The Value of Minecraft

My wife bought me an X-Box One several years ago for Christmas.  She knows that I love to play games and that my X-Box 360 was becoming an antique in terms of video game systems go.  I don't typically play that many games, but when I do, I really dig into them.  I have spent hours with Star Wars Battlefront II and Skyrim, but the game that changed gaming in my house is Minecraft.  

I realize that Minecraft isn't a new game, but when I introduced it to my daughters where they were at the time 6 and 10 years old, it became the top activity in our house.  At first, we just spent a lot of time wandering around and trying to stay alive in the survival modes.  As we continued to play, I started noting that my girls were getting more creative and trying different things.  I found that in their creative worlds, where there isn't any danger of starvation, mobs (monsters), or falling into dangerous things like lava and where resources fully accessible, they were trying new things with different resources.  Since most games and activities they had played were very directed and basically laid the path out in front of them or they were told what to do by the game, the fact that exploration became the norm for them in Minecraft was nice to see.  

Early on all three of us would look for some inspiration for cool things to build, so I bought some Minecraft books.  It was pretty awesome when I would come in the room and they would be pouring over the books talking about different building designs or figuring out how to craft certain potions or trying to figure out what the best strategy is for defeating an Ender.  That was pretty heartwarming, and it made me realize the educational value to Minecraft.  My girls were seeking out external resources like books and YouTube videos.  They were even evaluating resources without really realizing the skills they were developing.  When searching for good YouTube content, they were comparing the quality of video and instruction.  They even said there were a few they came across that had a lot of swearing (I am sure there are more than just a few), so they decided that those might not be especially credible.  They said who would try to teach someone and swear at them while doing it?  That made sense to me, so I encouraged them to find more channels that fit their style.   

Both of my daughters were making science and math connections when trying to figure out which type of stones or other resources mixed best with others.  They were figuring area and volume when building houses and trying to figure out how many blocks they needed to mine in my survival world.  My youngest daughter sat down this week to play and wanted me to see what she was working on.  She had created an elaborate underground system of hallways. She was explaining to me how a sticky piston works and how she was applying it in a hallway to push a light block into view to illuminate a corridor.  Watching her experimentation and trial and error is satisfying, because not only is it fun to play and watch what she has built, but also because I am watching her thinking and learning process.   I also really appreciate the art and design applications that go in to the game too.  They both have played with the color of different bricks in building to create a certain aesthetic.  

Minecraft offers all of us the opportunity to develop collaboration skills as well.  My first realization of this was when the three of us were trying to figure out how to defeat a skeleton spawner.  We discussed strategy and we all shared our ideas on how to approach this task.  Of course, it usually played out where they would go running off leaving me to deal with all the skeletons, but at least it started with a plan.  We've also done some mining collaboration as we were working on some different projects.  We discussed who would go where to cut down trees and collect dark oak and birch tree wood while the other would head underground to find granite and someone else would start crafting tools and building materials.  

Besides being a fun game that offers us new experiences every time we start playing, it offers so many learning opportunities.  My favorite aspect of the game though is how it gives me a way to connect with my daughters.  It gives us a common language.  It also gives us experiences that we can be proud of in some cases and laugh together in other cases.  This has been an unexpected value of Minecraft.