
2001 edition[]
| Character | Seat | Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Leap | Driver's seat | "I'm Leap and I'm driving this bus around town. Take your favorite letter and press it down!" |
| Della | Second row | "Della here! We are set to roll. Won't you press a letter... and then we'll go!" |
| Casey | Backseat | "It's Casey Cat on a fun bus ride! Come on and press a letter that's along the side." |
Letters, Colors, and Songs[]
The consonants are a variety of colors while the vowels are red.
| Letter | Color | Song |
|---|---|---|
| A | Red | Are You Sleeping?/Freré Jacques (also known as “Where Is Thumbkin?”, “Two Tigers”, “I Hear Thunder”, or JumpStart 2nd Grade's “Melody and Harmony”) |
| B | Blue | Billy Boy |
| C | Purple | Oh My Darlin' Clementine (also known as “Found A Peanut” and "Happy New Year") |
| D | Green | Did You Ever See A Lassie? (also known as "The More We Get Together" and "O du lieber Augustin") |
| E | Red | East Side, West Side |
| F | Blue | Farmer In The Dell (also known as "A Hunting We Will Go") |
| G | Green | Greensleeves (also known as “What Child Is This?”) |
| H | Purple | Hey, Diddle, Diddle |
| I | Red | I’ve Been Working On The Railroad (also known as "The Eyes of Texas") |
| J | Blue | Jimmy Crack Corn (also known as "The Blue-Tailed Fly") |
| K | Green | Camptown Races |
| L | Purple | London Bridge (“Wayside School” sung by Kathy and “Let's Be Awesome While We Wait” from Yo Gabba Gabba episode "Restaurant") |
| M | Green | Mary Had a Little Lamb (also known as "Merrily we Roll Along") |
| N | Blue | The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze |
| O | Red | Old MacDonald Had A Farm |
| P | Purple | Pop! Goes the Weasel (also known as the Jack-in-the-box Tune or the "I Am Weasel Theme Song") |
| Q | Blue | Chopsticks (used in the 1988 film "Big") |
| R | Purple | Row, Row, Row Your Boat |
| S | Green | She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain |
| T | Blue | This Old Man ("I Love You" from Barney) |
| U | Red | Upside-Down World |
| V | Green | Froggie Went A Courtin' |
| W | Blue | Oh Where, Oh Where has my Little Dog Gone? |
| X | Purple | Yellow Rose Of Texas |
| Y | Green | Yankee Doodle (also known as “Simple Simon” or "Barney Theme Song") |
| Z | Blue | Wait for the Wagon |
Modes[]
- Learning Mode: This mode encourages kids to learn about letters and their sounds, and even be introduced to the characters. Its song when turned to that mode is Sing Along with Letters.
- Game Modes: These modes encourage kids to find a specific letter, or to find the letter that makes its own sound. The song for the phonics game is We Love the Sounds That Letters Make, and the song for the letters game is There are So Many Letters on the Bus.
- Music Mode: When the player pushes a letter, it plays a popular children's classic. If the player pushes a character, it will encourage them to sing The Alphabet Song. The song for this mode when pulling the switch up is Riding on the Bus.
Trivia[]
- To save battery life, the toy says "Thanks for learning with LeapFrog. Bye bye!" and automatically shuts off after about 45 seconds of non-use. The toy can be turned on again by pressing any letter button or character or switching modes.
- In the 2001 edition, the toy is derived from the Alphabet Bus page of the no-cartridge My First LeapPad game, Leap's Big Day. Also, there are actually going to be 4 characters, but there are 3 on the bus.