How Playing Pokemon Go Can Benefit Your Mind and Body

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Pokemon Go is a favorite game to millions of people and for many great reasons. Did you know that not only is it fun to play, but there are many other significant benefits of Playing Pokemon Go? Get in on some fun and check out these other reasons you should be playing. Your kids will thank you.

Kids playing Pokemon Go - unexpected benefits

How Playing Pokemon Go Can Benefit Your Mind and Body

If you haven’t heard of it yet, Pokémon GO is the newest viral thing sweeping the world.

Many older people are loving the nostalgic feel that comes with it because it makes them think back to their childhood and it is also very popular among people who may have never even heard of Pokémon before.

In fact, you may not know that Pokemon Go is still popular today.

Niantic, the parent company, states that the game has now been downloaded more than 1 billion times and was named “Best Mobile Game” by The Game Developers Choice Awards and “Best App of the Year” by TechCrunch.

There are so many outstanding things about this game and one of them is it is a really great way to connect with your children. Here are 7 benefits of playing Pokémon GO with your kids.

This blog post explores the various ways that Pokemon Go can positively impact your mental and physical health. From increased outdoor activity to improved stress levels, discover the hidden benefits of catching ’em all.

Communication

Communication with parents has become an awkward thing that kids seem to be allergic to, it just makes them feel uncomfortable. Especially as they grow older.

Not anymore, though, take your kid out to play Pokémon GO and in between finding Pokémon it gives you a chance to have a little side-by-side chat with them, about how their day was or maybe even just about the game itself.

The distracted of the game makes conversing much less uncomfortable.

Exercise

Not only is this good for you, but also for your kids. Pokémon GO offers numerous incentives that encourage exercise.

Motivating yourself to exercise is challenging if you don’t enjoy it. This game is unlike any other because it requires you to get out and walk around. Forget the Fitbit. All you need is Pokémon GO and your kids. Your kids are going to want to go out every day, so it is almost like having a routine exercise but with just a little twist of playing a game at the same time.

You will be walking, running, and even skipping to find Pokemon.

There have been studies done on all these benefits. In fact, one study found that the game increased the proportion who walked over 10,000 steps a day.

Discover

While playing the game, you will be blown away by the things around your local area you may have never known existed. Plus, it gets everyone outside. This game can not be played indoors.

Through gamification, Pokémon GO gives extra reasons to explore green spaces.

The game involves catching pocket monsters (Pokémon) at specific places via your phone. You also need to visit ‘Poké stops’ (check-in points at landmarks) to collect items like the ‘Poké balls’ needed to capture those creatures.

A tracker shows Pokémon at nearby stops and the weather at your position determines which kinds are available, enticing you to rush out and catch them. Your collection of creatures can also be used to battle other monsters in ‘gyms’ that earn rewards such as coins, which are used to purchase useful items.

If it sounds like fun, it is because it is!

This is also great because learning about new things is great for your kid and learning about it with your child is a sort of bonding thing that only learning situations like this allow.

“Hey, I never knew we had a “gym” there!”

Common Interest

It is always a good thing to have common interests with your child. This will keep you and your child close. It’s something that both you and your kid can get excited about, not just something that one of you is excited about and the other not so much which can cause a rift.

It shows your child that you are interested in a game they also love to play.

Mental Health

This game gets you outside, which is a major thing for mental health, but it also puts us into social situations. You get to meet other people who are playing all over and conversing with you. This is great for your kid to learn how to converse with others and maybe even make friends and same goes for you!

Psychiatrists have suggested that Pokémon GO could help youth with severe social withdrawal.

Pokémon GO improves social connectedness by creating a ‘sense of belonging’. Making it easier to have conversations with strangers and all thanks to technology.

Exploring

Who doesn’t love exploring? This game lets you explore A LOT! It is a great thing because exploring with your kid and venturing into new unexplored places can create a special bond that other situations can’t.

This is the time to sneak in some parenting wisdom that your kids may not otherwise listen to.

Stops Arguments – A HUGE Benefit of Playing Pokémon GO

Usually, you would tell your kid to put the phone or iPod away. But with this game, you will beg to get the phone out and go out to find some Pokémon.

This creates less of a stressful environment between you and your kids.

Connect

By playing this game with your child, you will start to enter their domain. It gives you access, insight, and understanding into their “technological” world. This way there is no big divide, you are both on the same level.

Technology continues to advance every day and sometimes it doesn’t seem so good, but so far this game has been great, it is changing the gaming world. Just reading about these 7 benefits of playing Pokémon GO with your kids should make you realize how great this game is and what it can do.

Plus, you can really get involved and order these Plastic Super Pokemon Figures Balls. What a neat surprise for your kiddos to have as a memento!