A Programmer Dad's "Forced" Side Project
I'm the father of a 3-and-a-half-year-old boy.
Every single day, his little mind is bursting with questions. "Daddy, why does it rain?" "Why does the sun go away?" "Why does water turn into ice?" โ the questions always outnumber the answers.
I work from home, and he constantly sneaks into my office, pointing at my screen and asking about everything he sees. Sometimes I'm in the middle of writing code and he climbs onto my lap, looks up and says: "Daddy, what's that?"
Honestly, as a father, I never want to say "Daddy's busy right now." But so many times, I simply didn't know how to explain "the water cycle" or "light refraction" in a way a three-year-old could understand.
I hold a Master's degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University โ one of China's top engineering schools โ and I currently work in software solutions at a leading industrial software company. I started thinking: what if I could use my engineering skills to combine technology with my child's curiosity? What if, every time he runs up to my desk, I could spend just five minutes opening a beautiful, scientifically accurate animation and learning something new together?
No app to download. No account to create. No ads to watch. Just a link that opens a gorgeous animation, explaining a "why" from everyday life in words a little kid can understand.
And that's how "Wonder Why?" was born.
You might wonder: why no voiceover? That's by design.
Every animation has lively subtitles, but the voice should be Mom's or Dad's voice. I didn't want to build another screen-time app that babysits your child. I wanted a parent-child bonding tool โ you read the subtitles aloud, explain in your own words, pause anytime to ask questions, discuss, and hug.
Now, whenever he sneaks into my office, I open an animation and read it to him. He watches tiny water droplets float up to become clouds, the Earth spinning in space, sunlight diving into a raindrop and splitting into seven colors โ and in that moment he goes quiet, his eyes wide and bright. I know he's beginning to understand the world.
Those five minutes are the best part of our day.
