Games Filipino Children Play

 

Agawan-Base

 

This is a team game in which the main goal is to step on (base) the opponent’s base. It also involves tagging. The player who goes out of his base first can be tag by the opposing player who went out of his base at a later time. Once tagged, the player is captured and brought to the opponent’s base. However, the other team can still win by tagging his captured teammates.

 

 

Bahay-bahayan

 

This is an imaginative play Filipino children engage in. They imagine themselves as fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, and even house pets. This role-playing activity is a happy time for children, and without the children knowing it, the activity prepares them for the life of a responsible adult.

 

 

Habulan

 

This game involves a lot of running. An “it” or “taya” runs after his or her playmates in order to tag one of them, and the playmate who is tagged becomes the “it.” The playing area may be a playground, a field or a street.

 

 

Piko

 

Piko is a game called hopscotch in other countries. A house made of boxes is drawn on the ground. Children try to own as many boxes as possible by tossing pato (tokens) inside the boxes, hopping and skipping in order to retrieve the tokens.

 

 

Luksong Baka

 

This is a highly physical game and it is similar to the high jump. Children take turn jumping over each other’s back.

 

 

Luksong Tinik

 

This is similar to luksong baka, but in this case the children jumps over a ting-ting (fiber obtained from the leaves of coconut trees), string or rope.

 

 

Pagpalipad ng Saranggola

 

This is kite flying, which is a popular recreation not only among Filipino children but also among adult Filipinos. The crudest form of kite is called “boka-boka” which is made of folded paper and string. The typical one in made of wood strips to which paper or plastic is attached to make the kite. A string is then tied to it.

 

 

Palo Sebo

 

This is a game often played during fiestas. The object of the game is to get the prize (or the symbol for the prize) placed on top of a greased bamboo. The audience, usually, have a fun time watching the participants of the game since the children do have a difficult time climbing the greased bamboo and the children do look very awkward in their climbing.

 

 

Patintero

 

This is one kind of “tag play” with a line or lines drawn on the ground. The object of the game is to cross the pre-drawn line. A child is chosen through lottery or otherwise to “guard” the line and to prevent any person from crossing that line. Once a person is tag, he becomes the person who’ll “guard” the line until he or she is able to tag someone. This tag play can be a team game, with one team trying to cross the pre-drawn lines while the other team try to tag the members of the opposing team.

 

 

Sipa

 

This was the national sports of the country until it was replaced by arnis, which is a Filipino type of martial arts.

 

Sipa is a sport played with a small, round washer the size of a ten peso coin to which straws are woven or knotted into. Sometimes, a small ball the size of a tennis ball is used, and this ball is made of rattan strips. The goal of the game is to kick the washer into the air as many times as possible or as high as possible or as far as possible. No other part of the body must get in contact with the ball except the feet.

 

 

Taguan

 

This is known as hide-and-seek in other countries.

 

 

Tumbang Preso

 

This game involves the use of a tin can placed inside a circle approximately 1 ½ feet to 2 feet in diameter. (The circle may be an imaginary one.) Through lottery, one child becomes the “it” or “taya” and his tasks is to tag someone before the tin can is knocked down by any of the other children. The children use their slippers to knock down the tin can.

 

 

BACK TO: Philippines Country Profile and Various Topics

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Notes on the Filipino Culture

 

Christmas in the Philippines

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Games Filipino Children Play

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National Symbols of the Philippines

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