Our Story

Hello, I'm Wanyun!

Like many other parents out there, I wear many hats in life! I am a mother, a certified Positive Parenting Coach, creator and founder of Popsicles & Play – The Parenting Academy, and a Finance Director at a FMCG MNC (my full-time day job).

I am a mother to 3 beautiful children – Travis, Hayley and Ellie. Everyday, they motivate and inspire me to be a better person for them.

Popsicles & Play – The Parenting Academy started out as a passion project, which had grown into this entire community of like-minded parents. If you’re here reading this, I’m so glad and honoured that you’ve chosen to have us with you as you embark on your parenting journey!

What do you do?

I was born and raised in Singapore. A proud true-blue Singaporean, I would call myself!

I graduated from National University of Singapore with a Chemical Engineering degree. Engineering had never been my cup of tea, so by chance and with a stroke of luck, I joined the corporate world in Finance upon graduation.

I’m currently a full time working mother. Juggling multiple responsibilities (motherhood, full time job, and Popsicles & Play) has not been easy. It meant I have to be extremely disciplined with my days to get things done, and I need to be very clear with my priorities, but I’m truly enjoying every bit of this busy-bee journey!

Let’s just talk a little about Motherhood.

When our firstborn, Travis, first came into our lives in 2015, I thought “I don’t think this whole Motherhood thing is for me at all.”

I love him more than life itself, but I struggled at the start. It was the toughest thing I had ever done. There was no parenting handbook for me and my husband, we had a million and one questions, we got into debates and arguments on how best to manage, and we deferred to Google search a lot.

I was lost for awhile, but I slowly found my footing through my husband as my strongest pillar of support, and emotional support from fellow mummies, and parenting support groups.

What were your biggest struggles in motherhood?

Oh, there were so many.

I struggled with balancing my time and energy between career and family. I struggled with how to parent my child the best way I could. I struggled with mom’s guilt. I struggled with trying to have it all. I struggled to align parenting styles with my husband - we see eye-to-eye on most things but we also have differing views on many others.

I did have a very clear vision though, of the kind of relationship I want our child(ren) to have with us. I envision and dream of a sustainable strong trusting parent-child relationship where we are the first people he runs to when he makes a mistake or a bad choice.

I dream of a strong lasting parent-child relationship, I just had no idea how to get there.

How did you discover positive parenting?

Then I discovered positive parenting when a friend introduced me to it. Our firstborn, Travis, was 2 years old at that time.

I was tentative and skeptical at first. It sounds too good to be true, almost like it was… fluff. But with nothing else to guide us, we decided to give it a shot. I read my first positive parenting book “Positive Parenting - An Essential Guide” by Rebecca Eanes. By the time I finished that book, I thought, “This is amazing, I wished I was parented this way!”

So I went on a rampage to read as many positive parenting books as I could. Once I armed myself with basic knowledge from those books, I signed myself up for positive parenting courses and workshops. And eventually, I got myself trained and certified as a Positive Parenting Coach!

Why did you start Popsicles & Play, The Parenting Academy?

I was sold on Positive Parenting.

Every concept, ideology and strategy from positive parenting makes so much sense to me! Positive Parenting changed our entire parenting journey. It changed how we view parenthood and it changed how we feel as parents. I am calmer, happier, more empathetic and most importantly, I truly enjoy every moment with my children so much more (yes, even during the tantrums!).

This passion for positive parenting became a calling for me. I found myself wishing that every parent and child could discover these turning points of parenthood and enjoy the same benefits of positive parenting like we did!

I wanted to start an initiative with the vision for all parents to build sustainable, strong and trusting relationships with their children from young.

With my vision of supporting parents to build strong relationships with their children, I also researched a lot on play. Play is the purest form of childhood. It is an amazing platform where parents can tap on to connect with their children, whilst at the same time encouraging child-led learning in an experiential and fun way.

With 2 key missions in mind, (i) advocating for play-based learning and (ii) supporting and coaching parents on Positive Parenting,
Popsicles & Play - The Parenting Academy was born in 2017.

”“Positive parenting is about believing in the altruism of our children, believing that they want to do what is good.”

Rebecca Eanes

Marrying my hands-on personal experience as a mother to 3 children who have grown and thrived in a positive parenting household, my training as a certified Positive Parenting Coach, and my professional work in coaching fellow parents on Positive Parenting since 2017…

Fast forward to 2023, I am happy and delighted to announce that we will be officially launching our signature Positive Parenting academy:
"The Positive Parenting Way"

Many thought that I became a certified positive parenting coach because I want to help parents. No doubt, that is one of the intentions. But truth be told, my key and truest driving force is because I want to help children. It is my dream to help every child become the happy and self-confident individual he/she should be from young.

And to me, there is only one way to do so – “The Positive Parenting Way”.

I am confident that positive parenting will change your family forever.

I am confident that positive parenting will make you a happier parent, and your child a happy and self-confident individual!

I am even more confident that our positive parenting academy will help you achieve all these and more!

What do you hope to achieve with Popsicles & Play, The Parenting Academy?

My vision for Popsicles and Play - The Parenting Academy is for all parents to build sustainable, strong and trusting relationships with their children from young.

We empower parents to carry out play-based learning at home with their children by providing useful and effective play resources. We support parents in their positive parenting journey by coaching them on actionable Positive Parenting strategies backed by years of research.

Through this humble platform, I want to reach out to as many parents as I possibly can.

Please allow us to support you on your parenting journeys!