At the Kindergarten I work at in Germany we perform a rhythm or say “grace” before each meal. Does anyone know where I could find such rhythms in the English language? I have had luck finding examples with references to God and such, but for this purpose I’m specifically looking for rhymes unrelated to faith traditions?
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As far as I know the only people that say anything before they eat are religious people. We heathens just start eating.
The only one I can think of is the “God. Is great” child’s prayer I learned as a child (at home, never in school). Nothing secular comes to mind.
Our kindergartens and preschools use rhymes and songs when transitioning between activities, not just for meals. Try searching for “preschool transition songs” or “kindergarten transition songs.” That might get you closer to what you’re looking for.
I don’t know if they do/did that at my children’s preschool/kindergarten.
In my house we say grave before meals but you asked for non-religious ones.
Closest I have is the “prayer” “rub a dub dub thanks for the grub amen” which is like a silly children’s version of grace before a meal.
We don’t really have anything like that. Like religious families might say grace before a meal which is like thanking God for the food. But there’s no non-religious children’s rhymes for before meals. None that I’ve ever heard of anyways.
I’ve never heard of non-religious saying grace.
Could you share a German example?
Unless you’re differentiating foods by type so the kids can tell mizonos from shehakol from haMotzi, the prayers/”rhymes” you’re doing are connected to the Christian faith tradition and you’re just calling them “secular.”
There’s a fun one based on the Addams Family theme song. You can find it online. At secular day camps we just swapped the “Lord” with “chef.”
“We thank you for this food, Chef. My mom and dad and me, Chef. We thank you for this food, Chef. It gets us through the day!” It’s so cute when the little kids try to snap along and can’t keep rhythm. 🤣
My dad was a fan of “Good food, good meat, good God, let’s eat” when it was his turn to say grace. Our mom preferred the traditional catholic one previously shared.
We used to say “God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food.” before meals when we were that age at home or church if we were eating there but not at school.
If you’re a fucking weeb you can shout “ITADAKIMASU” while clapping your hands louder than Superman putting out a forest fire. Or just say “thanks for the meal” and eat.
Saying nursery rhymes or rhythm chants are not really done in the US before meals. “Saying Grace” is saying a prayer. Specifically it is a prayer of thanksgiving for the food you are about to consume but can include other things. The closest thing is some people saying joke prayers (which often rhyme) but that is seen as crass and inappropriate by many.
When I worked in a prek class there was a song/ chant said before meals. But I know most others in the area don’t
They’re common in Waldorf (Steiner) schools.
Look for Girl Scout or Boy Scout graces. We used to sing them all the time at camp.