The popularity of Minecraft makes you call it ‘the pleasant surprise’ of the last decade. Created back in 2009, the user count has spread over 200million. The overwhelming success of the game makes Microsoft bought it for $2.5billion. What could have caused this amazing success? Is Minecraft good? Well, the primary reason for the game popularity is its accessibility for all age groups. From children to adults to the Oldie Goldie at your home, all are involved in playing this amazing game. Not to mentions, the primary audience of the game is children especially if your kid is under 7, the chances are rare that you have not heard of letting your kid play this game.
Table of Contents
What is Minecraft?
‘Minecraft’ is a single and/or multi-player game that lets the player build their worlds having all possible necessities like houses, resources, pets, and even foes that might give you a hard time in your game life. The game offers a variety of different modes that will suit virtually any gamer around the world. The game is an open-world environment game and lets you play with your creativity and imagination eventually helping in enhancing your skills especially for the growing children. If you are someone who likes more of a challenging game, there is also a survivor mode the game in which you have to win the battle against the creatures of the night.
There is more to this game than meets the eye, at first, it might look like a simple adventure game having a blocky appearance, but once you have started to play this game, you will be surprised with the amount of content that Minecraft has to offer. It has evolved a lot since its first launch and has captured every eye and is on its way to becoming the best-selling game of all time.
Simplicity and Complexity Combined Uniquely:
Minecraft features a procedurally generated world resulting in no repetition of any content. Also, there are around 400 unique items, giving you plenty to unlock and discover. Redstone is considered the most ingenious additions to Minecraft which Minecraft version of electricity. This component has given players the ability to craft elaborate mazes, puzzles, roller coaster, and even a functioning iPhone 6. This liberty for creativity is what sets Minecraft apart from many other games on the market. Not only does it give you limitless freedom, but it gives you powerful tools to create almost anything you can imagine. While it might revolve around the basic tasks of mining and crafting, there is no ceiling on where that can take you.
Play It Your Way:
Minecraft has plenty for you to do. You can surrender elaborate creations and just focus on exploring the world and building up an arsenal of powerful weapons to assist you on your journey. Players who do not want to create buildings or contraptions can enjoy hunting for diamonds, creating a farm, raising livestock, exploring vast cave systems, and building a simple home.
Availability on Different Devices:
Minecraft is available in two editions. Minecraft Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Java Edition. The Bedrock edition supports cross-play between Android, iOS, consoles, and PC users while The Java edition is only playable on PC. With so many supported devices, it is easy to see why millions of players have given it a try. Plus, the impressive cross-play capability makes it simple to play with friends who own the game on a different system.
Is Minecraft educational
Minecraft and kids are something you cannot separate. There is a huge number of children playing Minecraft from around the globe. Minecraft is educational because it enhances critical life skills like problem-solving, self-direction, creativity, collaboration, and many others. In the classroom, Minecraft complements reading, writing, math, and even some part of history learnings. Importantly, Minecraft also introduces STEM knowledge, business principles, and a global perspective making the game both fun and educational at the same time and is considered one of the best educational games for kids.
Is Minecraft Safe for Your Child
The answer is a big yes. Minecraft is a good and kid-friendly video game. When playing in Single-player mode, children are only exposed to the artificially controlled mobs where combat scenarios are not graphic. With cartoon-like designs, even monsters like zombies pose little threat to kids! Like many other games, if your children are playing online in a multiplayer server, they can be exposed to interacting strangers, this poses threats. However, this can be mitigated easily if you teach your children the right digital safety types (i.e. – never give out your real name, address, or other personal information), the online version of the game will be a positive social experience.
Is Minecraft Violent
Minecraft contains very little violence or inappropriate content, for example, there is no blood in the game. Players can, however, hit or kill animals or each other in multiplayer mode, but this is not the main focus of the game and the graphics are very cartoon-like. Minecraft has both multi and single-player options. Many kids like to use multiplayer mode to play with their friends and to play with people around the world. Which poses the risk of encountering harassment, bad language, and inappropriate content. To help avoid this, you can set games for single-player only or disable the chat option in multiplayer. Also, there are Minecraft tutorials available on Youtube of which some may include inappropriate language or comments. To be on the safer side, always encourage kids to use recommended Minecraft tutorials (a link to Minecraft educational tutorial is mentioned for your ready reference).
What Age is Minecraft Appropriate For?
Minecraft is recommended for kids aged 7+. The game soak kids in creative thinking and problem-solving skills also broadening their imaginative circle. Parents must know how to engage their kids appropriately in the game. There are different offerings in the game as mentioned below.
Minecraft: Works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Xbox 360
Minecraft Pocket Edition: Works on Android, iPhone, iPad, and Kindle Fire.
Minecraft Story Mode: Works on Playstation 3 & Playstation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii U, iPhone, Mac, and Windows.
Here are some other famous games like Minecraft.
● Toca Builders
● Blox 3D Junior
● Hovercraft – Build Fly Retry
● The Robot Factory by Tinybop
Why Minecraft is Good for Kids
‘Is Minecraft bad for my child?’, ‘Is Minecraft a good game?’ are some of the commons questions asked by the parents and the answer to these questions is no, it is not. Minecraft is one of those very few games that combines the entertainment of a game with the development and growth of key skills in a smart way. Still not convinced? Here are some of the skills that your kid might learn from this amazing game.
A- Minecraft enhances life skills
One primary benefit for kids is the promotion of problem-solving, creativity, self-direction, and collaboration all of which stand out as the non-academic benefits of Minecraft. It is these life skills that will give kids the enhancement needed when they work their way towards succeeding in future educational and professional endeavors.
Creativity: Minecraft is unique in a way that it provides an unlimited world where kids can create anything they can imagine, but within the constraint that everything is made up of blocks that must fit within the 3D grid of the game. Re-creations of both fictional and real-world cities, Pirate galleys, and even your favorite sci-fi ships probably already exist in Minecraft and were also built by someone who has not graduated high school yet.
Problem-Solving: ‘Survival mode’ is where various creatures come out at night and attack players are just one side of the way Minecraft encourages problem-solving. Players are dropped into different environments and must quickly figure out how to find and build shelter, collect food, and make weapons to survive. Strategy comes into play in a big way here, as each Minecraft ‘day’ lasts a scant 10 real-world minutes, meaning players have to think on their feet if they want to stay alive.
Collaboration: Kids can play Minecraft on servers either with their friends or with others around the world, and work together to achieve goals. They build structures, pool resources, and defeat enemies. The cooperation and communication involved here are endless. Kids can then take these social skills and apply them to their lives off the computer.
Self-Direction: Minecraft is also unique in that there is no way to ‘win.’ You as a player must decide for yourself what you want to get out of your time in the game. Do you want to collect resources and build structures and other stuff? Do you want to band together with friends and defeat the boss? It is up to you. Such liberty and the positive reinforcement that comes when they check off the next goal on their chosen path builds self-confidence and lets kids feel like they are in charge of their fate, a feeling that can sometimes be lacking in the rule-laden real world.
B- Minecraft Complements School Skills
You can find many blogs on the internet describing the real-life benefits that parents observed as their kids playing Minecraft especially in basic skills like reading, writing, and math. Many schools have started to use Minecraft in the classroom, even, and for good reason.
Reading & Writing: Your kid`s reading comprehension, spelling, and interest in other creative endeavors may get a real boost from that blocky, virtual world of Minecraft. The reason is simple. Your kid might have found a useful reason to learn to read and to extend skills as it seems to make sense to your kid. With all precautions taken, the heavy reliance of servers (online game) on the chat section could be the one ultimate class for your kids’ written communication skills which they might not be able to learn in their regular class so quickly.
This means research skills come into play as well. To advance in Minecraft, players must look up information, hints, and tricks, involving anything from Wiki pages to YouTube tutorials and more. They learn how to analyze the endless resources at their fingertips to discover what is useful to them and what is not.
Math: Math is another huge and potentially surprising part of Minecraft. Figuring out average the amount of food needed to go on a mining adventure, divide supplies evenly among players, and estimate the area needed to build a city could be fun and easy learning thanks to Minecraft. The game has many natural applications to mathematics, and it has been used by many educators to improve engagement and boost results. Teachers allow kids to construct more complex shapes, manipulate blocks, and solve geometric problems in Minecraft.
History: Minecraft can help engage students who might be turned off by the memorization of historical facts and dates. Because in the game, you can import fully-reconstructed versions of famous buildings and landmarks, or build your own. What better way to bring history to life than going on a virtual tour of the Great Pyramids, the Coliseum, or the Globe Theatre? When kids get a closer look at these buildings, they can develop a greater understanding of the architecture involved, and compare and contrast how different structures were built.
C- Minecraft Develops Career Skills
Yes, it is true. Minecraft is capable of developing and enhancing your workplace skills eventually helping you to have a great chance of excelling in your career.
Business Principles: Various fields in Minecraft prepares your child for a smart career like a business, management, and systems administration. And how exactly that is done? When you host a server and play the game online, there are enormous benefits attached to it. Your kid learns technology to acquire and maintain server hardware, will keep it update with the latest releases, install add-ons, compatibility management with later releases, and providing server support to the friends using it. Indeed something that will benefit your kid in the future as it will develop and enhance system administrative skills which can be a good career choice.
STEM knowledge: System administration is not the only thing that your child can master while playing Minecraft. There are plenty of other things that can boost your workplace skills. In addition to knowing with computer functions and hardware, your kid can get a good experience with game design principles and coding. Acquiring STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and math) knowledge and skills have become mandatory in the 21st-century workplace.
A Global Perspective: The fact that kids can play with anyone from around the world is a fabulous mirroring of the global marketplace that business has become. How much further ahead will your child be if they go into an interview already proficient with common telecommunication tools like Skype, and the social skills to communicate clearly and effectively with people from around the world? The social nature of Minecraft teaches sharing responsibilities, designating roles, negotiating designs, and completing projects all incredibly valuable career skills.
Gain Valuable Educational Benefits of Minecraft
Knowledge is power. The next time your child asks if they can play more Minecraft. Think about all the practical skills they are gaining by just playing a game. Sit down with them, watch them play, and get involved with what they are learning and doing. The best part of it is, they are learning while having fun.
5 Reason Why Minecraft Is Good For Kids
Build Creativity
Minecraft gives kids the same creative freedom. Minecraft is a very blocky world in that everything is built from blocks. The ground, the trees, even your character is made up of blocks. You get progress in the game by mining blocks of various materials such as stone, wood, lava, etc. You use these as the basis for your creations or combine them in ‘recipes’ to create more advanced materials, tools, and objects. Some of the things Minecraft players have built are truly staggering: skyscrapers, massive vehicles, working analog computers, and many others. There are also game modifications that add more advanced items like robots, nuclear reactors, and a whole range of high-tech real-world materials.
It Teaches Real-world Skills
One overlooked value of most strategy-based video games is resource management. The player has a finite amount of resources at any given time and needs to decide wisely how to use them most effectively. Kids are learning cost-benefit analysis, such as when to save versus when to spend, and other key budgeting and financial skills that are so important later on in life. Kids learn patience with Minecraft. It takes a while to assemble the resources you need. Kids learn perseverance through the game. Like your child might not build that amazing monument correctly the first time it comes tumbling down under its weight. They can learn by their mistakes and try again. Kids also learn about teamwork. Given that it is online, kids can play with others from around the world. They can team up and learn how to work cooperatively to make amazing things.
Kids Can Play Anywhere
Unlike high-end video games that only work on certain systems or require expensive hardware to run, Minecraft works just about anywhere. It runs on computers, smartphones and tablets, most video game consoles, several handheld gaming systems, and more.
It is Kids Friendly
Violence is a big complaint with video games. Minecraft does have some fighting elements to it. You have to fend off ‘mobs’ of monsters but the graphics are blocky and bloodless, like an old-school video game. For concerned parents of younger kids, Minecraft also features a ‘Peaceful’ mode. This is the easiest setting and turns off all enemies. It also makes it nearly impossible to die, so you can just explore and build.
Fun for the Whole Family
Playing a game with your kid is a fun activity that way, you are right there to monitor the game, teach them to be good sports, or shut it off when their time is up. Minecraft is a really fun game. You can sit next to your kids and give them advice, or create your character and jump into the game using a different computer or gadget.
How Do You Make a Smooth Stone in Minecraft?
First, you must use your Furnace so that Cobblestone can be turned into stone by mixing Coal and Cobblestone and make it smooth by mixing Coal and Stone. To create the slab, arrange 3 of those smooth stones horizontally in the center of the 3×3 grid on your crafting table.
How to Make a Blast Furnace in Minecraft?
There is a crafting area in the crafting menu consisting of a 3×3 crafting grid. You have to place in a specific order 5 iron ingot, 3 smooth stone, and 1 furnace in the crafting grid.
How to Make a Saddle?
The saddle is important if you want to tame a horse in Minecraft and sadly, there is no option of crafting it. You have to obtain it from different sources such as
- Trade for Saddle
- Get it from Different Chests
- Abandoned mineshafts
- Desert temples
- Dungeons
- End City
- Jungle temples
- Nether Fortress
- Strongholds
- Villages
Happy exploring!
How to Make Paper in Minecraft?
Paper is something that is not easy to craft in the game. For this, you will need at least 3 sugar canes that can be found near the water bodies’ edges. Place these sugar canes in a row in the crafting box this will allow you to create 3 papers for your inventory.
How to Make a Book?
Books can be found in strongholds libraries which are not that easy so you can also create your book. Ingredients needed for creating a book is 1 leather and 3 papers. Place these ingredients in the right pattern in the crafting box to create your book.
How to Make Bookshelf Minecraft?
A bookshelf in Minecraft can be used to increase enchantments and for decorative purposes. You would require 3 books and 6 wood planks that need to be placed in the crafting box in a specific manner to create your bookshelf.
How to Make a Book and Quill in Minecraft?
This item is used to write written books in the game. You would require 1 book, 1 feather, and 1 ink sac. Place these items in a crafting box to create 1 book and quill for yourself and place this item in your player inventory.
Final Thought
Now you must have got an answer to your questions like Is Minecraft good? Is Minecraft good for kids? It certainly is. There is no doubt about it. It could help in developing and enhancing essential skills in your kid while giving him/her some great time to enjoy. Make sure that you have given essential multiplayer/online gaming precautions to your kids to be 100% on the safer side. The game is one of the very few games that teach your kid a lot without even noticing a lot and obviously, the fun factor is ultimate.
