Written by Core Team Leader, Mikel Jacinto
Last February 28, U! Happy had the pleasure of hosting Ate Stephanie Ko’s birthday at Virlanie’s Masaya House. It was an intimate affair, with around 15 kids and 5 volunteers at hand. It was perfect for the day’s activity, which was teaching the kids and volunteers how to make their own tie-dye shirts.
The day started off with the usual getting to know you activity. The kids were separated into two teams, the girls and the boys. After this they were tasked with sharing their names, favorite color and favorite song to the rest of the group. Everyone was animated in sharing information about themselves. We were able to call a few people up in front to share their details with the rest of the group, and one volunteer even sang something by her favorite singer!
We then proceeded with the tie-dye workshop conducted by Ate Mikel Jacinto (aka yours truly). It was a bit of a challenge trying to convey to the kids what to do with the t-shirts and rubber bands, but in the end everyone was able to understand the instructions. They were taught 4 basic designs; a spiral, knotting the shirt, stripes and the “surprise” method. After they were done forming their shirt, they got to choose what color they wanted; red, green or yellow.
While the shirts were brought to the back to undergo the tie-dyeing process, the kids remained in the room with their ates and kayak in order to play some fun games with each other. The first game was Dr. Quack Quack, which most people have probably played at some point or another. The kids had a blast trying to untangle each other, and they were very competitive as it was girls versus boys.
After this game that tired everyone out physically, it was time to test both their mental and physical capabilities with the Color Trivia game. The host asked questions like what color is made when red and yellow are mixed together, then the kids and volunteers would have to use their bodies to spell out the letters of the answer. It was interesting seeing everyone have to think of the answer and then quickly run to spell it out.
The last game for the day was called High Trivia, wherein the groups are presented with a category for the round and they are tasked with naming the highest number of things from that category. For example, if the category is “green vegetables”, then they would have to name the most number of greens they knew to win. It was another way for them to flex their mental muscles.
After all of the games, the t-shirts were finally ready to be opened up. It was amazing to see how the designs came out for each shirt. The kids were amazed to see how different the shirt looked just from a few simple twists and knots of the shirt. Everyone was able to have their own unique creation, as no two shirts came out alike.
With the activities well and over, the best part of the day happened. Lunch time! The kids were treated to a delicious meal of chicken and spaghetti. It was all smiles as everyone was biting into their food and sharing big bundles of BFF fries.
Of course to end the day, there was a big group picture with everyone proudly showing off their tie-dyed shirts. The kids made sure to give all the volunteers a big hug to show how much they enjoyed the day and warmly greeted Ate Stephanie a happy happy birthday once again. It was definitely a happy day at the Masaya house!