Playing games is always fun. As a child I always wondered why we were forced to do the household chores, required to study, or are imposed to take a nap in the afternoon when we can play all day. Being a child is a gift. One should give it utmost importance because I believe that a person's childhood will also be one of the foundations once he become an adult. Never take away a kid's childhood.

Here are the outdoor games we played as kids:

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1. Taguan

"Tagu-taguan, maliwanag ang buwan
Wala sa likod, wala sa harap
'Pag kabilang kong sampu
Nakatago na kayo
Isa, dalawa, tatlo, apat, lima,
Anim, pito, wala, siyam, sampu!"

This chant translates to:

Hide and seek, the moon is bright
Nobody in front, nobody behind
When I finish counting up to ten
All of you should already been hidden
One, two, three, four, five,
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten!

Credits to: Let's Play Taguan | UNTV Web

Taguan is the Filipino version of hide-and-seek. The chant above is sang by the "it" before he starts looking for the players who hid. It has another version where the second line is replaced with, "Masarap maglaro sa dilim-diliman" which translates to "It is fun to play in the semi-dark night."

This game is usually played during dusk or at night when the moon is bright. The "it" is decided by pompyang/ompyang but this time chanting "Maiba, taya!" This means that the one who flips his hand differently from all the others will be "it". Or by playing jack-en-poy where the winner becomes safe and the loser fights another loser. The loser of the Loser-Loser game is the "it".

The goal of the game is to tag the home-base calling the name of the players found for instance, "Pong/Bong Krizia!" When players are found, they become prisoners. The players that are still hidden can save them by reaching the home-base without being detected by the "it". Upon tagging the home-base, everybody except the "it" will once again hide. The "it" changes if he successfully found all the players. He will be replaced by the first player he caught.

As children, we thought playing Taguan is better during the day. This game was associated with many horror stories and is used by the adults to scare us to prevent us from playing until night.

2. Chinese Garter

This game is famous for girls and as well as resilient boys with female hearts because it needs the players to be flexible. A team could win when they have players who are balanced and synchronized. It makes use of joined rubber bands forming a long string or of tied Chinese garter itself which is a long elastic material. This game requires the players to jump over the garter held by two persons.

Two teams with equal number of members are needed to for the game to be played or at least 3 people. If there are only 3 players, they will decide who goes first by ompyang or jack-en-poy. A toss coin might be done if there are two teams. The goal of the game is to finish all the stages of the game. Although this has many versions, I might elaborate just the most simple ones so you could try it at home. Here is a sample of the levels of the game:

Stage 1 – Garter held on the ankle or on the shin
Stage 2 – Knee high
Stage 3 – Around the height of their hips
Stage 4 – Waist high
Stage 5 – Chest high
Stage 6 – Shoulder high
Stage 7 – Head high (Commonly held at the person's ear height)
Stage 8 – At the tip of the head (Placed on top of the head)
Stage 9 – A few inches above the head (Usually uses a span of the hand and rested on top of the head)
Stage 10 – The most difficult stage that requires a height where in a kid might raise his arms high on tip toes

Note: The it team (the one holding the garter) should make sure the garter is balanced and not sagging. A standard height is decided before the game starts where in a certain player is chosen as the established measurement of height of the chest, shoulder, head, etc.

The players are required to reach all the garters in those stages. They are not pushed to jump over but are obliged to pick the garter with their legs. Failure to get the garter and inability to transfer to the other side of the garter makes the player lose a turn and is temporarily out of the game. He can be saved by his team mate, the chosen "Mother" and may be able to continue to the next stage if the latter is successful in executing the first's turn.

Another version of the Chinese garter is the 10-20 where in the garter is tied together making a loop. The it team will serve as game posts and will wear the connected garter on their body. The players will jump on both garters chanting the multiples of 10 until reaching 100.

It has 5 stages which are the following:

• Stage 1: Ankle
• Stage 2: Knee
• Stage 3: Hip
• Stage 4: Waist
  *Stage 5: Underarm

Upon finishing the stages, the level of difficulty will rise. On easy level, the feet of the posts are perfectly apart so the player could jump with no problem at all. On the intermediate level, the posts will stick their feet together making the space to jump for the players narrow. On the difficult level, only one leg will hold the garter creating a narrower space for the players to hop in. The above difficult requires the players to leap in the widened space of the garter. The posts will set their legs wide apart to make it difficult for the players to jump. See the video below.

Credits to: Chinese Garter Game | UNTV Web

3. Slipper Game

There are many versions of the slipper game but the kind that I remember involves two teams or two persons. The group is decided by pompyang or ompyang, another game where the players simultaneously flip their hands while chanting "Kampihan!" The players are grouped depending on them having kaya or kulob all at once which simply means palm up or palm down. The "it" is decided by either a toss coin or a jack-en-poy (rock-paper-scissors also called as bato-bato pik or pik only).

Its foundation is similar to that of baseball or softball; however, instead of batting the ball, the offense team kicks the slipper pitched by the defense team. Just like baseball, the game has 4 bases arranged in a diamond using the other slippers the players have. Upon hitting the slipper, the player runs to the bases until arriving at the home base. The player then, will have a lifeline called "balay" which means home. He will continue running through the bases in order to collect as many homes he can get unless the "taya" or the "it" comes back from retrieving the kicked slipper.
But unlike baseball, the "it" can toss the slipper to the player wherever he is in the four bases (not just at the home base) or throw it to the next player.

Credits to: The Slipper Game | Allenthusiast

The players will change if the opponents' balay is exhausted. The ways for the balay to be deducted are the following:

• the pitcher catches the slipper kicked
• If the kicked slipper stands
• If the player who's not stepping any base is tagged by the taya with the main slipper
• If the "it" hits the base before the player step in it and smash as well the base he came from for him to lose a turn
• If the kicked slipper hits any of the bases
• If the player kicked the slippers 3 times but wasn't able to hit it
• If there are two players in one base and the bases are all full, the first to be there will loose a turn
  Note: Stepping in one of the bases (except the home base) is always safe. If you don't have any balay, you'll be kicked out of the game immediately. Lastly, one player can give his balay to his teammates who have been put out so they may play again.

This is my favorite game of all. As a child, I was the tallest among other girls (though I think I stopped growing when I reached 13). I was also lean. I could kick the slippers at long distances and even send it flying to the roof. I can always catch the slippers, too. Maybe, that's why I love playing softball.

4. Sekyu

This game is pretty much like Agawan Base. Sekyu might have been derived fro the word security which makes sense because the players should secure and protect their bases from the opponent.

The game requires at least balanced players for each team but it's best played when 4-5 members composes a team. The players may pair up and do jack-en-poy. The team members will be losers versus the winners.

The goal of the game is to steal the base of the opponent without being detected. One player will stay behind the base and will guard the base. The players could leave the base to threaten or challenge the foe and most importantly take their base. The players could also tag the enemy and capture them. These players are called runners and are usually baits. The tagged opponents would be held captives on the prison next to the enemy's base. The first ones to leave the base are more prone to be caught because they went out first. They have to go back to base to replenish to be able to catch the one chasing them. The captives could be rescued if their team mates were able to tag them. The team who takes over the opponent's base wins. The punishment is usually crawling under the winners' spread legs.

This game is commonly played by boys since it requires the players to sweat, run around too much and clash with other players. Agility, team work and careful strategy is the key in winning this game.

Credits to: A How-to-Guide in playing Stealing Bases (Agawan Base/Sikyu) | Pete Gabriel Ledesma

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Message to the ReaderHello Steemians! Hope you like my post. Follow me for more games.
Please resteem so others could see this and don't forget to upvote this post. Cheers everyone! 🍻Check out the summary of the games we played as kids here and read my previous posts on Indoor Games Throwbacks here: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.