Pokemon Scavenger Hunt in the Library

Pokemon Scavenger Hunt

Pokemon Go is taking over and kids are flocking to the library pokestop! Pokemon Go is the combination of so many things the library supports: gaming, imagining magical creatures, and getting to know your community. I’ve been playing the game (a lot) in my personal time, and I’ve really enjoyed exploring my neighbourhood and meeting other Pokemon Trainers.

Whether they have a smartphone or not, most kids like Scavenger Hunts. I decided to take advantage of the Pokemon craze and add a passive Pokemon Scavenger Hunt to our Summer Reading lineup! Pokemon and Scavenger Hunts are a perfect match – Pokemon is all about wandering around, seeking little creatures.

Library Pokedex

Kids could pick up their Library Pokedex sheet at the desk, and follow the clues to find the Pokemon. In the show, they often play a “Who’s That Pokemon” game, where they show the silhouette of a Pokemon before commercial break, and reveal the answer on return. In Pokemon Go, the virtual pokedex begins as a series of silhouettes. As you catch pokemon, your pokedex becomes filled with the full images.

I used location clues to add a riddle aspect to the game, but also to familiarize kids with the library. For example, most kids don’t know about our Tween section – now they will! Meowth is hiding underneath the comic book display – kids have to lift it up, revealing meowth and piles of comic books they might not have ever seen otherwise.

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Pokestop Sign

Along with my Scavenger Hunt Sign I also hung this Official Pokestop Sign (designed by my talented partner Danny Fast!). Hopefully this (and our air conditioning) will encourage Pokemon Trainers to come on in.

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Prizes

Kids who bring back the pokedex completed get their choice of Pokemon themed buttons that we pressed with our button maker!

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Downloadable Resources

If you do a similar Scavenger Hunt in your library, let me know! Here are the resources I made / used:

I’d love to hear what other libraries are doing to capture the Pokemon excitement!

69 thoughts on “Pokemon Scavenger Hunt in the Library”

  1. Thank you for the awesome article! My library just registered as a PokeStop so we’re excited to see the cool finds the kids (and kids-at-heart) get! The scavenger hunt is also a cute idea for a passive program 🙂

  2. Alright – still somewhat new to the game. How do you know what Pokemon are at your library to create the scavenger hunt?

  3. Thank you so so much for sharing this. I’m adding your scavenger hunt to my Pokemon Go 101 & Pokewalk program. My library is in a downtown area, and we have a ton of pokestops. The kids can do the scavenger hunt while I give their parents a 101 class, and then we will walk across the street to the park that has a gym and 3 pokestops.

  4. I love what you are doing with this! I am working on a blog post for our member libraries and will reference your blog. Is it OK if I use the Pokestop sign as an image in my post? Also, is it OK for libraries to re-produce it for their own use? Thanks!

  5. Great ideas, and thanks for sharing the images! Our library announced on Facebook that we were going to drop a lure (to attract Pokemon) at a certain time— that just so happened to correlate to our weekly D & D game…

  6. Thanks for this great idea. We were having a treasure hunt at our library on Monday for a visiting group, so I’ve now adapted it to become a Pokemon one around the library. I’m sure the children will be excited. I’d love to hand out badges as prizes. Would you be able to post a link to your templates?
    with thanks Julie. Newcastle Library, Australia

  8. Brilliant! Pokemon Go have recently come to Sweden and we have a Pokestop outside the Library where I work (I´ve Heard…), so I wonder if it is OK to use your ideas and Pictures?

  9. This is a great idea! I’ve been trying to figure out a way to use the game concept I. My school library. This is a great start! Thanks!

      2. I shared the link to this post at a “Pokemon Go and libraries” OLA webinar today. Also, the scavenger hunt has been a big hit in our branches at RWL! Thanks again!

  11. This is so great! Plan to use a similar version in my elementary school library to help students reacquaint themselves with where to find the different types of books and areas in the library! I love that it gets kids moving and I know they will LOVE the Pokemon theme!

    1. I love this idea! Would you share your riddles/clues? How do you make sure the students are actually finding the locations not just marking an X over the images?
      Thank you!

      1. Hi Jody! The clues are on the Library Pokedex in the post – very simple location based prompts. If kids are having trouble staff will give them more clues such as “look under things” or “in this half of the library.”

        We check that they have actually found the Pokémon by asking them the location of Mewtwo (the Could Be Anywhere one) and 1 or 2 others.

  13. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this! My manager just asked me if we were doing anything to tie in with Pokemon Go after the local newspaper called to ask us. I’m printing out the pokestop posters now and I’m going to set up a little “what team are you?” and “what pokemon did you find here?”

      2. Can you make the clue one editable? We don’t have a snack area or a watering hole.
        thanks so much. this is great.

  16. Oh, and I forgot to mention what we’re doing!
    We’re having people take pictures of the Pokémon they’re catching with their library card in the photo. Those who bring them in will get a prize! We’re offering little figurines, themed pencils, and Pokémon cards to choose from 🙂

  18. Love this idea. Bummer that I can’t get the links to open, could u send them in another format? I’m not very techy….

    1. Hi Sandy,

      I just tested the links and they should open fine! They link to PDF files – either they will open as a new webpage in your browser, or automatically download to your computer. I would recommend checking your Downloads folder. Hope that helps!

    1. Hi Steph,

      WordPress doesn’t allow Microsoft Publisher uploads, but I have just added a second PDF version of the Pokedex that does not include the location clues – now you can overlay your own clues. Hope that helps!

  25. Thank you so much for sharing this and your resources! I am using a modified version for my library orientation in a K-2 school. The Pokedex is just awesome. They are going to love crossing them off the sheet! Thank you, thank you!

  26. I just want to say thank you for making such a fun experience for patrons! I am an elementary school librarian, and I created my own scavenger hunt for 3rd – 5th graders using your templates. They had to fill out this form, https://goo.gl/forms/2XD5hBRFb82rLdCE2. It has been a great way to explain where things are in the library, and to explain the Dewey System! Thanks again for sharing!

  27. Wow, thanks so much for sharing these resources. I have adapted your scavenger hunt for my own library. I’ve declared September Pokémonth in our system and in addition to the Pokémon programs, we’ll run the passive scavenger hunt all month long.

  31. Thank you so much for this! I adapted your materials for our elementary school library, cutting and pasting (literally, with scissors and a glue stick) pertinent info for our kids over your text on the Pokedex. They used our clues with your pictures to do a scavenger hunt for back to school orientation! A HUGE hit!

  33. Your post inspired me to create a Pokemon orientation at our middle school library! Our students loved it! I created stickers that had to be collected for each Pokemon, and I think that was what really sold it to the kids! I had to keep telling kids not to steal the stickers 🙂 Totally a hit and a great way to welcome students back to our library. Thanks for the idea–I linked to your post in my blog post about the success!

  34. Thank you for the great idea! I am using it as a digital citizenship scavenger hunt for my students. Thanks so much for sharing

  36. Thanks for the idea and templates. I modified the Pokedex for our French library materials orientation yesterday, for children in Grade 4, 5, and 6, and they really enjoyed it. Our library materials are really spread out, and this was a great way to help the kids to find each section.

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