No pressure
Play with your child without milestone charts, scores or worry.
Bright Bubs is an app for parents of children from birth to five. You take a photo of a toy, and the app gives you a short game made for your child's age. Bright Bubs never tests your child, never compares your child with other children, and never tells you what your child should be doing by now. Play should feel good for both of you.
Every child's own pace
Children reach the same skill months apart.
In a study by the World Health Organization in six countries, children took their first steps alone at any age from about 8 months to 18 months. Sitting without help ranged from about 4 months to 9 months. A difference of several months between two children is normal.
Some skills are skipped altogether. In the same study, about 4 in 100 children never crawled on hands and knees before they walked. So no Bright Bubs game needs your child to crawl.
Source WHO Motor Development Study (2006).
Children reached each skill between these ages
Sitting without help about 4 to 9 months
Walking alone about 8 to 18 months
Age in months
Left out on purpose
Bright Bubs leaves out everything that turns play into a test.
No tests or quizzes.
The words to say in a game never ask your child to prove anything. They invite your child to join in.
No scores or levels.
Bright Bubs keeps no score of what your child can do, so there is nothing to fall behind on.
No comparing.
Bright Bubs never compares your child with other children, or with a chart.
No streaks or points.
Missing a day costs nothing. A game is there when you want one.
No "you haven't done" messages.
The app never tells you that an area of play has been missed. Reminders to play stay off until you turn them on.
No "late" or "behind".
Each game opens when a skill can start to show, and the app never tells you that your child is late.
What you get instead
Instead of a score, you get a game that meets your child where they are today.
An easier way in, and a way to go further.
Every game shows you how to make it easier if it is too hard today, and how to take it further if it is too easy. There is no wrong way for a game to go.
Your child leads.
The games ask you to follow what your child chooses to do, so your child can go first.
Praise for the doing.
The games suggest that you say what your child did, or how they tried, rather than calling them clever. Research on how parents praise young children points the same way.
Source Gunderson et al. (2013), on praising young children.
For you
A few calm minutes count, for your child and for you.
A game in Bright Bubs takes about a minute to read and a few minutes to play. A few minutes on the floor together are enough, and a busy week with less play is not a failure.
The timeline in the app keeps the games you played and your own notes, such as the evening your child played drums on a saucepan. The timeline is a place for memories, not a record of progress, and it shows no counts.
If you are worried
If something about your child worries you, your doctor or nurse is the right person to ask.
Bright Bubs gives play ideas. It does not test or assess children, so it cannot tell you whether your child is on track. If you have a question about how your child is growing, ask your child's doctor or nurse.
Your child's next favorite game is already in your home.
Join the waiting list, and we will tell you when Bright Bubs is ready to download.