If you’re the parent of a toddler or young child, you know that they’re not always the best of eaters. And on the days they want to eat goldfish crackers all day, you’d probably do just about anything to get them to eat something with nutrition.

Don’t worry—you’re not the only one. Emily Adrian, the author of “Everything Here Is Under Control and The Second Season,” shared something that worked well for her 4-year-old son on her Twitter, and it blew up.

When her son was trying to get her to eat leaves, she told him he could eat “special eating leaves” and low and behold, her son wound up eating a bowl of salad!

My son was provoking me by repeatedly shoving a dirty leaf into his mouth so I offered him “special eating leaves” and now he’s a 4yo enjoying a bowl of salad for dinner

— Emily Adrian (@adremily) September 27, 2021

Parents were so impressed that they began to share their own desperate tactics for getting their kids to get—and some of them are truly ingenious. Check out these clever ways to trick your kids into eating healthy, even when you think it’s impossible!

1. I convinced my sons that Brussels sprouts are dinosaur eggs and that they were savage beasts by eating them. Now they get excited for dinosaur eggs with dinner

   — Elle CNP (@ellesanto) September 28, 2021

2. I was told that as a 2 or 3 year old in playgroup I didn’t like the milk they gave us. So they said it was power rangers milk. It worked at the time but I’m still not a fan on milk on its own idc which power ranger got milked for it.

   — King Dong θΔ (@GodDamnitLopori) September 29, 2021

3. Straight up when I was kid I got tricked into eating something by being told it was magic because ‘it disappears when you taste it’

   — Simon Shawarma (@bbkoresh) September 28, 2021

4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is the best for getting kids to eat leafy greens. My son won’t eat spinach, but he will have a “nice green leaf.”

   — Zelmel (@Zelmel) September 28, 2021

5. When I was nannying, my toddler went through a “only wants yogurt” phase. Her dad had left samosas for dinner, toddler did not want samosas, she wanted yogurt. I mixed the filling with some cottage cheese and said “here, it’s meat yogurt” and she loved it and ate it all.

   — Jori Claire (@valuemeal2) September 28, 2021

6. my baby brother use to eat rocks so Mom gave him a bowl of frozen peas instead- he had a bowl every night before dinner until he was 10

   — firechild (@firechild) September 28, 2021

7. In our house, pasta (mainly penne) was called “white sausages”.

   — Ed Round (@EdMRound) September 28, 2021

8. . My girl used to ‘conduct ‘xperinents’. So she told us. Leaves from the garden swilled in an old cup with muddy water. With some good doggie saliva. So when spinach & broccoli soup / green mash (with potatoes) were declared ‘xperinents’ by me, she happily guzzled them!

   — Born Warrior,feminist,heathen,#nomoreinequity (@VSTMMJJ) September 28, 2021

9. This reminds me of the “white broccoli” (aka cauliflower) that we sometimes have for dinner here. My youngest loves broccoli, but all other vegetables were suspicious

   — La Visch (@VischLa) September 28, 2021

10. I got the “you are painting a picture in your tummy” dinner story. Had to have different colors and objects in the picture. Garbanzo beans were snowballs, broccoli was trees, etc.

    — LTC Germ Master (@nursekaylea) September 29, 2021

11. When we were little we were obsessed with The Land Before Time and how the dinosaurs ate “tree stars” and my mom let us take lettuce leaves out of the dinner salad and put them around the living room so we could crawl around and eat them like dinosaurs. pic.twitter.com/aiPD1Xqoeo

    — Melissa Jay (@MelRebels) September 28, 2021

12. My mom got us to eat lettuce by playing “bunny rabbit” and putting little bowls on the living room floor for us to snack on while we hopped around.

    — Many Footsteps, RN (@Footstepsmany) September 28, 2021

13. When my son was little & at his grandparents, my dad cut apples in the shape of fries & called them apple fries…he has loved apples ever since

    — mindy szoke (@mindyrae29) September 28, 2021

14. We were eating an adult dinner one night, and my two-year-old was very insistent that he got to eat the “monster” ravioli too. It was lobster ravioli, which he never would’ve eaten otherwise, but he’s been a fan of ever since.

    — Amy Stuart, PT, MPT (@AmyKStuart) September 28, 2021

15. When my son was little & at his grandparents, my dad cut apples in the shape of fries & called them apple fries…he has loved apples ever since

    — mindy szoke (@mindyrae29) September 28, 2021

16. until my brother was like 8 my parents and grandma would tell him any meat on his plate was chicken because he wouldn’t eat it otherwise. pork chops, cube steak, roast beef. no matter what it was if he was told it was chicken he’d eat it no questions asked lmao

    — kat 𐀔 LUCKY’S JELLY (@joahsgf) September 29, 2021

17. .

    My mother, when my older sisters were very small, worried about how to get them to eat broccoli. She put the dish of broccoli down and was called away. She returned to find them arguing over who would get to eat the last “baby tree”. She ate it. They’ve loved broccoli ever since.

    — Joan masked and vaxxed (@cosmyra64) September 28, 2021

What’s your best get-your-kid-to-eat-healthy tactic?