Kids Love Pulses
Nancy Longnecker, Centre for Learning Technology, The University of Western Australia
Some parents find it difficult to get their kids to eat pulses. This section offers some tips to help your kids learn to love pulses.
Start them early
For many kids, familiarity means good. If they start eating pulses when they are young, it becomes easier to get them to try other pulse dishes as they get older and their palates change. Lentils are popular at my daughter's day care centre.
Don't start kids with spicy dishes
Many pulse dishes enjoyed by adults are highly spicy (eg curries, chilli, etc). Kids' palates are not the same as those of adults and many kids do not like or need spicy food.
My daughter loves eating plain chickpeas as a snack. I put plain, cooked, cold chickpeas in a bowl and she gobbles them up! (This was her idea; she wanted some chickpeas when I was preparing a chickpea salad, but she didn't like the sundried tomatoes and other goodies that were going into the salad...)
Another thing my daughter loves is frozen peas. She likes them straight out of the freezer rather than warmed up. (I don't know why! I guess because they are crunchy and delicious - especially the minted one. Anyway, it gets her to eat healthy food, so who am I to argue?)
Start with some of the recipes on this web site that are particularly good for kids.
Fun pulse projects for kids
Pulses are inexpensive and come in many shapes, sizes and colours. They are great for craft projects.
- Make pulse shakers. All you need are a pulse, two plastic cups and some sticky tape. Different shapes and sizes make different noises. It can be fun and interesting to make a shaker with a large pulse like chickpea and another with a small pulse like red lentils.
- Use pulses to make a collage. All you need are a few bags of pulses (like red lentils, green peas and yellow split peas), some sturdy board (eg cardboard) and some craft glue. Dilute the glue and paint over the surface of the card. Let kids' imaginations go wild. Or draw a design onto the card first and let kids fill in the spaces with different coloured pulses.
- The Bean Files is a series of stories for upper primary school students, narrated by Billie Bean, Chelsea Chickpea and their mates.
Let kids help with meal preparation
My daughter loves to help me in the kitchen. At four, her attention span is short, so she might only come in and add a few ingredients or stir something before getting bored. That's okay. It's easier for me to prepare food on my own anyway, but it's nice to include her. I just need to remember not to expect too much.
Hommos is an easy pulse dish for kids to help prepare and enjoy. This recipe has been used successfully by many primary school teachers. After the usual initial comments of 'YUCK!' some teachers were surprised to find none left at the end of the session. Add some crackers or carrots for dipping and you've got a fun, healthy session.
Make mealtime fun
Young kids love playing with their food - and why not?! Chickpea eyes, a cherry tomato nose and carrot or snow pea smile makes a great start for a healthy meal.
