Minecraft at Home

We looked at what Minecraft is in an earlier blog post, in this post we’ll be looking at using Minecraft at home.

For many, using Minecraft at home is playing the game of Minecraft, but even playing the game requires thought and creativity. Minecraft is an open world sandbox game where there isn’t really anything you have to do to complete the game. (There are some other dimensions called ‘The Nether’ and ‘The End’, in the latter of which you’ll fight the ‘Ender Dragon’. If you can defeat the dragon you are shown the credits, but even then you’ll be transported back to your world afterwards.) So how you play the game is very much up to your imagination as the player, you can play the game without even bothering trying to get to ‘The End’.

One really useful tip I was given by a teacher was to encourage children to write stories about what they’ve done in Minecraft. They still get to play their game, but then the child can write up their adventure. They could even have a ‘Minecraft at Home’ book that they write their adventures in. The adventure can be split up into chapters with the continued adventure in game, being narrated in the Minecraft at home book.

If you feel able, playing Minecraft with your children at home can be a good way to spend time with them having fun, and encourage and direct their learning. As you’re playing try and get them to solve puzzles, or work out how many blocks they will need for a building project you’re working on together. Go exploring into the underground caverns together and show how to logically explore, especially in the dark.

Useful Resources

There are loads of resources available online for encouraging, playing, and learning for yourself all about Minecraft, some of which are highlighted below:

Minemum

How to Geek – Parents Guide to Minecraft

Stampy – Minecraft Tutorials and Videos