SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

July 13, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Video Games Weekly: Pokemon Go and Teen Programming (TPiB)

July 13, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Pokemon Go, the newest app that inspires gamers to GO OUTSIDE! Many libraries have already utilized Pokemon Go as social media content, book display inspiration, and promotional material.  Instead of focusing on what Pokemon Go is and how to play, this article is going to focus on doing Pokemon Go themed programs for teens.

pokemon4

Short Version of Pokemon Go: Players download the app to their phones, and run around outside trying to catch Pokemon. The app uses Google Maps to trace where players are in the real world, and players can “catch” Pokemon that appear on their screens through augmented reality.  It looks like this on their screens:

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

pokemon2

Resources to learn more about Pokemon Go:

App Review: Pokemon Go, the very basics, safety issues, and Pokemon Go and libraries

Pokemon Go, Explained

Pokemon Go is Catching Us All – In Unexpected Ways

Everything You Wanted to Know About Pokemon Go But Were Too Afraid to Ask

Pokémon GO: What Do Librarians Need To Know?

What librarians have to say about Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go: What do Librarians Need to Know?

Everything Librarians Need to Know about Pokemon Go!

Is Your Library a Pokestop in Pokemon Go? 

Teen Programming Ideas

Sort your program attendees into teams: Pokemon Go has three teams that players can join: Mystic, Valor, and Instinct.  Each faction honors Pokemon strengths differently, kind of like Hogwarts Houses or factions in Divergent.  You can sort your teens in a variety of ways!  Have them take a Buzzfeed quiz, make team badges with a button maker, or 3D print badges and have them choose randomly.  (P.S. I’m Team Valor. Represent.)

Pokemon Safari: See how many Pokemon the teams can catch around/outside of the library in twenty minutes.  Require them to take a photo of the Pokemon that way you can count how many they have caught, and you can always ask to reuse the images for you library’s social media pages.

Pokemon Pictionary Battles: You’ll need two sketch pads or marker boards, markers, a timer, and clues for this activity. The clues are going to be Pokemon!  You can use the Pokemon Database to find the weird sounding Pokemon to make the competition more fun/difficult.

Have two teams pick a person who is going to draw (the third team will play the winning team  in the next round).  Set the clock for two minutes. When you say ‘Go!’, the players begin drawing the Pokemon for their team to guess. The first team to guess first wins!

I have found that not all participants are Pokemon experts.  If they don’t know what the Pokemon looks like, you can keep two copies of Pokemon Handbooks on the side and have them use a portion of their time to look it up (literacy skills FTW).

Pokeball Target Practice: You can paint a ping pong ball to look like a Pokeball, and have them practice throwing them at Pokemon/targets. You can also have them paint their own Pokeballs! See here for an example.

pokemon7

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

One Truth and One Lie: Have you heard all of the outrageous news stories about Pokemon Go?  There are so many out there that are unbelievable!  Print out headlines on a piece of paper, and pair them with your own fake headlines. Have teens guess which one is real, and which one is fake.  You can also print out the real articles and have a teen read them out loud for the group.  Some examples are on http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/tech/pokemon-go-crazy-events/index.html 

Pokemon Theme Song Lip Sync Battle: Do your teens know all of the words to the Pokemon theme song? Have them lip sync a few lines in a lip sync battle! You could also have them do the Pokemon song that names all of the Pokemon in order.

Pokemon Cubees: There are plenty of Pokemon paper crafts online, including cubees. You can find plenty of printable examples here.

Best Named Pokemon Contest: Poke Trainers can rename Pokemon in Pokemon Go. Have teens show off their naming/comedy skills. It can be funny, overly descriptive, or ridiculous!

Make Your Own Pokemon Exquisite Corpse Style: Fold an 11×17 piece of paper into thirds. Put teens into groups of 3. One teen draws a head, one teen draws a body, and the last teen draws the feet. You can have teens create a name for their Pokemon character. Want to take it to the next level? Scan the completed Pokemon in and use your technology to make Pokemon style cards for their characters, including giving them points and special powers. There are some Pokemon card makers and tutorials available online here and here.

STEM Learning Electricity Demonstration: Okay so this one requires some explanation.  There are different types of Pokemon such as water, fire, electricity, and plant. Pikachu is an electric Pokemon, so you can easily implement an electricity-themed STEM program. Here is one of my favorites.

STEM Learning Water Demonstration: You can freeze Pokemon figurines in ice cubes and have teens try to figure out which solution will melt the quickest.  Here are the instructions.

STEM Plant Pokemon: Plant Pokemon, you can have teens makes seed bombs like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Seed-Bomb/

Programming Ideas from Other Librarians (Facebook Groups)

Teen Services Underground
Teen Librarians

Questions? Comments? Tweet them at me!

By: Alanna Graves
Twitter: @LannaLibrarian

Filed under: Teen Porgramming, Teen Program in a Box, TPIB, Video Games, Video Games Weekly

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
PokemonPokemon Go

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

September 2016

TPiB: Undertale Party

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2015

Book Review and Program Ideas: Playing with Surface Design by Courtney Cerruti

by Karen Jensen, MLS

May 2018

TPiB MakerSpace: Love Your Pets

by Karen Jensen, MLS

October 2017

TPiB: Easy Peasy DIY Jack-O-Lanterns

by Karen Jensen, MLS

October 2017

TPiB: Ollie Robot Challenges for Teens by Michelle Biwer

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Serving Students in Poverty: 12 Recommended Books for Tweens and Teens

4 Middle Grade Novels About LGBTQIA+ Lives Across Time

15 Middle Grade & YA History Books That Highlight Marginalized Voices

Hi-Lo & Mighty Reads: 15 engaging and ­accessible series for ­reluctant and striving readers

12 Books for Kids and Tweens That Celebrate Neurodiverse Minds

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023