Christmas week is long, and everybody needs something to do between the presents and the dinner. These four activities use only paper and the pokee.si pages, and each one runs for as long as you want. They are built from the Pokémon data, so every answer in them is checked.
1. The snowflake hunt
The Ice type is the snowflake type. There are 48 Ice-type Pokémon in the data, and every generation has at least one. Give each child a sheet of paper, and set a goal: find and draw one Ice type from each generation.
| Generation | Ice types | Where to find the list |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gen 1 Ice-types |
| 2 | 5 | Gen 2 Ice-types |
| 3 | 6 | Gen 3 Ice-types |
| 4 | 6 | Gen 4 Ice-types |
| 5 | 7 | Gen 5 Ice-types |
| 6 | 4 | Gen 6 Ice-types |
| 7 | 1 | Crabominable |
| 8 | 7 | Gen 8 Ice-types |
| 9 | 7 | Gen 9 Ice-types |
How to play:
- Open a generation's list and choose a Pokémon each.
- Press "Hear it" on its page and say the name together.
- Draw it as a snowflake: a circle in the middle, six arms, and the Pokémon's name at the tip of one.
- Add each one to the window or the fridge.
The big Ice type page has everything in one place, if you would rather browse. For more cold-weather facts, read winter Pokémon for kids. Delibird is the Delivery Pokémon and an Ice/Flying type, so it makes a good one to start the hunt with.
2. The 24-door type countdown
An advent calendar for the type chart. There are 18 types, and each of the first 18 doors asks what one type is weak to. The last 6 doors cover immunities, where a type does no damage at all. Write each question on a slip of paper, tape up the 24 slips, and open one a day.
| Door | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is Normal weak to? | Fighting |
| 2 | What is Fire weak to? | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 3 | What is Water weak to? | Electric, Grass |
| 4 | What is Electric weak to? | Ground |
| 5 | What is Grass weak to? | Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 6 | What is Ice weak to? | Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel |
| 7 | What is Fighting weak to? | Flying, Psychic, Fairy |
| 8 | What is Poison weak to? | Ground, Psychic |
| 9 | What is Ground weak to? | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 10 | What is Flying weak to? | Electric, Ice, Rock |
| 11 | What is Psychic weak to? | Bug, Ghost, Dark |
| 12 | What is Bug weak to? | Fire, Flying, Rock |
| 13 | What is Rock weak to? | Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Steel |
| 14 | What is Ghost weak to? | Ghost, Dark |
| 15 | What is Dragon weak to? | Ice, Dragon, Fairy |
| 16 | What is Dark weak to? | Fighting, Bug, Fairy |
| 17 | What is Steel weak to? | Fire, Fighting, Ground |
| 18 | What is Fairy weak to? | Poison, Steel |
| 19 | Normal moves do nothing to which type? | Ghost. Normal-type moves have no effect on Ghost types. |
| 20 | Electric moves do nothing to which type? | Ground. Electric-type moves have no effect on Ground types. |
| 21 | Fighting moves do nothing to which type? | Ghost. Fighting-type moves have no effect on Ghost types. |
| 22 | Poison moves do nothing to which type? | Steel. Poison-type moves have no effect on Steel types. |
| 23 | Ground moves do nothing to which type? | Flying. Ground-type moves have no effect on Flying types. |
| 24 | Psychic moves do nothing to which type? | Dark. Psychic-type moves have no effect on Dark types. |
Bonus for Christmas Day: Ghost moves do nothing to Normal types, and Dragon moves do nothing to Fairy types. That makes all 8 immunities.
The answers come from the pokee.si chart, so you can check any door on the type chart for kids page. Older children may enjoy guessing before they look. If someone needs a hint, give them the type's page, for example Fire.
3. The say-it-right challenge
Relatives who did not grow up with Pokémon often say the names a little differently. Turn that into a game. Each person reads a name from the "Say it" column, then presses the audio link to hear the real one. One point for each name you get right the first time.
| Pokémon | Say it | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Vaporeon | vay-POR-ee-on | Hear it |
| Gyarados | GYAIR-uh-dohs | Hear it |
| Wobbuffet | WOB-uh-fet | Hear it |
| Arcanine | AR-kuh-nine | Hear it |
| Mewtwo | MYOO-too | Hear it |
| Hitmonchan | HIT-mon-chan | Hear it |
| Charizard | CHAR-ih-zard | Hear it |
| Jigglypuff | JIG-lee-puf | Hear it |
The capital letters mark the stressed part of the word. If a name is new to you, how to pronounce Pokémon names explains the tricks, and the Say It Right quiz lets children test themselves.
4. Quizzes and printables
If you want a quieter activity:
- Take the Pokémon quiz for kids together and keep score.
- Print the type chart for the wall. The printables page also has pronunciation cards with QR codes and a stat maths sheet with answers.
- Try the Daily Pack after dinner, the same ten questions for everyone that day.
A note for grown-ups
You do not need to know any Pokémon to run these. Every answer is on the page it links to. The Pokémon Company's own parents site also has printable activities such as colouring pages and a make-your-own Pikachu headband, and a section on its commitment to safety for younger fans.