ACA Home Forums Teaching Meal Graces

Ok, I was just wondering. When ya'll teach Graces to campers for meal time when do you do it and how.
For example: At one of my old camps we had them all written out on poster board and tried to teach the kids in the mess hall right before the meal. that inturn m made the food sit out longer and get cold or flies or whatever. But it was a visual.

At another camp we would try to speak it to the kids have them repeat it then the counselors would sing it then we all would sing it before meal. We taught it before the meal, at this camp we had more time to do things like that.

What have you all found is the best method and I know lots of Graces but If you all would like to relay any to me and tunes you use for them that would be great!
thanks
Jiff

We teach grace before the meal at 'Singing Steps', which is where all units meet and sing before breakfast and dinner. We teach them in the usual, I sing a line you sing a line, way. It works really well, and the kids learn the graces well enough to remember them.

We try to sing a different grace at each meal and we try to sing all of them at least once - if we run out we start resinging them. A few counselors stand at the top of the steps and the rest spread themselves among the campers (who are on the deck). Then the counselors (and whoever else knows it) sings a line and then the campers repeat. This works very well and the campers don't get tired of singing the same grace over and over. To keep the food warm (and away from the flies) the hoppers set up the tables with the food that can be cold and water. Then the the we tell the kitchen people when we are about to teach grace and then they start serving the "hot" foods. We usually finish just in time.

We have had the same singing grace for breakfast - "oh the lord is good to me......", the same singing grace for lunch....."Father for this noon day meal.....", and the same spoken grace for dinner for 40 years. The new kids learn it by hearing it from the kids that have been to camp before.

We have a large handful of graces... but just like the rest of the camp songs, we don't "teach" them. The kids pick up on them after a meal or two... they aren't hard, and so many kids return that its easy to catch on...

Alright, who sang Johnny Appleseed yesterday? It's pouring outside!

oh i love teaching graces! we have so many, and we try to sing them each once each week, so every meal we sing a different grace. now what happens is 2 staff members go onto the stage and wait there as the cabins come in from lining up outside, the councellors put thier hands up, and when every one is quite we say, Repeat after us.. and then go into it, sometimes we just don't teach it, like johnny appleseed or eagles, they are just so known.

I didn't sing Johhny Appleseed, but we the snow/wintery mix is pouring down right now.

At my camp we have to sing grace after every Lunch and Dinner. Some of the songs were cool but some were really really annoying.

Do you mean sing grace before dinner?or songs after dinner? I haven't heard of anyone singing grace after lunch/dinner.

Well, most of our campers know all our graces, but we still have to teach it for the ones who don't. We have a groups of counselors stand on stage in the dining hall, waiting for everyone to be seated, making sure every table has staff and that said staff aren't involved in any food fights (at least, not before grace is sung. After that- duck and cover!!!) and generally acting as meal patrol. When everyone is situated, they sing the grace as a repeat song- they sing a line, everyone sings it back, then we all stand up and sing it once through together. we don't have issues with cold food or whatever cause the hoppers don't get our food from the kitchen until AFTER the grace is done.

1...2...3... NOT ME!!!
CD7 did it... I bet he sung it to himself as he posted that post that he posted.

Man... i wish it were rainging here!!! It's been hot lately- short and tank top weather. It's supposed to rain for five days, starting tomorrow, though... thatnks, CD7!!!

we are not allowed to sit down at meal at my camp until the prayer has been said, they are pretty general ones since we are mostly jewish but not all. a different camper in the oldest age group is asked to start the prayer for every meal. for breakfast we do

father, we thank thee for the night, and for the blessed morning light, for us and food and loving care, and all that makes the world so fair. help us to do the things we should, to be to others kind and good. in all we do in work or play, to grow more loving every day!

for lunch:
oooohhhhh the lord is good to me, and so i thank the lord, for giving me, the things i need, the sun and the rain and the appleseed the lord is good to me.

we do this one for all the meals as well and dinner most of the time:
evening is here, the board is spread, thanks be to g-d, who gives us bread.

the campers learn the prayers by just listening to the older kids, they learn them all usually by the end of the first week.

Nnnnnooooo - now it's going to rain all day tomorrow. We use to sing the sun and the moon and the appleseed. This was an attempt for it not to rain after we sing this grace - it worked most of the time. But then people started singing it the original way and it rainned again.

Even though we're a Girl Scout camp, we had a camper parent complain about Grace one year (we did it in the lodge, standing at the tables before every meal) The graces we do are the kind most people have talked about, just little songs... any way... now we do them out side, before the meal, and we call it blessing (which to me sounds more religious, but oh well) and we make a comment at the beginning of the week that the girls can fill in words with whatever religion is their own choice. We had a staff a while back who had us change all references to Lord and Father to God, which sounded weird in most songs, but since she's left we've kinda phased the references back in, just because they sound right. I, myself, am not a really religious person, but "blessing" doesn't bother me. Some staff adamatly don't partcipate, but in general I see it as a way to get every one's attention and calm before the meals... Has any one has had a similar experience?

Speaking of religious songs...does anyone know the origin of the song about Noah's Ark?....Rise and Shine and give G-d your glory glory...Children of the Lord, etc. etc.

We sung it last year at a Jewish camp; and although the story comes from Genesis, the tune sounded a little too much like gospel for us to be singing....does anyone know????

we do grace before every meal at my camp.. when the kitchen says ok the counselors in charge of the meal go on the fireplace and say which grace we are doing.. we try do a new one at every meal.. then we either teach it- repeat after me, or just do it.. we aren't teaching graces or songs as much as we used to.. and if they don't know it they catch on quickly..
hehe.. since nj is always in a drought or a fire ban in the summer we do johnny appleseed all the time!!

actually canuck i have heard that song before, one of the very religious christian girls at my school likes to sing it. i'm very suprised u guys sang that. i guess if its from genesis though, it could be jewish...and i totally agree with forestsong-the prayer is away to get everyone to settle down and get quiet for the meals. its more traditional at my camp than anything else.

Camper and Canuck,
The story of Noah is in the book of Genesis.The flood which the song refers to are in chapters 6:1-11:32. It's awesome to read those truths. Enjoy!!

Canuck, as for the tune sounding like Gospel, it is upbeat and does make you feel good. The Lord may be speaking to your heart. You may want to read what the prophet Isaiah wrote in chapters 52:13thru53:12. Again enjoy!

We yell out something like

"this is a repeat after me grace"
(they repeat)
"this is a do as I do grace"
(they repeat)
and sometimes
"this is a catch-on grace"
(they repeat)

Helps everybody to know that we'll let them know what the words are.

We also have three graces printed on the wall at the front of the dining hall (lodge) but we only use them sometimes.

NC

We sing it, teach it, and sing it again. That's how we do pretty much any song.

And we do the Johnny Appleseed grace, too! Esp. when it's been super hot and DRY for a while... Ha ha. I love how some things aare the same from camp to camp...

I had a girl a few years back who was Jewish and didn't want to sing our graces (which we try to keep non-denominaional). She wouldn't even stand up for graces, which I had no problem with. Well, one of our staff members that year completely railed on her: "You have to stan dup and sing grace with us. it's respectful." Of course, the camper came to me afterward. And the person who said this to her was my supervisor, so I was just wondering what I was supposed to do.
I told the camper that she had every right to sit during grace if she found the graces too Christian for her. I even double-checked with our assistant camp director to make sure, and she said that the camper was completely in the right.

At my camp we sing grace after each meal. It is to hard for us to sing it before the meal.

Girl Scouts does NOT have roots in the Christian faith. In fact, GSUSA doesn't advocate singing grace (doesn't forbid it, but doesn't recommend it).