From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional games in the Philippines

Traditional games in the Philippines

Traditional Filipino games or traditional If more than five are playing, the game may
games in the Philippines [1][2] are games have two or three taggers at the same time.
commonly played by children, usually using
native materials or instruments. In the Philip-
pines, due to limited resources of toys of
Bahay-Bahayan
Filipino children, they usually come up on in- A role-playing game where children act as
venting games without the need of anything members of an imaginary family, sometimes
but the players themselves. With the flexibil- to the extent that one of them becomes the
ity of a real human to think and act makes family "pet." They then act out various house-
the game more interesting and challenging. hold situations such as dinner, going to mass,
Because it is a tradition for Filipinos to play and the like.
in a bigger and spacious area, most games
are usually played outside the house. Some
games are played or held during town fiestas
Bahay-Kubo
in the provinces. These games of Filipino A hand-clapping game generally involving 4
children include the following: people. They are split into two pairs, a pair
having 2 people facing each other, and all
members from both pairs facing the center
Agawan _____ (the two pairs being perpendicular to each
Game variations with different objects used. other). Each pair then does a hand clapping
The general flow of the game is an object is "routine" while singing the "bahay kubo." At
coated with grease and the players all try to the middle of the song, each pair exchanges
hold on to it. The successful one becomes the "routines" with the other.
winner. Agawan Buko, for example, has a
greased coconut for the object. In some
cases, a suckling pig is coated with grease,
Bulong-Pari
and is used as the "object." This makes the Bulong-Pari - whisper it to the priest - It is
game more exciting as the object itself is not composed of two teams and an it. The leader
stationary, adding to its elusiveness. of team A goes to the priest and whispers one
of the names of the players of team B. Then
he returns to his place and the priest calls
Agawang Sulok out, "Lapit!" ("Approach!"). One of the play-
Agawang sulok - catch and own a corner - ers of team B should approach the priest, and
The it or tagger stands in the middle of the if it happens to be the one whom the leader
ground. The players in the corners will try to of team A mentioned, the priest will say,
exchange places by running from one base to "Boom" or "Bung!" The player then falls out
another. The it should try to secure a corner of line and stays somewhere near the priest
or base by rushing to any of those when it is as a prisoner.
vacant. This is called "agawan base" in some
variants, and "bilaran" in others.
Buwan-Buwan
A rough circle is drawn on the ground and
Araw-Lilim one person from the group is tagged. He is
Araw-lilim - sun and shade - The it or tagger not allowed to enter the circle, but instead
tries to tag or touch any of the players who is has to touch one of the people inside the
in direct contact with the light of the sun. A circle without having entered it. If he suc-
runner saves himself or herself from being ceeds, he can enter the circle, and the person
tagged by staying in the shade. The one touched becomes the next one tagged.
tagged becomes the tagger in the next game.

1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional games in the Philippines

Chinese Garter Juego de Anillo

Two people hold both ends of a stretched A game notably Spanish in influence. The
garter horizontally while the others attempt name literally translates to "game of rings."
to cross over it. The goal is to cross without It involves riding a horse while holding a dag-
having tripped on the garter. With each ger and "catching" rings hanging from a tree
round, the garter’s height is made higher or some other structure using the dagger.
than the previous round (the game starts
with the garter at ankle-level, followed by
knee-level, until the garter is positioned
Juego de Prenda
above the head). The higher rounds demand Juego de prenda - game of looking for the
dexterity, and the players generally leap with missing bird - There is no limit to the number
their feet first in the air, so their feet cross of players that can play. Players sit in a circle
over the garter, and they end up landing on with the leader in the middle. Each player ad-
the other side. Also, with the higher levels, opts a name of a tree or flower that is given
doing cartwheels to "cross" the garter is by the leader. The leader recounts the story
allowed. of a lost bird that was owned by a king. He or
she says, The bird of the king was lost yester-
day. Did you find it, Ylang-Ylang? The player
Declan Ruki who adopted the name of the Ylang-Ylang
Declan ruki - I declare, do it! - Participants tree at once answers that he or she has not
are told to do something by the winner of the found it, so the leader continues to ask the
previous games. It is similar to the American other trees whether the bird has hidden in
Simon Says. them. If a player cannot answer after the
third count, he or she is made to deposit a
Holen thing he or she owns to the leader until the
leader has been able to gather a lot of things
This is the local game of marbles in the Phil- from the members.
ippines. It is also sometimes called "jolen."

Kapitang Bakod
Iring-Iring Kapitang bakod - touch the post, or you’re
Iring-Iring - go round and round until the it! or hold on to the fence - When the it or
hanky drops - After the it is determined, he tagger is chosen, the other players run from
or she goes around the circle and drops a place to place and save themselves from be-
handkerchief behind one of the players in the ing tagged by holding on to a fence, a post,
circle. If this player notices the handkerchief, or any object made of wood or bamboo.
he or she has to pick up the handkerchief and
go after the it around the circle. The it has to
reach the vacant spot left by the player be-
Langit-Lupa
fore the it is tagged; otherwise, the it has to Langit-lupa - heaven and earth - One "It"
take the handkerchief and repeat the process chases after players who are allowed to run
all over again. on level ground (lupa) and clamber over ob-
jects (langit). The "It" may tag players who
Jack ’en Poy remain on the ground, but not those who are
standing in the "langit" (heaven). The tagged
The local version of "rocks, papers, and scis- player then becomes "It" and the game
sors".Though the spelling seems American in continues.
influence, the game is really Japanese in ori-
gin (with the lyrics in the Japanese version
sounding very similar to the "gibberish" sung
Lagundi
in the Philippines). A game of Indian influence. Basically game of
tag, except here, the players divide into two
teams, and the "it" team members get to hold
the ball, passing it between themselves, with

2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional games in the Philippines

the goal of the ball touching the head of the The person with the covered eyes gives a
other (not "it") team. number with his hand the same time the oth-
er does. If their numbers are the same, then
Luksong-Tinik they exchange roles in the game.

Luksong-tinik - jump over the thorns - Two

players serve as the base of the tinik (thorn)
Sawsaw-Suka
by putting their right or left feet together The name literally translates to "dip into vin-
(soles touching gradually building the tinik). egar." The "it" has his palm open while the
A starting point is set by all the players, giv- other players touch this with their index fin-
ing enough runway for the players to achieve gers, singing "sawsaw suka/ mahuli taya!"
a higher jump, so as not to hit the tinik. Play- which translates to "dip into the vinegar/the
ers of the other team start jumping over the last one (or the caught one) becomes "it".
tinik, followed by the other team members. And indeed, the "it" tries to catch any play-
er’s finger at the end of the song.
Palosebo
Palo-sebo - greased bamboo pole climbing -
Sipa
This game involves a greased bamboo pole Sipa - game of kick - The object being used
that players attempt to climb. This games is to play the game is also called sipa. It is
usually played during town fiestas, particu- made of a washer with colorful threads, usu-
larly in the provinces. The objective of the ally plastic straw, attached to it. The sipa is
participants is to be the first person to reach then thrown upwards for the player toss us-
the prize -- a small bag -- located at the top of ing his/her foot. The player must not allow
the bamboo pole. The small bag usually con- the sipa to touch the ground by hitting it sev-
tains money or toys. eral times with his/her foot, and sometimes
the part just above the knee. The player must
Patintero count the number of times he/she was able to
kick the sipa. The one with most number of
Patintero or harangang taga - try to cross kicks wins the game. Sipa is also the term
my line without letting me to touch or catch used for the Filipino variant of Sepak
you - Each member of the group who is it Takraw.
stands on the water lines. The perpendicular
line in the middle allows the it designated on
that line to intersect the lines occupied by
Taguan
the it that the parallel line intersects, thus in- Taguan - hide and seek in America. What is
creasing the chances of the runners to be unique in Tagu-Taguan compared to its
trapped. counterpart, hide and seek, is that this
game is usually played at sunset or at night
Piko as a challenge for the it to locate those who
are hiding.
Piko - hopscotch - The players stand behind
the edge of a box, and each should throw
their cue ball. The first to play is determined
Takip-Silim
depending on the players’ agreement (e.g. Takip-silim - twilight game, look out, cover
nearest to the moon, wings or chest). Who- yourself! or take-cover game! - Participants
ever succeeds in throwing the cue ball usually step on couches, hide under tables, or
nearest to the place that they have agreed wrap themselves in curtains – much to the
upon will play first. The next nearest is dismay of neat-freak parents.
second, and so on.
Ten-Twenty
Pitik-Bulag A game involving 2 pairs, with one utilizing a
This game involves 2 players. One covers his stretched length of garter. One pair faces
eyes with a hand while the other flicks a fin- each other from a distance and has the
ger (pitik) over the hand covering the eyes. garter stretched around them in such a way

3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional games in the Philippines

that a pair of parallel lengths of garter is played by tossing them to the air until they
between them. The members of the other hit the ground. The cards are flipped up-
pair, then begin doing a jumping "routine" wards through the air using the thumb and
over the garters while singing a song ("ten, the forefinger which creates a snapping
twenty, thirty, and so on until one hundred). sound as the nail of the thumb hits the sur-
Each level begins with the garters at ankle- face of the card. The winner or gainer collect
height and progresses to higher positions, the other players’ card depending on how the
with the players jumping nimbly on the cards are laid out upon hitting or landing on
garters while doing their routines. the ground.[3]

Tinikling References
A game variant of the tinikling dance, with
the same goal - for the players to dance Footnotes
nimbly over the clapping bamboo "maw" [1] Mga Larong Kinagisnan, Hagonoy.com
without having their ankles caught. [2] Mga Larong Pilipino, Seasite.niu.edu
[3] Panaligan, Jojo P. "Rocksteddy, Sandwich
Tsato for parody and Pinoy sense of humor",
Entertainment, Manila Bulletin online,
Tsato - stick game, better be good at it - Two MB.com.ph, 20 February 2006,
players, one flat stick (usually 3’) and one "..."Tsubtsatagilidakeyn," on the other
short flat piece of wood (4" usually a piece hand, redounds from a popular children’s
cut from the flat stick). Player A hitter and game of teks cards. One bundles up
Player B as the catcher. Played outside on three cards (yours, your opponent’s and
the ground where you dig a small square hole a mediator card that decides the winner),
(slanted) where you put the small wood so it flip all into the air, then let them land on
sticks out. Player A hits the wood with the the floor. "Tsub" means the card is face
stick so it catches air enough to be hit by the down, "Tsa" means face up, and "Tagilid"
stick. The further the wood gets hit the more is when a card lands arguably face up/
points you get (usually counted by the num- down..."Akeyn!" (Mine!) is what’s
ber of stick length. Player B on the other shouted out by whoever wins the pot of
hand has to anticipate and catch the small more cards. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? So is
piece of wood to nullify the points and be- the music of Rocksteddy...," note:
come his turn OR looks forward to Player A Italicization and word translation of
to miss hitting the wood. Akeyn! are mine, accessed on: 10 April
2008
Ubusan Lahi Bibliography
Ubusan lahi - game of conquer - One tries to
• Borja, Bernadette F. "A Combination of
conquer the members of a group (as in claim-
Instructional Materials in Teaching
ing the members of another’s clan). The
Physical Education" based on Secondary
tagged player from the main group automat-
Education Development Program,
ically becomes an ally of the tagger. The
Philippine Normal University
more players, the better. The game will start
• Flores, Josephine A. Cordillera Game,
with only one it and then try to find and tag
Cordillera Administrative Region
other players. Once one player is tagged, he
• Fontanilla, Victorino D. "The Cultural
or she then will help the it to tag the other
Heritage of Central Mindanao: Folk
players until no other participant is left.
Culture of Region XII", Cotabato City,
Some people also know this a Bansai.
DECS, 1992
• Philacor Young People’s Library, "Games
Teks Filipino Children Play", Manila
Philippines, 1978
Teks or teks game cards - texted game
cards - Filipino children collect these playing
cards which contain comic strips and texts
placed within speech balloons. They are

4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Traditional games in the Philippines

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_games_in_the_Philippines"

Categories: Children's games, Games by country, Filipino culture

This page was last modified on 17 May 2009, at 21:11 (UTC). All text is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a
registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-
deductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers