Welcome hot sunny summer weather! Finally a good streak of hot weather has hit Vancouver and I don’t know anyone who is complaining. After the spring and first half of summer that we have had, I recommend getting out and enjoying this sunshine while we have it!

One of my favourite simple, summer outdoor games is Bocce. Bocce is a game played with balls and at least two people. You can buy a standard bocce set at any department store like Zellers or Walmart, and they are fairly inexpensive.

Bocce is similar to bowling. There are two teams of either one, two or four players. Each team gets four balls for throwing. The first team up, throws a smaller white ball, and after that takes one of their four larger balls and tries to throw it so it lands as close to the small white ball as possible. The next team does the same with one of their balls and continues to throw their balls until one lands closer to the white ball, than the opposing teams ball. Then the first team tries to beat the second and the game continues like this until all the balls are thrown. Whichever team has a ball closest to the white ball, scores one point for each ball that is closer to the white ball than the opposing teams balls.

The best thing about Bocce is that it can be played virtually anywhere! All you need is relatively flat land and few obstacles in your way. I love to play in any of Vancouver’s lush parks throughout the city. Here are just a few parks where you can play bocce:

Stanley Park downtown

Maple Grove Park in on the westside of Vancouver, just off Marine Drive at Yew Street

David Lam Park downtown just off Pacific Boulevard at Drake Street

Jericho Park at Jericho Beach in Kitsilano

Sunrise Park at Rupert Street and East 3rd Avenue

John Hendry Park in the Commercial Drive area just off Victoria Street at 13th Avenue

Vanier Park in Kitsilano across from English Bay west of the Burrard Street Bridge

Killarney Park in East Vancouver just off 49th Avenue at Kerr Street

Kensington Park at 33rd and Knight Street

These parks are great, but you can even play bocce in your backyard! Bocce is a great excuse to call up some friends and hit a park to relax, have fun and enjoy the sunshine! (Courtesy of locusolus )