The food coma is setting in, your family’s arguing over board games, and you’ve already scrolled through every Christmas movie on Netflix. Time to grab your phone folks, as Pokémon GO might just be the perfect excuse to get outside and stretch your legs.
Here are 12 brilliantly festive (and slightly mischievous) ideas to get everyone moving, laughing, and catching through the holidays, especially on Christmas Day! 
12 Fun and Festive Pokémon GO Ideas for the Holidays
1. Old School Raid Train
This is the old school favorite for every Pokémon GO friends and family group. Team up and hit a few nearby raids together, aim to take down at least five! Walk between Gyms, celebrate your catches, have fun, and take a group AR photo of your strongest catch. We hope that your Shiny luck follows you on this challenge!
Pro tip: use Party Play to share XP bonuses and keep everyone in sync. The latest Party Play challenge is to walk 30 km in a week.
2. A Fast 5 km Buddy Walk
Nothing beats walking off that Christmas feast! Pick a Buddy Pokémon and set a small goal of reaching 5 km before the day ends. It may seem silly, but 5 km is just enough to help your body deal with the festivities (and make some room for the sweets).
Bonus idea: whoever finishes first gets to pick the next stop for hot chocolate. 
3. Festive Gift Exchange
Forget plain postcards, send thematic ones! Find PokéStops with Christmas lights, trees, or snowy vibes and send them as festive gifts to friends or family. No festive stops nearby? Just stamp a holiday sticker on your existing postcards.
Goal: build a “holiday postcard collection” on your board and compare at the end of the week.
4. AR Photo Contest
This one is easy! Everyone grabs your favorite Pokémon and snaps a few AR shots near the Christmas tree, festive decorations, the fireplace, or even your pet. Our editor-in-chief Kitty is also running the last AR photo contest of the year. The theme for the final AR showcase of 2025 is simple, show us your favourite photos you took this year! Submit here by 28th December to be considered.
Vote later on Best Pose, Funniest Photo, and Most Festive Scene — winner takes dessert!
5. The fastest Egg Hatch
Okay this one is simple. Everyone starts an egg together before your walk. The first person to hatch theirs wins bragging rights (or a sweet reward). Obviously you should all pick the same distance eggs, but this challenge can be combined with the 5 km Buddy Walk as well.
6. 12 Throws of Christmas
We like throwing challenges, as they are fun and require some skill. Challenge each other to complete 12 special throws, for example, a mix of Nice, Great, Curve, and First-Ball catches. Keep a tally and see who finishes all 12 first. A perfect mini-game for casual play during the day.
If you really want to push this one, you even do something like 12 Excellent throws.
7. Holiday Trade Challenge
You only get two special trade per day during the Season of Precious Paths, so make it festive! Swap costumed Pokémon, Ice-types, or shinies you caught this month. Don’t let your cousins shake you down for shiny Rayquaza, obviously!
Goal: bonus points to the lucky ones who land a Lucky trade before New Year’s.
8. Neighborhood Bingo
You can also turn your neighborhood walk into a scavenger hunt! Make a bingo card with objectives like:
- Spin 10 unique PokéStops
- Find a mural or statue (maybe even define a particular one to find)
- Take a photo at a landmark
- Return with 10 Field Research task encounters
- etc
First to complete the bingo is the winner and chooses the next challenge.
9. Team GO Rocket Showdown
If you really want to do something challenging, take the family challenge to another level: who can defeat the most Rocket Grunts or Leaders in one hour? This one will take you all across the town, and it’s recommended that you don’t go together, as everyone will have the same Grunts then.
This is a good task to get a breather if you need one and to walk a surprising amount of kilometers!
10. Holiday PvP Battle Cup
Once you are done exhausting your family and friends with all the walking challenges, you can set up friendly battles with only holiday-themed Pokémon: costumed, Ice-type, or red-and-green species for example. Or just allow Pokémon from the ongoing Pokémon GO Winter Holiday 2025 Part 1 and Winter Holiday 2025 Part 2 events.
11. Route Adventure Race
Routes are one of the most underused features in Pokémon GO, but they’re perfect for a post-lunch walk. Pick one nearby Route that you haven’t completed yet and treat it as a race.
12. The Great Shiny Hunt
What’s a festive day without a bit of sparkle? Set a one-hour window and see who can find a Shiny or the rarest Pokémon. If nobody finds one, award victory to the most creative AR photo or rarest spawn instead.
Parting words
Pokémon GO isn’t just about catching, it’s about connecting and enjoying your time with other Trainers. Remember all those special moments you get while walking and catching, and those little sparks of joy when something fun spawns. Yeah, that’s the feeling we want for Christmas as well.
Whether it’s walking off a Christmas feast, raiding with your family, or battling your friends with holiday-themed Pokémon, these little challenges can turn a quiet afternoon into something you’ll actually remember.
Stay warm, stay safe, and from all of us at the Hub. Happy holidays, Trainers! 
The post 12 Festive Pokémon GO Ideas to Try With Family and Friends This Christmas appeared first on Pokémon GO Hub.
