Let’s talk about our most beloved game, Minecraft. No boundaries, no limits. A fun and unique game loved by adults, teens, and kids. You start off knocking down some trees and next thing you know you’re in full diamond armor, living in a mansion. It’s one of the most creative video games of our generation. Really, people have built incredible things. Holy cow.
If you’ve built a home on Minecraft, you’ve dabbled in architecture. If you’ve ever *modded it, you’ve dabbled in coding. If you’ve ever played with a group of people, it’s bettering your social skills. And finally, if you’ve ever played Minecraft education edition for the sole purpose of going in there and making a balloon, you’ve messed around with elements on the periodic table, and that’s some type of chemistry! The point is that Minecraft isn’t just a game.
We’re not all just chopping trees and running around fighting zombies, we’re learning things. All the time. That’s the beauty of it. It’s more than a game, and though Minecraft teaches the skills mentioned in the paragraph above its important to acknowledge that it is a supplement, not a replacement. Kids still need school. Minecraft can definitely not replace all school subjects, but it can help emphasize them. An example, maybe, is a modded world replica of historical sights used in a history classroom. Minecraft: Education Edition being used in a chemistry classroom to teach compounds and elements. Due to the fact that Minecraft: Education Edition features the periodic table and chemistry features.
Attention all teachers! Your students would love this. Whether it be code practice, history mods, or chemistry I can guarantee there will be kids ecstatic to just have Minecraft on their screens. Though, if none of that seems appealing to you, you could always just play some music. More specifically, Minecraft music. My journalism teacher, Mr. Hicks, plays Minecraft music for his 7th graders. It's relaxing and mellow, just right for focusing and working.
Speaking of focus. Minecraft also improves attentiveness. When you play a game of Minecraft (in survival) your main objective is to, well, survive. You pay attention to the world around you to keep building your way to the top. Applying that to everyday life is just as natural as blinking and breathing. It also improves hand-eye coordination, seeing that to pay the most attention, you have to spend less time looking at the controls and more time looking at your screen. Kind of like typing.
Look, if you got this far, I know what you may be thinking. It’s just a game. This is silly, but it’s a loveable game with educational benefits. Even if you don’t want it for classroom use or you’re just a kid reading this I recommend just playing it. It's a nice game with nice music where you build houses and plant sugar cane (and maybe fight some mobs). It’s not just some silly game, and if you think it is, it’s a silly game we can all learn from.