Bocce & Preschoolers

These pics are from our first attempt at introducing bocce to preschoolers {Photos by Dianna DiStefano}. That's me talking to the tykes about how bocce is played. I was careful to make it clear that we "Roll the balls GENTLY."

We made good use of an old school gymnasium by setting down sections of carpet in three different areas.

The five-year-olds took to the game readily, playing on a small carpeted surface (about 30 feet long) framed by two-by-fours).

It's always good to have as much adult supervision as possible (crowd control is a must!). Here Dr. Joe Kalil, a fine player in his own right, organizes a game and instructs the children.

Yes, we did hold up the game while this young man took an important call on his cell phone.

The younger children played with a variety of brightly colored, light-weight plastic balls (some filled with water). Playaboule has an excellent, colorful but small sized set (petanque - good size for kids' hands) called glo-boules. They even light up for night play. Click the picture below to view details.

Yes, that's a new bocce fan on day care provider Marilyn Gulla's back.

Day care provider Joyce DiGloria goes to the mats to bring this game home to her charges.