It’s a tale as old as time: parents struggling to convince their children to eat vegetables. Caregivers often resort to “sneaking” veggies into sauces or other parts of a meal or adding them to smoothies. However, “Dinosaur Time” is a genius parenting hack parents are using to get their kids to happily eat more greens.
In late February, TikTok creator @sahmthingsup started posting about her unconventional strategy for a healthier diet. She grabs a heaping handful of spinach, arugula, or whatever greens she has – fresh, dry, and with nothing else – and just shoves it in her mouth daily before a meal. Naturally, she plays the theme song of Jurassic Park in each video.
The TikTok user explained the concept of Dinosaur Time.
@sahmthingsup I’ve been going strong on dinosaur time for about a week now as a supplement to my normal lunches and I feel pretty good. So maybe try it out #greens #healthy #healthyliving #healthyrecipes #healthylifestyle #fyp #dinosaur #dinosaurtime #Fitness #fitnesstips #nutrition #nutritiontips #macros ♬ original sound – sahmthingsup
On February 27, she racked up over 880,000 views with her initial Dinosaur Time video.
“I’ve been trying to eat more greens with every meal recently,” she explained. “And I have figured out the best life hack for me – that works for me – and so I thought I’d show you.”
“I call it Dinosaur Time, and this is what it looks like,” she added before stuffing her mouth with fresh spinach and chewing for the next 40 seconds. “Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. Do not follow me for more lifestyle tips.”
She has since posted several follow-up videos answering frequently asked questions.
@sahmthingsup Grab your greens, it’s Dino time. Here are some FAQs. #dinosaurtime #getyourgreens #greens #fyp #dinosaur ♬ At Jurassic World's End Credits / Suite – Michael Giacchino
In a different TikTok video that attracted more than 2.2 million views, @sahmthingsup answered her followers’ burning questions about Dinosaur Time.
She clarified that it is not a meal replacement.
“I do this before I eat my actual lunch so I don’t have to pretend to like the taste or go through the process of hiding more greens/veggies into my preferred meal,” she wrote. “I find salads laborious to make and cumbersome to eat.”
When asked if she pretends she is a specific dinosaur, she replied, “A hungry dinosaur, but I like to channel Spike after he hatches out of his egg in Land Before Time.“
Recently, a mom shared how Dinosaur Time helped her kids eat more greens.
@queer_mom We’re definitely getting our veggies now. #dinosaurtime #vegetables #parentsoftiktok ♬ original sound – Queermom
In mid-March, a fellow mother on TikTok thanked @sahmthingsup for helping her family’s veggie intake.
“To the girl who invented dinosaur time…” @queer_mom said in her video. “We started doing that in my house. With my two kids before dinner every night, we have Dinosaur Time where we’ve turned it into a competition, obviously, to see who could eat their piece of lettuce the fastest.”
The appreciative mom shared that she and her kids have gone through a ton of romaine lettuce because of the parenting hack.
“I don’t care how my kids get their vegetables and I also don’t like a salad,” @queer_mom declared. “So I will do Dinosaur Time every day.”
In the comments, other parents shared how the hack helped them.
Fellow TikTok users with children also detailed how Dinosaur Time has helped them.
“My kid ate 3 pieces of broccoli because of dinosaur time, she’s saving lives with this 😂,” one person commented.
Another shared, “My children ate TWO huge handfuls of the spinach spring mix from Costco. They HATE spinach….then they asked for more 😂.”
“10/10 parenting, enjoy your Dino races!” someone else replied.
“Dinosaur time is revolutionary and I refuse to believe otherwise,” another person chimed in.
@sahmthingsup has since responded to Dinosaur Time becoming a trend.
@sahmthingsup Grab your greens 🥬 it’s Dinosaur Time 🦖 🦕 🍃 🥬!!! Featuring book Chou microgreens from @AeroFarms 🌱 #dinosaurtime #fyp #dinosaur #getyourgreens #greens ♬ At Jurassic World's End Credits / Suite – Michael Giacchino
In the comments of @queer_mom’s video, @sahmthingsup responded to the shout-out.
“Oh, hi! That’s me!!!” she wrote. “Message received!!! I’m so glad Dinosaur Time is helping your family, this makes me so happy 🥰🥰🥰.”
The creator of Dinosaur Time also addressed the fact that it has become a trend in a separate TikTok video.
“Honestly, I’m so happy,” she shared. “People are reaching out telling me that they have eaten more vegetables in the past few days than they have in years, that they are getting their picky kids to eat veggies, that it’s become a family activity, and that it is easing their food guilt.”
She continued, “In the current media landscape, wellness has become something that is all about aesthetic and feels exclusionary because there is pretense about having to enjoy it. Dino time is accessible to most people, it’s novel, AND you just get it done. If it is helping people, I am all for it!”
