The Fruit Snack Challenge, What is It? Psychologist Walter Mischel Started Craze In 70’s With A Single Marshmallow

The Fruit Snack Challenge has become a quarantine trend among celebrities across the country with young kids. Although the challenge has led to many new social media posts and activities to participate in while in quarantine, the original challenge was very different than it is today.

Walter Mischel, a psychologist in the 1970s, first used the challenge, named the Marshmallow Test, to learn more about the self-control of children under the age of five. Their goal of the challenge was to learn more about will power in young children and how it would translate to their lives later on in pursuing goals and academics.

Unlike celebrities and parents participating in the challenge today, Mischel and his team at Stamford used a single marshmallow to see how long the child would last.

Recently, the challenge has come under fire by some critics because it is becoming a social media craze that is more focused on cute children than a personality test, which it was originally used for. However, it has not stopped the millions of people to use it to stay busy in quarantine and try something new.

Today, parents are testing their young children with large bowls of fruit snacks, candy, cookies or another kind of sweet treat and making them wait several minutes before being allowed to dive in.

Videos have been posted on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #FruitSnackChallenge, which showed some young children who were very patient and waited until their parent said yes. While other children failed to listen to their parents and immediately grabbed handfuls of the sweet treat place in front of them.

What are your thoughts on the Fruit Snack Challenge? If you haven’t already tried it with your kids, will you?