French breakfast show "Bonjour ! La Matinale TF1" has highlighted a selection of new games for the summer holidays, designed for the beach, the pool or the garden with family and friends. Journalist Séverine Parlakou presented the items on the programme, broadcast on the French channel TF1.
The first item is aimed at swimmers, since it is played underwater. It consists of large ropes shaped into arches, which are thrown into a pool to form hoops. Parlakou said swimmers simply had to dive into the water and pass underneath the arches, explaining that the rope floats below the surface.
To make the challenge harder, the arches can be spread further apart or objects can be added for swimmers to retrieve from the water. Parlakou said this made dives far more fun, adding that stacking two arches on top of each other created a genuine obstacle course. She said the game was livelier than a simple rubber ring and made diving more entertaining. Two arches cost between 15 and 20 euros.
Games on the Water's Surface
For those who prefer not to put their heads underwater, Parlakou presented a small boat fitted with a magnifying lens that lets users see the riverbed or seabed magnified three times over. She said it allowed users to see everything happening underwater, whether in small rivers, at the beach or at sea, including shells and algae. She put the price at roughly 20 to 25 euros, noting the boat can be kept and used for several years.
Parlakou also presented a set of balls designed to skip across water like flat stones. She explained that players stand facing one another and throw the ball so that it bounces off the water and can be caught by the other player. A set of three balls costs between 15 and 20 euros.
Pock, a Reinvented Version of Pétanque
The final item Parlakou unveiled was pock, which she described as pétanque reimagined for the sand, gardens and almost anywhere else. Pétanque is a traditional French lawn game in which players throw metal balls as close as possible to a small target ball, and pock reworks that idea using dice instead.
The game is played with dice called pock. Two of them, known as Maro, act as the target, and the aim is to land as close to them as possible. During a round, players can score points by landing pock dice on top of others already in play. If a thrown die lands on the "pock" face of another die already on the ground, the player immediately scores five points. Points are otherwise counted by multiplying the values of the dice together, with the winner being the first to reach 50 points.
Parlakou said the game is played by between two and eight people. She noted that, as a game of skill, it also gives players a chance to practise maths over the summer. Pock costs 45 euros.
