Traditional Filipino games are social games or team-building activities. But due to the scarcity of materials to make toys, Filipino children in many rural areas use their ingenuity instead. They innovate playthings out of anything they can find around their homes or in the neighbourhood. Often, too, they just invent games that don't require anything but the players themselves.

Until the 1980s, traditional Filipino games were a common pastime, especially during holidays and summertime. You would see young children and teenagers running around the neighbourhood, giggling, screaming, and sometimes arguing over rules of the play or who earned more points.

Filipino games are usually played outdoors and involve much physical activity. Afternoons and evenings are always the best time to play, especially on moonlit nights. At the end of the competition, we go home drenched in sweat, a state complete with body odor and bruises! But this was nothing compared to the fun and joy we had with our friends and peers.

It was also common for us to be scolded by parents for our filthy - and sometimes ripped up - clothes, and smelly bodies. That’s how life was then! And it was rare to find children getting obese or having ailment associated with sedentary lifestyle.

Sad to say, though, that the advent of computer games has dramatically overshadowed traditional Filipino games. Children of the present generation tend to prefer sitting in front of the computer and immersing themselves in a different “playground”, instead of interacting with actual playmates.

I have nothing against computer games per se. After all, children can still benefit from them in more ways than one. For one, computer games can help kids develop their cognitive skills, as there are many games that require scheming. But what alarms me is that computer games can bind children on their seats for so long, making them oblivious to time and without necessarily communicating with anyone.

Consciously or not, they develop a sedentary lifestyle, which makes them prone to many ailments associated with being physically inactive. In fact, reports have it that the Philippines is now one of the few countries in the world that has a high obesity rate among children.

Because of this alarming trend, I decide to recall some of the traditional Filipino games that are worth playing, hoping to encourage children to get involved in active play. And, of course, I wish to keep these games alive. For me, real clean fun is found in team play.

Kariling

This is actually a simple hand-eye coordination game. The only material needed is an old, unused motorcycle tyre. It can be played by at least two players (but the more, the merrier) in a wide open space like a basketball court or on the street with minimal vehicular traffic.

Mechanics: Each player has one tyre for himself.

Players agree on the starting line and finish line.

From the starting point, they race by rolling their respective tyre with one hand or with a stick to the finish line. They must make sure that their tyres don’t wobble and veer to different directions, or worse fall flat.

The first to reach the finish line is declared the winner.

Bato-lata (Cebuano) or Tumbang preso (Tagalog)

This traditional game literally means “rock-tin” (bato means stone or rock, and lata means tin). Kids and teenagers usually play this game in backyards, on the street with minimal vehicular traffic, or in parks. Sometimes, too, adults participate in the game, if only to reminisce their own childhood.

The materials needed in this game are an empty tin (kids usually use empty container of canned food or any tin available in the house), and a slipper or a flat stone for each player. There is no limit to the number of participants in this game, although, some groups limit it to 9 players to avoid overcrowding and so that the game is easily controllable.

Mechanics: One player, called “it”, watches over the tin at a designated spot that is encircled with a chalk or other form of marker. The rest of the players stand at a distance, behind a designated toe line.

The aim of the players behind the toe line is to hit and topple the tin with their slipper or stone.

Once the tin is toppled, the “it” must put the tin back up again to its original position as quickly as possible. At the same time, he must tag the players attempting to retrieve their slipper.

The tagged player becomes the new “it”.

Tubig-tubig (Cebuano) or patintero (Tagalog)

Tubig-tubig literally means “water-water”. This group game is played on an open space like a schoolyard, empty street, or the beach. A big rectangle is drawn on the ground using water. Sometimes, the players may use chalk or charcoal to draw the lines, depending on the type of surface they’re playing on.

Another two lines are drawn horizontally inside the the rectangle, and one vertical line in the middle. The players are divided into two teams, called the “passers” and the “guards”. Each team should have the same number of participants.

The objective of the game is for the “passers” to be able to cross the four horizontal lines, and back, without being tagged by the “guards”.

Mechanics: The guards position themselves on the lines; the passers start from behind the starting line.

Guards must tag the passers as they try to cross the lines. They are not, however, allowed to step out of the lines in trying to tag the passers.

Passers must successfully cross the lines without being tagged. Any passer caught in the process of crossing is automatically eliminated from the game.

Passers cannot stay inside the square for more than 3 minutes (the duration can vary depending on what the players agree upon).

Once all the passers are eliminated, the team should exchange positions.

A passer who successfully passes from the starting line to the end and returns without being caught earns a point for his/her team.

The team that earns the most number of points wins the game.

Dampa

This is a game of rubber bands, called lastiko. Dampa involves moving the rubber bands with the air produced by hitting the ground with their hands. To produce the compressed air, the hands should be put together, palms down and arched like a dome before hitting the ground.

This can be played on any flat surface by a minimum of two players. The objective of the game is to move the rubber band forward from a line.

Materials needed are several rubber bands, and a chalk or charcoal to draw the designated starting line with.

Mechanics: The rubber bands should be piled one on top of the other on the ground.

Each player takes a turn in moving the rubber bands out from the heap.

First, the player should aim to dislodge an odd number of rubber bands from the heap. He loses a turn if he displaces an even number of bands.

The player’s next aim is to move an odd number of rubber bands beyond the designated line. When successful, he wins the round and take the rubber bands that went beyond the line as his loot. But if the player moves an even number of rubber bands beyond the line, his opponent takes those rubber bands.

The dampa game also allows the players to develop their arm strength, patience in waiting their turn to play, courtesy regarding other players’ mistakes, and skill to produce an amount of air with their palms.

Spider fight

In Cebuano, the spiders used in the game are called damang, while the Tagalogs call it gagamba. The spiders used in the “spider fight” are not the poisonous ones. Rather, they are those found in the fields, power lines, and on trees.

Materials required in the game are a stick and two spiders. The spiders must be of relatively the same size to ensure an even match.

The game begins by putting the spiders at the opposing ends of the stick. Before the fight, the players tickle their spiders to stimulate them. The spider that falls off the stick three times during the fight loses the match.

The above ideas are just a handful of hundreds of traditional Filipino games. Beyond each game is the sense of teamwork and camaraderie that eventually develops among the participants. Sadly, though, this is something that many children of the present generation fail to enjoy.