No virtual playmates at Larolympics, and everybody wins

“What can I do to lessen the number of hours my son spends watching television?” a mom asked a resource speaker during an Anak TV media literacy symposium in Zamboanga.

“Where is your son? I presume, he is at the gym now, taking part in the Anak TV Larolympics, right? That is one of the answers… make him engage in some activities, sports included,“ Ms. Sally Lopez said.

In a nearby gym, mommy’s son was enjoying playing patintero with his schoolmates, who were initially unfamiliar with the game. Getting instructions from their team’s coach got him and his playmates interested in the traditional game. They were taught how to play piko, patintero and tumbamg preso, the traditional street games that their parents played as
they were growing up.

Anak TV came up with the idea of reviving the Filipino traditional games of patintero, piko, and tumbang preso through its Larolympics project.

“These games are not only fun and suited for children, but they also give the Pinoy child the opportunity to mingle and socialize with other children, since the games are played, not virtually, but face-to-face with their playmates, in and around the neighborhood playgrounds,” Ms Elvira Go, president of Anak TV, said.

Larolympics was well received by the students, parents, and teachers in almost all the schools where Anak TV went to for its symposium and Larolympics projects. In Iloilo National High school, for instance, its principal tried playing piko, to the thunderous applause of students and teachers. She said she would tell her PE teachers to include the traditional
games in their regular calendar of activities.

Anak TV has been promoting these traditional games among children to improve their physical well-being and social wellness. The reward comes in the form of decreased parking time in front of their gadgets, as well as a shift from gadget obsession to real-life communication and interaction with friends and family.

In Larolympics where the games are not virtual and the players are for real, there are no losers. Everybody wins.