Make Learning Fun with Printable Pokemon Games!

 

As the parent of children with very active imaginations, I have to be aware of what sort of characters they are ‘meeting’ through television and YouTube. My girls, Bug especially, have many imaginary friends, and will play out very elaborate scenarios and adventures with the characters from their favorite shows. These are occasionally wildly entertaining to listen to, but more often than not they are an excuse to run, flip and shadow fight in the living room.

Currently some of our more frequent guests include the antagonists from PJ Masks, the Octonauts, and a variety of Pokemon.

 

Now, I’d like to take just a moment to appreciate the longevity of the Pokemon franchise. I remember when my brother discovered Pokemon about 10 years ago and was shocked that I was cool enough to be able to recognize several of his favorite characters.  Now Bug is super into the show, and its characters. While I usually try to limit her exposure to violence, I do honestly feel that the way battles are presented in this cartoon are perfectly acceptable. She loves the idea of searching for rare Pokemon and training them to do battle with her.

As with her other interests, I try to tie Pokemon activities into our daily homeschool tasks, to make them a little less painful (for both of us!). This has proven a bit challenging. Considering how long the show has been running, there is very little in the way of educational games or supplements. I did manage to find some, however, and I have provided the links to some below.

 

Pokemon Endless Cards

What a great idea! There is a small learning curve for putting these together, but it is totally worth it. These Pokemon endless cards by Hattifant and Red Ted Art are awesome, and great for keeping little hands busy! Be sure to check out our printable page for 3 Giggling Twirls own endless cards.

 

Pokemon Optical Illusion Toy

This is a 20th century optical illusion game that has been modified for the pokemon lovers out there. I originally got the idea from a blog post I saw on Pinterest, but I went a little farther with the idea, and made it suitable for a color printer, and added Bug’s favorite characters. We used a glue stick to sandwich a paper lollipop stick between the two layers and then played by rolling the stick quickly between our palms, but they could easily be used in the traditional manner.

 

 

Pokemon Action Cards

ANDNEXTCOMESL is a great website for ideas and advice pertaining to Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, and Hyperlexia. She has a great idea to have kids read and react to Pokemon Action cards. We loved this ides, and used her free printables for a while, and then I decided to make my own version with the characters and actions that appealed to Bug (and the other two!). Check them both out, and make sure you have plenty of open space to get moving!

Edit: In my rounding up of activities, I forgot about the well done Camp Pokemon app. If your kid is into screen time, this is a good app for them to play in their down time. Its not exactly educational, but it is way better than a lot of other apps they could be playing! The app is free and available for both Android and IOS. I also know about the super popular Pokemon Go app, and I’ve read some things about it being an asset in one way or another for home schooling families. We do not have any personal experience with it, however.

So now you have a couple ideas, and there are more on my ‘Learning with Pokemon‘ Pinterest Board. Now get out there and try ’em all!

 

Let us know what works for you, or if you have found any other cool ways to make Pokemon a part of your homeschool…