As a parent, you’ve no doubt heard of Minecraft.
It’sauniquecomputer game. But did you know that it can also be a great learningtool? From academic to social skills, Minecraft can help children reach their full potential.
Read on to find out how Minecraft can be educational for your child,and howFunTechisusing itto createexcitinglearning experiences.
What is Minecraft?
Minecraft is achild-friendlycomputer game that combines exploration and survival skills.Ittests children’s imagination and creativity.
In simple terms,it’s like digital LEGO– your child can create anything from a small hut to a huge, sprawling metropolis.When you throw in monsters and other challenging characters it begins to getreally interesting.The playerhas toquickly learn how to survive and adapt in the Minecraft world!
Is Minecraft Educational?
Yes, we believe it is!But it’s not just us, research suggests the same. We’ll look into thatlater in this guide.
Some schools in the UK have started to use it in the classroom. According to this2016 BBC News report, more than 7,000 classrooms around the world already use Minecraft in some form.
Here are our top 11 reasons why we believe Minecraft is educational, and whyyou don’t need to worry if your child lovesthis game.
Is Minecraft safe for kids?
Yes, if used correctly and responsibly.Minecraft is perfectly safe for children, providing the correctparentalcontrols have been set.
Children can write their own story, team-up with friends, and build whatever they want to do in a safe and secure environment.
We do advise that youread this guide from the NSPPC. Ittells parents what settings and modes to set, plustheversions of the game you should let your child have access to.
#1:Minecraft helps kidslearn problem-solvingtechniques
The ability to problem-solve dictates how well a child can navigate obstacles, both hypothetical and in real life. Minecraft can encourage and expand this type of thinking.
As an example, we can look to the game’s “survival mode”. In it, the player must maintain their hunger and health levels in the face of dangerous monsters and other obstacles. They’ll have to quickly figure out how escape, find cover and learn to survive in these quick 10-minute scenes.
This can encourage critical thinking and teach your child how to react quickly and efficiently to solve real-world problems.
#2:Minecraft can support reading and writing skills
So why isMinecraft already being used in school classrooms?
It is commonly understood that children best learnwhen having fun, and with Minecraft that’s exactly what they do.
If a child is motivated to advance in the game of Minecraft, they’ll need to have agoodunderstanding of the written guides that appear on-screen.
If they’re also playing with classmates, they’ll need to use the chat function toread andwritemessages back and forth as part of team play.
#3: Minecraft supports a curious mind
After a Minecraft session, you might find that your child gets a lot more curious. Maybe they even want toresearch things for themselves.
Part of the game requires children to overcome challenges.Toprogress, they’ll need tofindhints and tricks to help them.
That could meanonline research,such as Wikipedia or YouTube,or even a tripto the local library! There are many books on Minecraft tutorials out there.Your child will have to analyse it all to find the best information.
It almost sounds like the kind of thing you’d do for a school project or paper, doesn’t it?
#4: Minecraft helps kids with maths problems
Minecraft isalready being used in classrooms to support learninginmaths.
Here’sjust one examplefroma teacherin the United Stateswho used Minecraft to give his students a boost.This is what he had to say about the educational benefits of Minecraft:
“I was teaching third grade that year in inner-city Los Angeles and was determined to teach math with Minecraft. I was glad I did. Over a span of six months, my class’s benchmark test scores shot up from 18 percent to 84 percent in math and from 24 percent to 81 percent in English.”
When playing Minecraft, children develop complex shapes, tackle geometric problems, and manipulate blocks.All oftheseare key mathematical concepts that will form part of your child’s curriculum.
#5: Minecraft teaches children how to manage resources
InMinecraft, children learn how to calculate how much things cost, andthe time required forcertain tasks.
For example, they could have to gather woodtobuild part of a dwelling.They could do it by hand,but using an axeisquicker…The only problem is thatthe axe will need to be paid for and will eventually become blunt.
Learning how to pay for and use resources efficientlyisa key aspect toachild’s educational and practical development.
#6: Minecraft teaches kids the benefits of teamwork
Minecraft games involve collaboration with other children and teammates. In fact,sometimes it’s the only way a player can achieve certain goals.
By pooling and sharing resources whilst they plan together, children will learn to rely on each other.They’ll have towork togetherpositivelyto achieve theircommon goal!
#7: Minecraft can help to improve a child’s confidence
There’s every chance Minecraft could help to improve how confident your child is.Once they’ve learned impressive Minecraft skills they can share this with friends and forge new friendships!
#8: Minecraft can help kids learn about history
Reconstructing famous and historical landmarks in Minecraft is a popular educational use of the game.
Children can complete tasks involvinga huge amount of research into history.This includesunderstanding the major points in human civilisation, mapping locations and recreating famous events.
Your child will need to understand maths and scaleas they populatethese landmarkswith the experiences that took place over time.
For example, in 2016 the Museum of London used Minecraft to recreate the Great Fire of 1666.You can seehow they did iton their website andthis YouTube videofor a walkthrough on the scene.
#9: Minecraft can improve a child’s creativity and imagination
Minecraft truly excels inthe limits of the game – there are none!
If your child wants to build an amusem*nt park, then they can do it. Or perhaps they want to build a 100-foot high version of their grandma… it’s all possible – the Minecraft world is an unlimited one.
The Minecraft platform lets children imagine and build anything that they want, real or not.The onlyrestrictionis thatit needsto be created with small building blocks.
#10: Minecraft can help a child learn to code
AtFunTechwe’rehuge advocates foreducatingkidson coding.Check outour 13 reasons why parents should encourage codingif you haven’t already!
Minecraft contributes into this potentially key learning skillwith its huge degree ofcustomisation. Children can edit the original Minecraft code as mods to make the game behave in different ways. This canbe as small asaltering the weatheror as huge ascreating an invincible flying squid! This is all possible usingMinecraft’s command blocks.
If they want to take it further,your childcanmodifythe program using Java code.They can also develop further coding skills such as de-bugging.Once they’re finished, they canshare those mods with their friends andteammatesfor a totally unique, sharable experience.
#11: Minecraft offers valuable future work skills
All ofthe educational aspects we’ve spoken about will no doubtputyour child in good stead for their future employment prospects.
The elements involved with Minecraft can help to teach not just technical skills, but also simulate business skills including trading and relationship-building.
Used the correct way, Minecraft could help give your child a solid background in core STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects; all of which are critical in the 21stcentury workplace.
When you also consider the social skills that Minecraft can help develop, your child could also become very proficient at negotiation, project planning and teamwork.Theseareallskills which employers today, and in the future, will always be looking for.
HowFunTechCan Help
If you have a child who already loves Minecraft, or wants to take it ‘beyond the basics’, then please explore the Minecraft camps atFunTechSummer Camps.
We are running Minecraft summer camps at various locations across London and the UK, includingMinecraft with Modsfor ages 7 to 10,Minecraft Redstonefor ages 9 to 12 andMinecraft Bedwars Builderfor ages 11 to 15.
We are Ofsted registered and offer a fun and structured leading environment over the summer holidays, with classes sizes being an average of one to eight pupil tutor ratio.
Our one-week Minecraft camps run from 9am to 5pm, Mon-Fri.
Keep me informed
Be the first to know aboutFlash and Early Bird Sales as well as new courses, summer locations and more.
KEEP ME INFORMED
