The Rain

                It is always fun to play and get wet during rainy days. That’s what I remembered during my childhood. Rainy days were part of the childhood games.

                When I was a child, rainy days were my favorite time to play outside. I try to sneak during my naptime just to play with the rain. When I’m already outside the house, I immediately ran around in our backyard going back and forth and soaked my body from the water drops of rain. I also dance with the rain, feeling every bit of water dropping to my skin.

                My childhood memories during rainy days were one of my favorite happenings of my life I always want to reminisce.

Slipper Game

                Back when I was younger, I have always thought that whoever invented “Bato Lata” is a genius. It was a game that does not only improve your physical abilities but also the capacity to think fast. I have always considered it as the best game amongst all the others.

                Bato Lata or popularly known as tumbang preso is a game that we commonly play every after dismissal of classes, before. It is a team game with a single it. The “its” job is to guard the tin can (Lata) for it not be hit by a player using a slippers. In a circumstance that the player does hit the can, he needs to get his slippers as fast as possible without getting caught. If the player gets caught, he will now be the new it.

                Playing outdoors games is not anymore common nowadays. Kids prefer to stay at home and play with their xbox, psp, tablets, wii and ipod, which I find very unhealthy. The games developed us physically an mentally. They also brought out our true characters especially during team games like tumbang preso. It is somehow sad to think that our generation is already breeding lazy and unhealthy individuals.

Childhood Love Story

                Have you experienced being in love or admired someone? Yes, we all have experienced that before when we were young. We experience first loves and crushes. Our first love story happened during our childhood days.

                My first love story happened during my childhood days. We had a new neighbor at that time and they were a family. The couple has two kids. Both of them are girls, the elder (Anne Hatthaway) and I was exactly in the same age while the younger one was still a 1-year old baby.  Sheila and I became best friends in the long run. And in that long run, I’ve completely fallen in love with her.

                “I’m in love with her?” was all I could think of, the day I knew I’m in love with her. I tried to open up my feelings towards her and she was stunned and shocked from what I’ve said. She also confesses that she likes me and that time I felt the world tumbling back and forth and shouted inside my head “Yeheyy, I’m the luckiest man in the world”.

                Our love story started to blossom from that time on. By the time we were in the right age, I courted her to be my girlfriend. She let one month passed for her to say yes and now we are officially in a relationship.

                

Jump high with chinese Garter

In my younger years,, I used to see my cousins jump over those stretchable, thin garters. What I was sure was that the thing that they were jumping off a garter. I learned that those were chinese garters. After classes or during summer, my girl cousins as well as their playmates would then share a peso each for their Chinese garter. Then I could just see them from where I was sitting with great smiles and laughter marked on their faces.

          The usual thing that I observe when girls play Chinese garter was the two or three garters are being tied from end to end. Thus, making it to a closed form. Once it has been tied, 2 persons or “it” would then go inside the Chinese garter to stretch it. At this point, the garter are put into knee level and is in parallel form. Then, the game starts where the person who is in her turn jumps over the garter to either stamp it or do the game.

          There are also times when there are 3 persons who are the it. They usually act as teams where they help each other if one haven't reached the minimum number in doing a certain routine or have missed the routine. If the other teammate failed to save the one, then they only have the 3rd person as the chance. If the 3rd person failed, then they become the it. This system could also be applied with only two persons as the it and two persons as a player.

          In today's generation, chinese garters are still being played. However, the game routines have been changed and developed thru years.

          With few coins, kids experiences genuine enjoyment. Can you imagine that? What about if most children today indulge themselves back to the traditional games as chinese garters rathen than to technology? They should have experienced the joy of jumping over chinese garters.

Hide and Seek

                As a young child growing up in a rural area, I had the freedom to play in spacious area along with my neighborhood friends. Together with my playmates, we run along the capacious backyard of my friend. The game we constantly play there is taguan or hide and seek.

                Hide and seek is a game played by many. Someone would randomly choose among the children to be the “it” and the game would start by a rhyme song as the “it’” closes his/her eyes facing and leaning to a wall or a tree.

                                “Tagu-taguan, maliwanag ang buwan 
                                Masarap maglaro sa dilim-diliman 
                                'Pag kabilang kong sampu 
                                Nakatago na kayo 
                                Isa, dalawa, ... sampu!”

Whoever caught first in their hiding place immediately becomes the “it” in the next round of game but for the meantime he/she will help the locate the rest of the of players until all of them are found.

                Indeed hide and seek was very famous and popular at the time of my childhood. I was always lucky in this game because I seldom becomes the “it”. I always hide in places where no one could ever notice me.

                Most of my friends during my childhood always love to play it because of the excitement they feel about the game. I could even remember the frenzy looks on their faces trying to find a place to hide. After the end of the game, after all has been caught and found, we then share our own experiences during the game and laughing at it all through the day. 

Pukpok Palayok

                Do you remember the days when you attend birthday parties of your neighborhood friends? Have you recall the games you played in those birthday parties that made it entertaining and lively? Do you remember Pukpok Palayok that seems to be always present in those kinds of events?

                Well, Pukpok Palayok is one of the popular traditional games in the Philippines. It is widely seen during town fiestas and birthday parties. The rules of the game are pretty well easy. A clay pot (filled with candies, chocolates and coins) is suspended in the air. Blindfolded participants are made to spin around to distort his concentration on the clay pot. A bat is placed on his hand and the crowd distracts the player by yelling all kinds of directions.

                The game continues if the first player misses to hit the pot of goodies. But when one of the players smashes the pot flawlessly, the crowd goes for the goodies fall on the ground. The winning participant is given a major prize.

                Indeed, those days were memorable and terrific. 

Patintero

                The days I spend during my childhood were awesome and fun. I can still recall the time when I try to sneak out of my room during nap time in order to play games with the neighborhood children. One of the games I usually play back during childhood is the game called patintero.

                The patintero game is performed by two opposing teams with equal members. Each team has their own roles in the game. The first team would be the “runners” while the other team would take up the role as “taggers”.

                A horizontal-vertical grid is drawn on the ground using a chalk or a marker where each tagger positioned their selves. The number of the horizontal grids is equal to the number of members of the team.

                The game is initiated with a toss of a coin or another game called Jack en Poy (another traditional game I will write about in my next blog). Whoever wins becomes the “runner” and whoever loses becomes the tagger.

                All the runners’ aim is to pass through from the starting line down to the end line and back again without getting caught. The taggers will also do their task acting as line guards on each horizontal line, stopping and catching any runners to pass through. If any runner is caught, the whole team loses and performs the position of the taggers and the taggers now take turn as runners.

                At the end of the game, lessons are learned that without unity and teamwork, the whole team could lose.

               

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Jack N' Poy

                 “Jack n’ Poy hali hali hoy; sinong matalo siya’ng unggoy”, remember this phrase song of the game Jac n’ Poy game?

                Well Jack n’ Poy is a game performed by two players. Both players simultaneously form the rock, paper and scissor using their hands while singing the rhyme song.

                The rules of game are just simple. The rock beats the scissor, scissor beats the paper and paper beats the rock. Players use their right hand and form it into a fist. Then players simultaneously form one of the three shapes. If they coincidentally throw the same shape then the game is tied.

                Here in the Philippines, Jack N’ Poy is used as a preliminary elimination procedure in order to proceed to another kind of game. Whoever wins get to proceed to another part of the game.

Childhood Fear

                Children are in a stage of discovering the world they are now living. They are not yet able to perceive the things they see or hear thus creating obscure imaginations resulting to fear or phobia.

            According to Wikipedia, a phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities.

                I remember myself before when I was in my elementary years. I was so afraid of snakes that I panic when I see one.  Doctors call that fear as ophidiophobia, an abnormal fear of snakes. Luckily I was able to surmount my fear because I was able to immediately tell my parents about it.

                Every child undergoes a stage of where their imaginations are somehow mixed with reality thus creating fear. The expression of fear of the children to their parents should not be ignored. Children must receive a good response from their parents when they try to confess the fears that bother them so long.

The Childhood in Me: Children's Game Before and Now

Who never had gone through childhood? Who had not played? Who never had relatives, cousins, neighbors and friends as playmates? Who never had bruises and captures their memory as they left scars on our legs and arms?

                Games have an important role in enhancing the abilities of a child. It improves his/her social and mental development.

                But over the years, the nature of outdoor activities of Filipino children changed. Before, kids used to play outdoors. They use their body to move and getting plenty of exercise. They run over the fields like there’s no tomorrow. And the funniest thing of all is that, they fight war games like power rangers. They need inexpensive materials in order to play. They utilize the things they were able to grab around the field like rope, stones, balls and etc.

                I remember the times when I used to play with the other kids. We played tagu-taguan, patintero, luksong-baka, and dakpanay.

Tagu-taguan or Hide and Seek in English

                You get the challenge of being able to go back to home base by hiding behind or up the trees, inside the neighbor houses – under the tables or under the stairs while someone is seeking for you. This one is amongst the favorites of the children.

Patintero

                This is one of my favorite games. There are no heavy mechanics to follow as it’s simply crossing the line without being touched by the other team member, who is guarding their line. Running and being chased makes the game exciting

Luksong-baka

                When I was in elementary years, luksong-baka was one of the famous games pupils played in our school. The “it” crouches while the other player must jump over the “it”. The crouching player gradually stands up as the player jumps over to pass each level. This actually exercises the stamina of being able to jump high and beat every obstacle that one is confronted with.

Dakpanay

                Dakpanay was my favorite outdoor game when I was a boy. I used to play it with my friends in the neighborhood. The “it” must tag the other player, the tagged player then becomes the “it”, and the game continues.

                At the end of the day, we can feel the sweat running through every part of our body. These were the games I loved and used to play every weekend with my neighborhood friends. It made me happy and excited, and looks forward to another time for the chance to play these games again. In my opinion, those games may have been simple, had no complicated rules to follow, but each and every game brought some message to the child in you. It has definitely molded something in you to be introduced to life in the hereafter.

                But all of these outdoor activities gradually vanished over time. The invention of modern technology altered the playing habits of children. The kids slowly become prisoners in their own homes. The generation of children today spends a lot of time indoors instead of playing outside with the other children, or building social relationships.

                Modern technology, especially computers and television sets, greatly affect the perspective of children towards outdoor activities.

              

  One of it is the television that is present in our homes today. It has been a tool for entertainment and is mostly used to watch the news. It plays a vital role in communication. But recent studies show, it also brings a great disadvantage among children. It has been the cause why most children locked themselves in their own room watching TV instead of hanging outdoors.

               

 Another breakthrough of technology is the invention of computers. Nowadays, millions of children use a computer on their daily basis. It serves as a tool for the mental development of a child. It makes him/her aware of the new trends or what is happening in the society. But allotting most of the time in computers can cause health problems and it also leads to social anxiety.
                Despite the fact that life continues to change over time, it remains that one can never escape the stage of childhood. For it is the basic foundation of a child to become good person or a citizen in a community.