Tara na't maglaro! (let's go and play!)

For this activity, we thought about sharing with our kids the games that we played in our day. Indeed, the kids of today have so much more that compete for their attention, mostly of the electronic kind. And it's not so different in the Philippines as it is here. It is just sad to think that today's generation might be missing out on the great games that occupied us on many weekends and summer breaks. It was loads of fun, it encouraged interaction, enabled us to soak in the sunshine, and was convenient form of exercise!

The weather did not cooperate unfortunately, so we held the activity in an indoor venue. We started it off with the popular Tumbang Preso, a game which required a medium-sixed can, a pair of slippers per kid, and any number of players. Here is a short video explaining how the game is played:

The rules were quite easy to follow and soon the kids got the gist of it.


The other game we played was chinese garter. Not sure why it's called Chinese Garter as I have yet to see the Chinese playing this game, and as long as I can remember, we used rubber bands strung together and not garter (although the others said later on they did use garter). The grown-ups had to demonstrate first how it is done, as there is a technique to jumping over the 'garter'. You just dont run full speed ahead and jump like it was an Olympic event. In fact, you dont even have to run at all. Just estimate the height you need to overcome, then jump and hook the 'garter' with your dominant foot, do a 360- degree turn mid-air as you swing your other foot over, then land gracefully on the other side. Nothing to it.

This game, however, turned out to be the least favourite because the kids could not complete the jumping sequence. Surprisingly, the boys did better than the girls, and this is a game played usually by girls! It was interesting to see how this particular game progressed. It is a well-loved game back in the Philippines and early grade school kids have a crack at it early on. Our kids haven't had as much opportunity.

We had better results with Hopscotch or piko' (which I think is played in most parts of the world; the mechanics and layout might differ slightly per region, but the general principle is the same: navigate your token (a flat piece of stone or slippers) by skipping and kicking it ever so slightly with your foot across a series of boxes drawn on the pavement, making sure the token does not touch the lines, and conquer as much territory as possible. This activity was met with much success and the kids got involved with it.

The final activity was Patintero, a game which pits two teams against each other as one group tries to go through a maze which the other team guards by moving along a fixed line and tagging out anyone unlucky enough to get near.

Lots of fun and laughter, and great food (the staple of Filipino gatherings!) all round.  Best of all, it was an afternoon which not only enabled us to share games we grew up with, but it was an excellent time for bonding with the kids.