10 fun ways you can celebrate Sinulog with the kids

Are you ready for Sinulog, Cebu’s ultra vibrant and exciting yearly festival? Here's how to join in the fun and have an enriching experience even if you can't visit the Queen City of the South.

The splendor of Sinulog

New Year is over, time for Cebu’s Sinulog! Yes, one of the grandest, most colorful and most beloved festivals in the Philippines is upon us again. How are you celebrating this splendid spectacle?

If you can’t hie off to Cebu to join the pomp, pageantry, and street parades, it’s okay. You can still commemorate in more ways than one. Here’s how:

Image source: Sinulog 2015

Buy Sinulog merchandise and support a local business.

Sinulog Shirts 2015 offer T-shirts and tank tops for youngsters and adults (XS up to 2XL) at P250 each, as well as beautifully crafted bracelets and rastaclats at P30 to P50 each. You can also avail of their Promo Package, which consists of one shirt or tank top, a monopod, a foldable fan and one Tribal bracelet for only P500.

Click here to order.

Image source: Sinulog Shirts 2015

Find out what makes the event special.

It’s definitely more than just the dazzling display of dance, floats and costumes, or the interesting challenges that the organizers concoct to spice up the festival. More notably, the Sinulog is a religious festival held in honor of the Santo Niño.

Every year before the Grand Parade, the image of the Child Jesus is transported from Mandaue City to Cebu City via a fluvial procession. It concludes with a reenactment of the baptism to the Christian faith.

Talk about this tradition with your child then encourage him to write a story or draw cartoons about the Child Jesus and the origin of the event.

Say a prayer.

Sinulog attendees holler "Pit Señor,” short for "Sangpit sa Señor,” a Cebuano phrase that means "to call, ask, and plead to the king.” Ask your child what he’d like to pray for to the Sto. Niño. As a family, perhaps you can pray for a year with fewer typhoons, more good, selfless leaders in the government, and for better days ahead for all Filipinos.

Try and taste some Cebu delicacies.

You don’t need to go to Cebu to savor staples like danggit, dried mangoes, otap, rosquillos, and the oh-so-delectable Cebu lechon!. Islands Pasalubong carries all these yummy treats and other sought-after native fare. Eat and be merry!

After eating, find out more about the food you ate. Research with your child for example, about how to make dried mangoes and what gives Cebu lechon its distinctive taste.

Islands Pasalubong is located at:
220 Katipunan Avenue Extension,
Blue Ridge A, Quezon City
Open from 9 am to 10 pm (Monday to Friday)
Facebook: Islands

Know the other fiestas in the country and their significance.

Be culture-savvy. Cebu’s Sinulog isn't the only festival in the Philippines that honors the Santo Niño, believed to be a miracle worker.

Aklan’s Ati-Atihan, Iloilo’s Dinagyang, Negros Occidental’s Sinulog (Kabankalan), Guimaras’ Kinaradto, Butuan City’s Kahimunan, and Tondo, Manila’s Lakbayaw do too. Show your child pictures of the various fiestas and check later if he can identify them correctly.

Be creative with a Santo Niño project.

With its curly locks, long lashes, and elaborate robe, the image of the Child Jesus fascinates both young and old. Let your child sketch, color, or paint his own version of the Sto. Niño.

A cross stitch project is another cool option. Let your daughter sew the Sto. Niño with help from sites like My Photo Stitch, Pic2Pat (Picture to Pattern) and Stitchboard, which convert most pictures to cross stitch patterns for free. Display the project at home when it's done.

Image source: Rinna Ascutia

Join a contest or come up with your own competition.

Any amateur or professional musician, videographer, and filmmaker can join the Sinulog Music Video Competition, which requires the use of Sinulog or Sto. Niño music for the one-to-three-minute music video entry.

Cash prizes and certificates of appreciation await the winners: P30,000 for the champion, P20,000 for the runner-up and P10,000 for the third-placer.

Deadline for registration is on January 16, 2015. For more details, click here.

Alternatively, you can hold your own for-kids contest at home. Ask them to sing, dance, or answer trivia about the festival. The best performer wins.

Play Filipino games.

Since the Sinulog festival is a fun, annual outdoor event that is undeniably Filipino, do something with your brood that is enjoyable and traditional too. Keep them active and away from their gadgets with Laro ng Lahi games such as agawan-base, tumbang preso, patintero and siato.

Can’t remember the rules of these games? Click here for a quick refresher course.

Make your own headdress.

Children love arts and crafts sessions so challenge them to fashion their own Sto. Niño crown - the more elaborate, the better.

Recycle old cardboard boxes for this project and provide your little artists as well with fancy materials like gold or silver paper and multi-hued sequins to adorn their headdresses. After, take a picture of your kids wearing their creations.

Learn the Sinulog dance with your kids.

Did you know that the word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog? It means "like water current movement”, thus the two steps forward, one step backward feature of the dance.

It is believed to have originated from Baladhay, the adviser of Rajah Humabon, who was the Rajah of Cebu when Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521.

Baladhay was ill but was reportedly cured by the Santo Niño while dancing the movements of the river with an image.

What made this year's Sinulog extraordinary?

Share with us your experiences.

About the author: Regina Posadas

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Regina G. Posadas

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