The latest social media challenge tests children’s willpower and patience by putting a tempting snack in front of them and telling them they can only have it if they wait.
Named the Fruit Snack Challenge, parents put a snack in front of their children and tell them they have to wait to have some while they leave the room.
They are only allowed to eat the snack when the parent returns and tells them they can now have some.
It has had mix results, with some toddlers unable to wait for the snack while others have sat and waited to their parent’s surprise.
Twitter user @uncle_ernst shared a video of a patient child taking part in the challenge as she waited for her parents to return before tucking in to the snack
Videos of children taking part have been shared on Twitter. User @uncle_ernst shared one of a patient girl taking part in the challenge.
They put a snack in a bowl and tell her that she has to wait. She asks if she can eat it now but her mother says she has to wait and she’ll be back in a second.
The child moves her head towards the bowl and says ‘don’t touch it yet’ before looking towards where her mother had gone, patiently waiting for her to return.
TikTok user @iam_tinotazz posted a clip of his son taking part and waiting for his father to return before eating the snack
She says: ‘Hmm mama, dada, gone?’ and then adds: ‘I must not touch.’
When her mum returns she asks if she can eat it and responds that she had waited.
The person who tweeted the video said: ‘Her mom and I are having so much fun raising her. She is truly an amazing kid!
‘We’re glad that this video could bring some joy to so many people in these tough times! Stay safe and healthy y’all!’
Videos have also been shared on TikTok and one user @iam_tinotazz posted a clip of his son taking part with the caption ‘Dude surprised me’.
Breanna Ashworth shared a clip on TikTok of her daughter taking part. She asked her to wait but as soon as she walked away her daughter ate the snack and hilarious put her thumbs up
In the video which says ‘I never thought he actually listens to me’, he puts the bowl in front of the child and says: ‘Don’t eat, daddy’s coming.’
It looks like he might not be able to resist the temptation at one point as he holds a snack in each of his hands but he puts them back in the bowl without taking a bite.
Breanna Ashworth also shared a clip of her daughter taking part. She put a purple bowl of treats on the table in front of her.
As soon as she walked away, her daughter took one of the snacks from the bowl and hilariously puts her thumbs up at the camera.
Actress Gabrielle Union put the Bitsy’s snacks on the table but as soon as she walked away her one-year-old daughter Kaavia got up
Actress Gabrielle Union and reality star Kylie Jenner also took part in the challenge.
Gabrielle Union’s one-year-old daughter Kaavia is not as patient when she has Bitsy’s crackers in front of her.
She sits Kaavia on a chair and says: ‘You can have some Bitsy’s but you’ve got to wait. You’ve got to wait until I get back.’
Kaavia starts to eat the Bitsy’s crackers and Gabrielle returns and says ‘You ate the Bitsy’s!’
As soon as her mother walks away, Kaavia gets off the seat and immediately grabs the snack from the bowl as Gabrielle says, ‘Kaavia, are you waiting?’.
In the video posted on Twitter, Gabrielle said: ‘We had to try the #FruitSnackChallenge with Kaav and her favourite can’t resist snack Bitsy’s Brain Food. Y’all already know…’
Kylie put a bowl of chocolate treats in front of her two-year-old daughter Stormi and told her she had to wait to eat until she was back from the bathroom.
Kylie Jenner puts a bowl of chocolates in front of her daughter Stormi, two, and tells her that she must wait to eat them until she gets back from the bathroom
At one point, Stormi leans forward and looks as though she might not be able to resist the temptation but she sits pack and says ‘patience’ over again.
Kylie returns and Stormi has not eaten any of the treats so she is allowed to eat three chocolates.
The Fruit Snack Challenge is a version of a famous experiment called the Stanford marshmallow experiment by Walter Mischel, a professor at Stanford University.
At one point Stormi leans forward and it looks like she might eat the chocolate before Kylie returns but she waits and is allowed three when her mother gets back
It was a 1970 study on delayed gratification where a child was offered a reward of either a marshmallow or a pretzel stick.
The had a choice between receiving one immediate reward or two rewards if they waited.
Researchers found in follow-up studies that children who could wait longer for their preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes.
They measured SAT scores, educational attainment, BMI, and other life measures.
The study was later replicated in 1972 with a more diverse sample population.
The original study was 32 children – 16 boys and 16 girls – but the replicate was more than 10 times larger than the original.
It showed only half the effect of the original study and that economic background provided an explanation for the other half, rather than willpower.