Pokémon Go-Inspired QR Code Classroom Activity

Since my middle school students are so crazy about the animated series Pokémon, I decided to create a QR code classroom activity based on Pokémon Go, an augmented reality mobile game where players locate and capture virtual creatures called Pokémon.

The idea of this activity is simple: students go around the school to hunt for Pokémons trapped in the QR world using their personal device! Each QR code contains a Pokémon with varying points depending on its level or tier, and a corresponding question or task. Of course, students must be able to answer the question, or do the task successfully in order to earn the points of the Pokémon they had caught!

What to Prepare

qr code classroom activity rules — SCAN ME!

1. Ready your questions or tasks for students.

It can be review questions from your topic or unit, or simple tasks that students can do during the activity. For example, you can ask them to create a 6-box comics strip on their notebook or research something on the internet.

2. Download Pokémon characters that you want to use.

This website has a list of different Pokémon characters with their corresponding tiers or levels. Pick the characters that you want to include in the game according to the number of questions you have, i.e., 15 characters for 15 questions. A quick search on Google images will give you bunch of images to download.

3. Assign a question or task to a character

Easier questions should be assigned to lower-tier characters, while challenging questions or tasks should go with the god-tier Pokémons. Feel free to vary the points as you wish, i.e., level 1 Pokémon = 1 point; level 2 Pokémon = 3 points; god-tier Pokémon = 5 points.

How to Create the Codes

QR Info Point is the only website that I found useful for this activity because it allows you to upload multimedia into your codes which is very crucial for this type of activity. Most importantly, it’s 100% free!

Create an account with QR Info Point. Creating an account lets you create dynamic QR codes (meaning, editable codes) which you can edit anytime!
Type QR Code’s title, for example: “Pikachu – Game Rules” (yes, I use Pikachu to introduce the game to the kids!)
Choose template, for example: “Personal” but this is optional.
Upload your multimedia content which, in this case, is your Pokémon character!
Change the text of the template, edit your content: type your question for the corresponding Pokémon character.
Click on “Save” button to generate QR Code.
Download the generated code as image file and rename, for example “Pikachu – Game Rules”
Repeat steps 1 to 7 for the remaining Pokémon characters/questions.

How to Set up and Play the Game

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Print and cut out your generated QR codes. Tip: use PowerPoint (A4 size) to organize your QR codes. You can add a title or additional description on the printout.
Place printed QR codes across the school.
Put students into small teams or pairs with one person owning a mobile device.
Students search for and scan each QR code to catch a Pokemon and see the question or task.
Students work together to answer to the question or perform the task.
The team earns the point for the Pokemon if they got the correct answer.
The team with the highest points wins the game.

Requirements

Ask students in advance to download any FREE QR code reader app
Students must have internet access during the game as the codes are linked to a 3rd party website (QR Info Point)