The game looks childlike due to its design. Mainly it is about building objects and buildings and exploring the game world. But how child-friendly is Minecraft really? An educational assessment and tips for parents summarized.
For children, Minecraft, despite its simple appearance, combines many aspects that fascinate them: They can design their own world, create objects, improve the character and defend themselves against opponents.
Minecraft became famous primarily through social media such as YouTube , Facebook and Reddit, with a third of all Minecraft players getting to know the game through online videos, so-called Let’s Plays . There are over 42 million videos about Minecraft on the German YouTube page.
Minecraft: from what age?
Minecraft is released from the entertainment software self-regulation from six years. The Spielatgeber-NRW also recommends this age, although it depends a lot on which mode you play. While creative and adventure modes are relatively harmless, survival and hardcore modes are more geared towards attack and attack. The block optics allows distance to the game action. However, Minecraft does not explain anything and only pretends a little, players need enough experience, capacity, planning and, above all, imagination and creativity.
How Minecraft Works: Basics for Parents
Tips for parents
It is important that children do not lose sight of the usage time, which can easily happen with this limitless game. Projects such as the new moat can quickly become hours-consuming. It is similar with the eponymous occupation of digging tunnels and building gigantic mine networks to find materials. How much time players invest is up to you, so you can play Minecraft for half an hour in between.
Younger children in particular need the support of experienced players at the beginning. There is no introduction to the game that explains basic mechanics. Here parents can step in and join the game with the child.
The creative and adventure modes are suitable for younger children. Here the game world can be explored in peace without the players having to fear attacks. For older children it can be a little more exciting in survival and hardcore mode.
Minecraft encourages creativity
As soon as the basic mechanics of assembling and dismantling the blocks have been understood, the fun and learning potential also unfolds for younger children, because a giant box of Lego is now available, with which you can build to your heart’s content. Depending on the drive, this can promote creative thinking , the development of solution strategies, organization and planning, as well as frustration tolerance.
This is how Minecraft is also used in educational institutions. In 2011 the organization “MinecraftEdu” was founded to give schools access to Minecraft. Companies like Google also develop modifications for Minecraft, such as “qCraft” which is compatible with “Minecraft” and “MinecraftEdu”. In a Swedish school, the game is even compulsory.
