Did you know that a Swedish school made Minecraft a compulsory lesson (you can read the story here)? I’m sure my boys would give anything to have their schools make Minecraft a compulsory thing for them too!
Is your child a Minecrafter? Or, when the time comes when your child asks to play this game, would you say yes?
When my elder son was eight years old, he asked for this paid app as his birthday gift. I agreed and he’s been playing it for the last five years. My younger one started playing when he was four years old. So I guess you see my stand on this, I’m a Minecraft-approved mother.
In the years that they have been playing, I’ve kept a close watch on what they do. I discovered they learned many things from this game, and I’m quite pleased. Also, in case you think this is a boy’s game, it isn’t the case. My boys tell me that their school friends who are girls are equally hooked players!
So, What is Minecraft?
Very simply, it’s a virtual game where players build structures and landscapes in any chosen environment using three dimensional cubes. There are several modes that a player can join this game, namely Creative and Survival modes.
In Creative mode, a player has unlimited resources to build anything they want. They can be as creative as possible and build anything that comes to mind.
In Survival mode, as the name suggests, you need to keep your avatar alive because there are bad characters in the form of monsters that go after you. The player needs to find and collect food and resources to build what’s necessary to protect themselves.
You can play Minecraft alone, or you can have multiple players join in. In the latter, it would mean interacting with other online players. I don’t let my boys play on this platform, for obvious safety reasons. But they do play together in their own Minecraft universe.
What Are The Benefits Of Playing Minecraft?
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Build Creativity
When a child starts a game, he or she starts building whatever comes to their mind, whether it’s a castle, a river, a skyscraper, etc. It not only lets their imagination run free as to what to build, they also need to think of how to use the cubes to build them. As long as they don’t limit themselves, they are limitless as to what they can do. And proudly show off their creations too.
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Improve Spatial Awareness
Not only do players build large structures like houses and buildings, they also build furniture and what-have-yous within those structures. If they build farms, they have patches of vegetation and plots for farm animals, etc. All of which needs some sense of spatial awareness.
I also find that a player needs to get his or her bearings right as they move around. I often get horribly lost when I watch my boys play but they seem to be able to navigate pretty well and even learn directions.
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Gain Math Literacy
A player needs to learn some simple principles like area, perimeter, patterns, ratios and coordinates when they engage in their structure building. I’ve seen my boys do math in their heads while trying to get their creation going. It helps if we encourage them to ask for help and we in turn teach them some of these concepts.
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Learn to Manage Resources
When in Survival mode, the players learn how to manage working with what they have and how to plan for other resources that they will need along the way. This makes it easier for us to teach them real-life situations by using their Minecraft experience as examples or metaphors.
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Enhance Problem-Solving Skill
When playing in Survival mode, they inadvertently come across many challenges. This is when they have to think for themselves how to go about things to solve problems. In a way, Survival mode serves a good purpose in this sense.
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Learn To Be Self-Directed
Nothing in this game will be interesting if a player does nothing. It’s an absolute blank canvas. To make the game as interesting as it can be, a player needs to think of what he or she wants to do with it, and in that way, they will direct themselves to make it a game they can enjoy.
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Learn to Collaborate
My boys play this game together, and I’ve seen them build their own empires individually and also collaboratively. It teaches them team work and splitting resources and strategising who’s good in doing what. I like that it makes them talk and plan together to build their own playing ground. I’ve also witnessed fights because they sometimes cannot agree on how to go about it! But sure enough they resolve it amicably so that they get on with their game quickly, because I limit their screen time.
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Learn History
Some structures in Minecraft are based on actual historical buildings and landmark, and past civilisations. This is an interesting way for my boys to want to learn about them rather than studying from books.
In a way, I attribute my younger son’s growing interest in history from his discovery of such places in the course of his game.
Parental Guideline to Online Gaming
As with any online gaming, there are some benefits as well as dangers that lurk. Children could get addicted to gaming and refuse to do anything else.
Spending so much time on the screen is also not good for their eyes and general health. If they engage with other online players who are strangers, that itself is another danger to look out for.
It goes without saying that we want a safe and educational environment for our children. So while we let them play, we have a role to play to monitor them every once in a while to make sure that all is well.
Draw up some guidelines for them to follow and have them adhere strictly to them. You can be clear about the boundaries of what they can and cannot do in the game.
Also, limit their playing time per session. And set other rules that fit your objectives to keep them in line. Be mindful that there are always pros and cons to online gaming, and sometimes it can lead to violence if not monitored or controlled.
Setting up safe and healthy boundaries help to maintain a good balance of fun and learning.