After the video, we emphasized safety rules to ensure everyone understood how to play responsibly and then demonstrated basic technique: how to hold the boule, where and how to stand inside the circle, and the “tick-tock” arm motion used to throw.
To help them understand how a game unfolds, we walked through key gameplay elements—how to decide who throws first, how teams alternate, how to judge which team holds the point (using simple geometry like right triangles), and how to agree on points and keep score.
Campers put all of this into practice on the terrain under the watchful eye of club volunteers – one for each game to offer guidance and keep play moving along.
Several of the camp counselors also joined in on several teams which added to the fun.
The kids had a fantastic time and showed great promise as future pétanque players—many instinctively developing strategies and pondering the classic dilemma: Should I point or should I shoot? Despite the heat (often above 90°F), some campers didn’t want to stop when time was up!
In addition to playing pétanque, we sprinkled in a bit of French language and culture—teaching the kids the warm-up dance “Les Pouces en Avant” (Thumbs Forward), which quickly became a favorite.
Each camper received a “Pétanque Passport” and a “Certificat de Mérite” to commemorate their experience—and to share with their family and friends!

Imagine 50 kids screaming: “Pétanque!”
That was the response echoing in the City of Thibodaux’s Parks and Recreation Department (TREC) multipurpose room this past month to the question: What are we here to play?
During the month of June, TREC hosts a four-week Summer Day Camp for children ages 5 to 12.
As part of the 2025 program, more than a dozen volunteers from the Thibodaux Pétanque Club introduced campers to the game of pétanque, through both indoor and outdoor activities.
Each week, more than 50 campers participated in the sessions.
Thanks to a recent FPUSA Junior Program Support grant, we were able to purchase several sets of 400g indoor boules — perfect for our younger group of 5- to 7-year-olds.
For the older group (ages 8 to 12), club members loaned the camp 20+ sets of outdoor boules to ensure everyone could play.
To introduce pétanque to a new group of kids ages 5–12, we began with a brief overview of the game's French origins, sparking curiosity by asking who knew any French words, had French ancestry, or knew someone from France.
We followed this with a short, engaging YouTube video by Geologic titled “How Do You Play Pétanque?”—a fun and accessible way to give the group a quick visual overview of the game.