Is your child obsessed with Pokemon Cards? Here’s how they can use it to help pay for college!
Over the last 25 years, Pokemon has captured the hearts and imaginations of children worldwide. There’s a good chance that you have seen your child, or a friend of theirs play with, trade, or collect these cards over the years.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game, when played by the official rules, is a phenomenal tool for developing minds. Card games require an ability to read and understand complex instructions, as well as make precise mental calculations. Trading Card Games are competitive in nature, teaching participants sportsmanship, perseverance, and strategy. At higher levels of play, children can even earn scholarships for winning tournaments!
This article is a guide for parents with Pokemon card enthusiasts at home; we will show you how you and your child can learn the game, join a playgroup, and, eventually, join an official tournament!
A great place to start is making sure your child each has a 60-card deck of Pokemon Cards! Not just any 60 cards will do; a random assortment of cards, or just your favorites, might not even function in an official match! A great place to start is with a V Battle Deck. This official product comes with a 60-card deck ready to play out of the box! They even sell V Battle decks in packs of 2 so a friend or parent can play as well!
The next step is to learn the rules. The official rulebook can be found in its entirely here, or you can watch a video on Youtube The Pokemon Trading Card Game Online app is also a great way to learn the game. It is free to download, child-friendly, and-best of all- no microtransactions!
Once your young Pokemon Master has learned the rules, it’s time to find practice partners! We recommend having your child play with children close to their age. It helps to start in a supervised environment to ensure good sportsmanship and gameplay rules are being followed. The New York Society of Play has weekly meetups for fans of the Pokemon Card Game. These classes take place online via Zoom, Sundays @ 12:00pm-2:00pm EST. The class is led by knowledgeable instructors who can teach anything from the most basic rules, to tournament-level strategy. This class is for ages 7-11. No experience required!
Once your child has had plenty of practice, it’s time to attend an official Play! Pokemon Event. These events are sponsored by The Pokemon Company, and can range from the casual “League Challenge” event, all the way to the Regional and International Championships! Competitors are sorted by age; categories range from Junior (ages 12 and under), Senior (ages 13–15) and Master (ages 16 and over). You can find an event near you by using the Event Locator on the official Pokemon website.
The New York Society of Play is in the business of promoting huge social and cognitive benefits using some of the best and most engaging games out there. We have classes online, as well as in-person in Brooklyn.
Join us for Dungeons & Dragons, Pokemon, and Minecraft classes online during after school hours.Join us in person in Greenpoint, Clinton Hill, and Boerum Hill for Dungeons & Dragons, as well as our one-of-a-kind action-adventure game, Fantasy Frontier. For more information on upcoming Live and Virtual activities for children, subscribe to New York Society of Play’s mailing list!
About the author
Ali is the founding director of the New York Society of Play. He has been a lifelong fan of all things Pokemon! His hobbies include Trading Card Games of all kinds, watching anime, and playing Dungeons & Dragons!