8 Reasons “Pokémon Go” is Great for Families!

By now, I’m sure you’re either immersed in the “Pokémon Go” craze or have surely heard about it from friends, the news, or via social media. The mobile game app took everyone by storm nearly two weeks ago and has plenty of kids and grown-ups on a mission to catch ’em all! Our family didn’t get in on the fun until just about a week ago, but once we got started, we quickly realized why “Pokémon Go” is so appealing! We’ve been playing together as a family (a key factor that I’ll expand on in a bit) and are truly loving our experience. Here are a few reasons why we think you should give it a try and why “Pokémon Go” is a great game for families to enjoy together!

8 Reasons “Pokémon Go” is Great for Families!

1. It’s a fun activity to play together: As parents, we’re always seeking more ways to engage and connect with our children and “Pokémon Go” adds another method of doing just that. By letting go of the “what’s the point” type of mentality, we can really have fun getting a little silly and joining our kids in a fun activity that they’ll love spending time doing with you!
2. It inspires you to explore local areas and landmarks: To find Pokémon, you kind of have to get out of the house and explore your surrounding areas. While it’s possible you’ll find Pokémon right in your home and neighborhood, you’ll have a better chance of finding a greater variety of Pokémon by exploring local parks, landmarks, and other points of interest around your town or city. We’ve found that many PokeStops are usually within public parks, libraries, and other prominent public areas, making it great for your family to get out and explore!
3. It motivates you to get moving: There is a feature within “Pokémon Go” that allows you to incubate and hatch eggs by walking various distances (we’ve seen 2, 5, and 10 km so far). Though not confirmed, it sometimes seems that the eggs you hatch by walking longer distances tend to provide rarer Pokémon, so this really motivates you to take longer walks while out hunting Pokémon or even walk inside your house! (Again, this is not confirmed, but it’s fun to try and see if you can get different Pokémon to hatch!)
4. It helps build teamwork: Since we’re playing together as a family using one “Pokémon Go” account, we end up helping and supporting each other in our quest to hunt Pokémon. It’s great to hear the kids celebrating achievements and rooting for each other when they catch a Pokémon!
5. It supports navigational skills: “Pokémon Go” needs your phone’s GPS in order to work, so as you’re searching for Pokémon, you are within a map showing your real-life location. There are hints in the form of leaves within the map that alert you to the possibility of where Pokémon could be located. So, navigational skills could come in handy to help you find the location of Pokémon, something the kids have been practicing as we drive! “We see leaves to the right, turn!” (Older kids could certainly use the compass: north, south, etc. – something we’re working on helping our young kids learn.)
6. It encourages (healthy) family competition: Just as “Pokémon Go” can help build teamwork skills within your family, it can also encourage a certain level of (healthy) competition. If members of your family have different “Pokémon Go” profiles, then it’s likely they’d be competing for the same Pokémon on hunting trips or at the very least, comparing statistics with each other to see how many of each type they’ve caught, what level they’re at, etc. As long as it’s all in good fun, this type of competition can motivate one another to do better!
7. It provides an opportunity to discuss real-world safety measures: Since “Pokémon Go” takes you to many public spaces and does have a feature where people can add lures to PokeStops in order to attract Pokémon, there is a need to be careful when playing (like with any online game). The use of common sense is important, as is the need for being aware of your surroundings and knowing where you should and should not go. This is why playing together as a family helps in monitoring activity and guiding your children. We’ve been having many conversations with our kids regarding safety!
8. It can help kids learn respect for others and property: As mentioned, you can easily find Pokémon within your neighborhood and other local areas. This means you can sometimes end up exploring (and finding Pokémon) near strangers’ homes, creating awkward situations if you linger too long in front of other people’s homes. Just as we’ve been having conversations about safety, we’ve also been discussing the need to balance exploration and fun with an awareness of and respect for other people’s property.

“Pokémon Go” has been a ton of fun for our family and provided us with a collaborative activity we can enjoy on the weekend or in the evenings, especially these last few weeks of summer before the kids head back to school. Playing as a family is not only fun for us, but it also helps us feel better regarding any possible safety or security issues. We can monitor usage and guide our children toward safe choices while playing. Now, if we could just find ourselves some of those legendary Pokémon…gotta catch ’em all!

Has your family gotten into the “Pokémon Go” fun? What has been your experience with the game? Share your fun, tips, or ideas in the comments below!

Screenshots from “Pokémon Go” mobile app