Minecraft is a video game that since 2009 has amassed millions of users, including many Children, who by placing and destroying the blocks of the famous pixelated world learn to develop their creativity and problem solving skills. In fact, Minecraft is not just a videogame: thanks to the game mechanics it can become a very useful learning tool for children, to be used also in schools to learn the rudiments of coding and programming and to study STEM subjects while having fun. The role of Minecraft in teaching has long been recognized, so much so that the birth of Minecraft: Education Edition, a version with a specific educational purpose that allows teachers to use the video game as a teaching aid to any subject.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft has become one of the most popular and well-known video games in the world: since 2009, date of publication, it has millions of players, who try their hand at collecting materials and building shelters and objects, destroying or placing the 3D blocks of which they are composed the game worlds.

Minecraft is an adventure video game consisting of a sandbox with a design inspired by Lego, an open-ended sandbox game.

A sandbox is a game that offers players the ability to enter a world shared with other players, with no goals or missions to accomplish. This provides users with a game with endless possibilities. Children learn to play by exploring, trying out random features, or by reading guides or blogs and watching videos on YouTube.

And since it’s a sandbox game,it does not have a specific objective, although it is possible to end it with the killing of the Enderdrago. Having reached this goal, it is still possible to continue playing, precisely because the fun is in carrying out the fundamental operations of the game, mining and crafting, or the collection of materials.

And the combination of these to create different objects and buildings, with the freedom to explore and design following your own intuition and creativity.

The application was developed by the Swedish programmer Markus Persson,: the game was born with the intention of not being one of the usual video games in which you have to reach a goal with violence and force, but to develop and use their imagination and ingenuity.

and it has become so popular that it is considered one of the most influential games of the decade and has given rise to numerous communities, guides, tutorials on YouTube, so much so that after “music”, Minecraft is the most searched word on the video platform.

While it is possible to play alone, it is preferable to play with friends. Teamwork makes many aspects of Minecraft easier and more fun, such as collecting and crafting items, building structures, and fighting zombies.

This is why users often join “servers”. The servers allow users to play with others online or via a local area network (LAN). Each server is a standalone multiplayer world.

Note that most of the servers are not owned by Mojang or Minecraft; Anyone can create a server, so it is important to do the proper checks before allowing children to participate.

What is the purpose of the game?

Minecraft is a very simple and linear game; for this reason, it has also become very popular with children and younger children.

The graphics made of “pixelated” blocks reminiscent of Lego bricks (of which Minecraft is an evolution) and the immediate dynamics based on digging, “mine” and building, “craft”, through 3D blocks, make it a perfect vehicle for the expression of one’s creativity without limits and particular obstacles, an inclusive video game suitable for everyone. Behind this linearity, however, there is a certain complexity.

In fact, we move within a world made of materials, lands and places to explore, we collect materials and build tools, shelters and buildings, we meet animals to raise, hunt or tame, we have to face storms, lightning and hurricanes, you have to survive against nature, the chemical and physical laws and the dangers of different biomes, and you do it through the use of cubic blocks to build everything you need to continue in the game.

The game pushes you to strive for survival, developing computational thinking and problem solving skills, critical assessment of situations and reasoning and calculation to perform the various actions.

There is no real purpose of the game or a real plot, as there is no need to earn points or follow a guided path, but you can move freely and without time limits, guided only by your imagination, within the different habitats formed by multiple 3D cubes, interacting with animals, plants, objects and tools.

To face the game, you can build anything through blocks made of different materials, programming the work of an agent who will dig and find the materials that allow you to build buildings, tools and settings.

Minecraft at School for Children’s Learning and Development

Thanks to the mechanics and modes of the game, Minecraft is not just a video game but a playful and dynamic learning tool based on creativity and problem solving.

Pushing the child to autonomously identify new ways of placing and removing blocks, of shaping the environment, of dealing with different situations, Minecraft promotes the use of logic in the management of spaces and materials, removing any brake on the fantasy but using computational thinking and reasoning to arrive at a solution.

Minecraft is an interactive and versatile game, which allows you to build unlimited variations of constructions by developing your own creativity, and to play together with other users, also improving children’s soft skills and the ability to work in a group on a project or in the resolution of a problem.

The simplicity of the game and the mechanics that move it make it usable even for younger children, who with experimentation are able to perform even complex processes in the video game.

Through Minecraft we build circuits, even complicated mechanisms that allow you to put objects or elements into operation, operate tools, open doors and much more. It is a functional teaching tool for children, as it allows them to learn information and put it into practice as they play.

But not only that: Minecraft has also become relevant in school and in the educational field as a tool for learning coding, STEM disciplines, from science, chemistry, mathematics, geography, but also for developing problem solving, creativity and storytelling.

It is possible to learn history by exploring ancient worlds and recreating the different eras of human history, discover geography, ecology and sustainability through the exploration of different environments, ecosystems and biomes and their flora and fauna and through the use of the map generator.

And learning languages thanks to the instructions in a foreign language and the support for translation, but also mathematics, thanks to the kits, expansions and activities created specifically to support the study of the different subjects, constantly updated. due to the great popularity of the videogame in the educational field.

The latest version of Minecraft also allows you to explore sciences, physics and chemistry through a real chemistry laboratory.

 In such laboratory, you can conduct different experiments by creating molecular elements and structures, exploring the periodic table, assembling and disassembling, testing reactions, playing and experimenting with electronics, building systems and circuits, generating impulses, transforming materials.

Also playing with geometry and algebra and the Cartesian plane, discovering anatomy with maps on the human body and its apparatuses made of cubes and blocks, which can thus be explored, reconstructed and made functional.

Minecraft is therefore a complete tool, which brings children and young people closer through play to the use of digital means for learning, which helps to develop their critical sense, computational thinking and problem solving skills, stimulating their imagination.

and storytelling in the construction of one’s own world and of one’s own rules in an augmented reality.

But that’s not all: Minecraft is also used as a means for learning the basics of programming and coding.

Coding and Problem Solving with Minecraft

Minecraft has been identified as an important tool to introduce children and young people to programming and coding, much more advanced than the many programs born with the same goal.

 The video game is a playful and fun way to learn the basics of the Java language and creative programming: thanks to the educational version Minecraft: Education Edition, it is in fact possible to apply the logic of programming to the game, through the programming mode, the Code Builder.

The tool gives access to a block visual programming editor that allows you to program functions or cycles of instructions of various types, which will be carried out by an agent within the game.

The Code Builder extension gives you the ability to connect Minecraft to coding software such as Scratch (we have already talked about Scratch as a tool for learning coding), Tynker or Make Code, depending on your level of programming skills.

Through programming, an “agent” is thus instructed in digging to recover materials, in constructing buildings, towers and walls using a certain number of “cubes” referring to specific dimensions, in using certain objects, exploiting their own imagination and their problem solving skills and gradually entering the mechanisms of coding.

Thanks to this feature, pre-established instructions are provided to an agent to perform autonomously and mechanically actions that in the normal version of Minecraft would require several clicks by the player.

In addition to the visual programming mode, it is also possible to use the code editor, a more advanced level of coding, less intuitive and more structured, for children who are more familiar with programming languages ​​ (find out which programming languages ​​are for children in the dedicated article).

With this mode available in Minecraft: Education Edition you pass from block programming to programming in Java.

Minecraft and Education: Minecraft Education Edition

Thanks to its potential in the educational field, Minecraft has become an important educational resource for primary and secondary schools around the world, used as a pedagogical tool by teachers who have seen its value beyond playful entertainment for learning different subjects.

In 2011, a website called Minecraft Edu was created by an American professor who had started using the video game in the classroom, with a version of the game specifically for education.

The website collects the attention of Microsoft, which after acquiring Mojang, the manufacturer of Minecraft, creates in 2016 Minecraft: Education Edition, the version of Minecraft for teaching, now used by teachers in hundreds of schools around the world as a playful and interactive support for teaching.

Even before the birth of the educational version of Minecraft, several schools in Northern Europe and England had identified this video game so loved by children as a valid didactic tool for teaching history and geography, involving students in an active way and stimulating their ability to reason.

as well as to program: in the Haslingfield School in Cambridgeshire the students recreated the Bronze Age with Minecraft during the history hours.

With the advent of the Education version, continuously updated with new activities, files and expansions called mods, which can be added to the video game in support of all school disciplines.

The “Minecraft Educators” who deal with the training of teachers who wish to use the video game in the classroom with their students: to date the Minecraft Education community has over 35 million members worldwide, and the tool is used in schools in 115 countries.

Museums are also using Minecraft as a means to bring the school closer to their cultural programs, thanks to the possibility of creating ancient worlds and past environments, to build civilizations to explore and get to know up close through the characteristic 3D blocks, to play with art, shapes and architecture but also chemistry and biology, always leaving room for creativity and imagination.

Why is Minecraft used for STEM Education Problem Solving disciplines?

It is well known that Minecraft has achieved tremendous success in the children’s games industry, and has been used by the most advanced educational organizations precisely because it allows you to learn by playing the STEM disciplines but not only those.

Considered one of the most advanced educational tools, Minecraft allows you to enhance your imagination and ingenuity, activate experiments for children and simulate some real-world situations, in an exhilarating way and with serious and profound learning.

It is possible that future architects, engineers, scientists or programmers will pass by games like Minecraft.

Obviously, to acquire a good level you need to gain experience and dedicate time to it. Sometimes it is difficult for an adult to understand how Minecraft works, it is also difficult to understand the meaning of the game.

It is a tool that requires specific skills, imagination, a desire to know, innovate and share, understand the different rules of the virtual world, combined use of blocks and commands, etc. These are completely natural concepts for a child’s learning.

Hilarious, imaginative and fun ideas to enhance learning and to become a model citizen, quickly guessing what are the right choices to make to create a better world and future.

Minecraft modes

There are three play styles available which change the objectives of the match: Creative, Adventure and Survival modes.

Creative mode has very little violence. It is all about creativity, like building houses or making objects. This game mode is the most relaxing, ideal for children who just want to explore the world, test game mechanics, or build and create seamlessly. Note, however, that Creative Mode gives players access to “TNT”, which works like a bombshell in the game.

Adventure mode plays like an RPG (think Genshin Impact or Final Fantasy XV). This game mode contains violence and focuses less on the construction aspect of the game. Unlike the creative mode, players cannot make changes to the world they are in.

Survival mode is the most violent game mode. As with the adventure mode, children can choose an RPG play style; but they can also make changes to the world. In addition, the survival mode has several “difficulty levels”. These levels determine the appearance of creatures that damage characters in the game (called “mobs spawn”).

• Peaceful Difficulty Level: No mob spawns
• Normal Difficulty: Normal amount of mob spawns (usually in dark areas)
• High Difficulty Level: Mobs are harder to kill and more are spawned

Minecraft versions for different consoles

There are four versions of Minecraft:

• Java Edition (Windows, Mac and Linux)
• Bedrock Edition (Windows, Mac and Linux)
• Pocket Edition (Mobile)
• X-box

The differences between Java Edition and Bedrock Edition are minimal, but these two editions are not compatible with each other. So, before buying this game for your child, make sure you know which version he wants: his friends probably use one or the other.

Does Minecraft have an age rating?

No matter what game your child is playing, you should know the age range. When it comes to Minecraft, it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security.

But does age rating really matter? As After all, it’s just a sandbox game with mineable blocks.

Well, yes they do.

In North America, the rating is agreed by the Entertaining Software Rating Board (ESRB), considers Minecraft suitable for audiences aged 10 and over as it contains the violence typical of the fantasy genre. Additionally, Minecraft requires all children under 13 to have parental approval before playing.

Meanwhile, in Europe PEGI area of Europe including the European Union, the United Kingdom and non-EU countries to the east), Ratings are decided based on the suitability of a game for an audience. (Minecraft is rated 7.)

However, the game may also be appropriate for elementary school kids, due to its block graphics and intuitive nature. If you allow your younger children to play:

• Use your email address for registration and make a note of your login credentials.
• Restrict the account to single player and private server mode.
• Have your child play in the same room with an adult to make sure there are no problems.

Advantages/benefits/amazing things

Minecraft is a very amazing world. Maybe you are playing it now and having fun with it and enjoying your time as you dive into its big world. But the path that this game has taken from the beginning until now is bumpy, full of difficulties, but the result is absolutely amazing.

If you enjoy the game of Minecraft in general, we are here to increase the fun more and more by achieving a set of information, facts and different things about the game Minecraft that will increase your love for this game more and more.

Minecraft has the second largest map in the world of all games

There are so many open world games out there right now, so popular that it’s hard to get around to all of the places in them.

Such as The Witcher, GTA, Assassin’s Creed, Skyrim, and others. However, no matter how wide the maps of these games are, they will not reach Minecraft.

In fact, in the video game world, the Minecraft map is the second largest. Only one person was able to roam 16% of the entire Minecraft game area, which is the most explored area in the game.

In numbers, a Minecraft map covers an area of ​​64,000 square kilometers, which is the equivalent of the planet Neptune if you want to put it in that estimate. You might be wondering about the number one game in this ranking, No Man’s Sky.

This is because its infinite worlds are due to the artificial intelligence that automatically embodies the planets and maps.

For newcomers to Minecraft… There is also a Peace Mode

There are two main modes in Minecraft which are Survival and Creativity mode within it. But what many do not know is that there is a third situation called the Peace Mode.

In this mode, you play Minecraft normally where you have to find food, water, food and everything, but the only difference is that there are no monsters in the game (Mobs).

This mode is mainly intended by the company for children who want to keep Minecraft, and everyone can try it out as well.

There is no set age to start playing Minecraft

A group of games that sets a specific age in order to play their games. For example, the GTA series, the age limit for playing it is 18 years. Other games as well, such as Assassin’s Creed, which starts at 16 years old. But what is the age limit to play Minecraft, any person of this age can literally play the game.

But it’s a little illogical, right? So in general, there is no specific age to start playing Minecraft, and you can present it and show it to people of all age groups.

You can ride on many Passive Mobs

Passive mobs are monsters in Minecraft that don’t attack you in the first place. In fact, it does not harm you unless you harm it. In general, there are many Mobs that you can ride that will help you go great distances by riding on them.

Of course you might say: This is normal, you can ride on horses and donkeys, for example, in Minecraft. But that’s not all, there are animals that you can ride on: llamas, wolves, cats, birds, and horses in the form of a skeleton.

Yes, you can ride on a cat or a bird, you just need to train it first before you can ride on it.

One day in Minecraft is like 20 minutes in the real world

The day and night in Minecraft alternate and alternate as you play the game. But, did you know that one day in Minecraft is equivalent to 20 minutes in the real world? That is, every 20 minutes, the night falls on you in the game. That is, in one hour of playing this game, you can spend 3 days in it. This information may help you avoid or prepare for the night in the game, as it is the most difficult stage or period within the game of Minecraft.

The effect of Minecraft on children

The impact of the Minecraft game on children varies between positive and negative alike on thousands of children around the world in an obsessive manner that pushes them to play it daily without interruption, which leads parents to worry about this obsessive game, even though it is a game used for education and mental development of children.

Positive effects of Minecraft

Developing their creativity

The positive aspects of Minecraft for children cannot be overlooked, with its creative ideas that encourage the child to think, speed, design and build.

The idea of ​​Minecraft, depends on the electronic Java system, which focus on the creative aspect of the players, and allowing them to build a variety of buildings using cubes with different graphics and colors in a three-dimensional world, where the player speeds up with the availability of building tools and weapons to build a shelter for him before darkness falls, or else he will fall prey to the night monsters!

And the more he searches in his mine for diamonds, during the construction process, the more he can pass advanced stages in the game, which consists of 10 stages.

Minecraft combines different game modes, including Survival Mode and Creative Mode. In this mode, the player can create almost anything inside the game of Minecraft in an unlimited way, when you offer a child such a space for creativity and exploration, you help him to cure his curiosity, and to explore his most creative abilities. No other games can give you more creative playability than Minecraft and its creative mode.

Passing through all of this will allow the child to think in different perspectives and boost his creative thinking.

A social and cooperative game between users

Social games are suitable for children, especially during periods like the quarantine, if they return again. The child does not get enough of social communication with others, and also does not find better ways to create friendships and communication skills than online games.

The problem with other online games other than Minecraft is that they are full of cursing and slandering which you don’t want your child to suffer from currently.

Therefore, there are servers in Minecraft that are intended for children, and also creative, that the user can access and have a good time with other users and players.

Gaining a set of logical perceptions

Logical cognitions are a set of things whose source can be understood or how they can be made. For example, to be able to make an archery bow in Minecraft, you have to combine wood with string. Such things transmit some logical perceptions to the child. Like understanding what materials can be assembled to make different things.

Minecraft is full of different things that you can make by crafting. This will help the child to understand and acquire these perceptions and things, and know how things are made, and how they can also be used.

Choosing multiple game modes

Minecraft isn’t always about survival; you can turn to other game modes in the middle of the game. For example, you can raise animals, or you can start farming and build your own garden. To imitate the peasant situation and become a peasant in the middle of the game.

These things raise a lot of interest in children, instead of teaching them violence according to what other people say. You can even ride the animals and roam within the game circles, they are unlimited, which is why it is so convenient for children to play them all the time.

Involvement in education

Although classified by Microsoft as a game, it is a good tool for learning, as it has been subjected in many universities and schools to research and exploration because of its creative properties that open up players’ horizons for innovation, and therefore it is a tool for teaching both subjects (History, Mathematics). Language, economics, science), in addition to that the game needs a lot of mental skills to practice, such as the use of (logic, reason, ability to solve problems, aiming towards the goal).

The other positive aspect is that the game is safe for children, as it is free from scenes of violence, weapons, blood, foul language and sex. Although there is some kind of violence, it is for the purpose of protection, not attack.

Development of Coding skills

And the most wonderful aspect of the Minecraft game, Microsoft encourages children to develop their computer programming skills, as it will allow players to access game files, and thus the child becomes interested in how software works and assembles together in a smart educational way.

He learns about the codes that make up movements and shapes, and he also learns how to edit those files to learn how the game is made and formed, and thus learn computer programming through the game Minecraft, as well as searching on the Internet, making videos and practicing graphic design, which develops their skills to work later.

Stimulating Teamwork

The Minecraft game teaches to stimulate the teamwork of the players, and thus unite the energies and strengths, and thus play as an integrated team, which encourages children to cooperate and participate, and thus the construction becomes faster, and it is easier to access resources to collect them, and the players’ resistance to monsters during attacks.

In addition, Microsoft has worked on designing the Minecraft game in a flexible way, meeting the needs of players, each according to his ability to learn while playing, and the way he prefers to play, as it can be modified according to preferences, skill levels, and can also develop with the growth of the child, where it is More complicated for older adults.

Negative effects of Minecraft

Safety concerns

This game raises questions and confusion for parents about the goal and stages of development of the game to which their children relate.

The development of playing it depends on the child’s imagination, and therefore it may tell stories that are difficult for parents to communicate with him to understand its progress, as there is no similar way to play between two players, each player He has a different experience.

The network of players on servers around the world raises the suspicion of parents about the safety and security of other strangers on the game.

A child cannot be left playing or talking to another person without follow-up, just like talking to a stranger, young or old. However, it is possible to adjust the setting of the game so that the child is the only player, but this may frustrate him with the passage of time when getting to know the game more and wanting to try all its skills.

Although the game is easy to use at first for all children, when the need for development, the child needs to have complex skills in thinking, memory and building strategies, so often the game Minecraft afflicts some children with frustration and psychological pressure.

This game is an obsession for many children, as Minecraft cannot be satisfied as a game, but there is a huge world of videos on YouTube, forums and songs that teach children the skills of playing on them and discovering more of its mysteries, which lure the child to spend long hours busy Online.

So Is it safe for children?

Compared to other famous video games, Minecraft has a very healthy game environment; the community is largely non-toxic. In most cases, it really encourages collaboration and the development of cognitive skills.

However, as with all games, there are exceptions to watch out for.

Violence in Minecraft

Even though Minecraft only features a low level of violence, the game can still be dangerous for younger children. Block graphics make violence unrealistic, unlike what happens in other titles. However, it is obviously up to you to decide whether certain game modes are inappropriate for your children.

To fight monsters, you need weapons – for example a sword, or a bow and arrow. When a monster is defeated, it disappears in a puff of smoke, potentially leaving behind useful materials that can be used in crafting.

The number of hearts of monsters is decreased When attacking them, to show that they have taken damage. The game has no blood or wounds.

If the player “dies”, he reappears (also called “respawn”) at the same point from where he started and began the game. He may also reappear on his bed if he has one and recently slept in it.

Cyberbullying and Inappropriate Content

Mojang, the company behind Minecraft, doesn’t control all online interactions. While some servers have their own moderators, this is not guaranteed to be the case for all servers. This means that players’ communications with your child online may not be monitored, and therefore inappropriate and harmful.

Additionally, the competition inherent in player-to-player interactions (PVP) can anger players. Without adequate supervision, healthy competition can turn into cyberbullying or an exchange of inappropriate phrases via chat.

Even larger servers can be a problem. Servers with a large number of players are more difficult to moderate, and members are often not thoroughly vetted. There is a possibility that your children will end up playing with someone much older than them or with problematic players who repeatedly break the rules.

Threats to your privacy in Minecraft

Censored eye on laptop screen Whenever your child connects to a server to play multiplayer, your IP address will be visible to the server owner. This can pose a threat to your child’s privacy – and yours – so it’s vital that you take steps to protect your anonymity online.

Online interactions with other people go beyond player-created servers. Imagine this game’s servers as a community – people working together to create a beautiful virtual world. The only problem is that communication does not take place only on the platform.

Most Minecraft servers also have a Discord server, and the passion for Minecraft can lead your child to external places like unmoderated forums or Reddit. In addition, there are third-party websites that offer game mods, which promise to improve your child’s gaming experience.

Without the right security measures, all this online activity can make you vulnerable to data leaks, phishing attempts, and other forms of cybercrime.

How to keep your child safe in Minecraft?

Don’t miss the Important Technical Tips and instructions

To guarantee your child a safe gaming experience, it is crucial to communicate clearly and openly with him. Make him feel safe and have an incentive to communicate as well. Cyberbullying is a real problem, albeit not common in Minecraft. Make your children feel comfortable telling you about their gaming experiences, to look for solutions to any problems together.

1. Educate your children about and avoid online dangers

Having information about cybercrime is one of the best ways to prevent it. You should educate your kids about privacy and staying away from cybercriminals. It is important that they know that they should not click on any links they find on the forums. Make sure they are not involved in piracy and show them how to surf the internet correctly by setting an example.

In general, it is good that you make the following recommendations to your children:

Never give out personal information. Even just providing a first and last name to other players or moderates, bulls can give online predators enough information to cause harm.

This is one of the reasons why you should always use a unique game-tag for your child.

Never use your child’s name or age in their gametag. This gives too much private information to strangers online. Instead, use a creative and fun alias. For example, CraftingSurfer007, MineCrafter8812, LuvCrafting1844.

Report any harassment or bullying to moderators and parents. It is never good for someone to harass or bully someone else, even online. Let your children know that they can always come to you if they feel unsafe or bullied.

Be cautious with links and downloads. Teach your child about the dangers of clicking links and downloading from unknown sources. It’s a good idea to let a trusted adult review any content before clicking, whether it’s chat, blog, or video.

2. Download Minecraft from its official source

Laptop Download: Minecraft is an extremely popular video game. This makes it easily available for free online, on torrent sites or on platforms like TLauncher.

While using TLauncher or browsing torrent sites isn’t illegal, downloading Minecraft for free is illegal. It’s piracy.

If you want to make sure your child stays away from piracy sites, be sure to purchase and download Minecraft from its official developers.

3. Monitor your child’s activity on Minecraft

Everyone has the right to privacy, including children. But that doesn’t mean you can’t check their Minecraft activities from time to time. It’s one of the best ways to make sure they enjoy Minecraft without being exposed to online dangers.

Make sure software downloads go through you first.

Minecraft has a huge community of independent developers who create changes and improvements to the game, also called “mods”.

These mods can change elements of the game such as the number of missions, visual effects, or even the entire outline of the setting. They are a core part of Minecraft, but you should make sure your child only downloads mods from reputable sites, such as Curse Forge.

Use parental control apps on their device.

Parental control apps can monitor the time your children spend on specific programs and even limit their access. Just make sure you don’t rely on these apps too much as your kids grow up; the need for independence and privacy will develop with age, and it is important that they feel included in this.

With the latest Minecraft updates, you need to have an Xbox Live account to play on any Minecraft server. From Minecraft Earth (PC) or Minecraft Pocket Edition (Mobile), Xbox Live offers the ability to control chat and any game time limits.

To set up Minecraft parental controls on Xbox Live, complete these steps:

1. Log in with your parent account at http://account.xbox.com/.
2. Scroll to the top menu and click on My Profile.
3. From the profile page, click on Privacy Settings.
4. Click on your child’s name or Microsoft Gamer-tag image.
5. Update the various privacy settings according to your needs.

Use chat filters to keep the conversations appropriate

If you allow your child to chat with others, you can use the chat filter to filter out inappropriate words. To access the chat filter:

1. Right-click on the head of your child’s character.
2. Click on “Settings and visibility”.
3. Click on “Chat Settings”.
4. Update the “Public Profanity Level” according to your preferences.

Play Minecraft with your kids

Have you ever thought about playing video games with your children? Recent studies show it’s a great way to connect with them. Also, if you log into the same server together, or pick mods to download together, it’s easier to make sure they’re safe.

We know this may seem odd to people who have never played video games, and it’s definitely not a prerequisite for making sure they’re safe in Minecraft. In fact, they’ll probably want to play alone or with their friends, so you won’t be playing together every day.

But if you give Minecraft a chance you may find that it’s a really fun game. You will see that you will cut trees and build houses in no time at all.

Use a VPN to protect your child when they play Minecraft

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) changes your IP address by routing your connection through different servers. On top of that, it protects your connection with strong encryption and adds additional layers of security to your connection (like a kill switch). VPNs reliably encrypt your connection.

4. Child-friendly Minecraft servers

Talk to your kids about the servers they connect to. There are plenty of kid-friendly multiplayer servers, so you should make sure your kids use one of these.

Choose a single player server or private multiplayer server. When your child plays Minecraft on their computer, tablet, or phone, choose a single player server or private multiplayer server to make sure they are safe while still allowing them to enjoy Minecraft.

Choose a monitored multiplayer server. If you allow your child to use a multiplayer server, choose one that is age-appropriate and in moderation. Third party partners offer these servers which provide additional control in order to keep the server free of inappropriate comments, links, etc.

Below are some kid-friendly servers to get you started. But always do research on any online Minecraft community to make sure it is suitable for your child.

    Autcraft: This server was created for children with autism and their families. It offers parents more peace of mind and does not have a voice chat.

    Blocklandia: The Blocklandia server is great for new players with guided tours and peaceful mods (no hostile computer generated creatures).

    CrazyPig: If your kids need variety and multiple activities to keep interest alive, CrazyPig could be a great alternative. It has a variety of worlds, including mini-games, creative world, and multiple levels of survival worlds to keep kids busy.

    Cubeville: Cubeville has a feature that allows you to protect the player’s personal space, thus claiming a section of the server map and even applying to have their buildings listed as a reference point. Also, many Cubeville server moderators are parents of the same children who play.

    Famcraft: Famcraft is known for welcoming its moderators who guide children through the server, as well as their clans who allow players to work on group projects.

    Intercraften: This server is another great alternative for kids who love variety. From the wide range of worlds and careers to choose from, to mini-games and the ability to earn coins, players on the Intercraften server are sure to never get bored.

    Kid Club: The Kid Club server is run by moderators who are experienced in computer science and video game design. Kids can work together to complete construction challenges, play mini-games, or try survival mode.

    Minesquish: The Minesquish server is family-friendly and great for teaching kids how to explore and build.

    The Sandlot: The Harry Potter-inspired lobby and the vaguely Hunger Games-inspired world of this server capture the imagination of players.

    Ohanacraft: The Ohanacraft server is known for its commitment to supporting all players. In fact, their motto is “Don’t leave any players behind”.

5. Report harassment and cyberbullying in Minecraft

Chat icon on a computer screen

Unfortunately, the game does not currently have an official way to report harassment, cyberbullying and other offenses. However, many servers offer the ability to report. So it is important to carefully check the characteristics of each server before signing up.

Furthermore, the average age of the players should be taken into consideration. A higher age group than your child would increase the likelihood of interacting with players who use potentially foul or harmful language.

As mentioned above, there are some parental control features built into Minecraft tied to an Xbox live account (playable on Xbox and computer) that allow you to disable or filter the chat feature.

You can also silence specific players by forbidding them from communicating with your children during the game. Below are the steps to silence players in the game:

1. Go to the game settings
2. Under the Cheats menu, enable “Cheats” and click on “Continue”.
3. Navigate to Cheats and enable “Education Edition”. This adds several additional features, including the ability to mute users.
4. In your chosen Minecraft world, use the command box to type the mute command like this: “/ ability [player name] mute true” and press “Enter”.

As its name suggests, the “ability” command sets a player’s ability. When you use it in the command box, you will be prompted to choose the appropriate player type. Options include the closest player, a random player, all players, all entities, or even yourself.

To block a specific player, you will need to type in their gametag. Once the gametag has been entered, the command box will ask you to choose one of two arguments: True or False. Simply click on “True” and you should be done.

Some strange facts about Minecraft

A complete simulation of Denmark!

In Minecraft we are used to building players simulations of fantasy worlds or some famous landmarks in the world. There is more than one simulation of the world of the Avatar movie, The Lord of Rings movie, or the kingdoms of the Game of Thrones series.

 You will also find the Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the Emirates Caliph Tower, or the Roman Colosseum amphitheater, But it is surprising to find a “complete real country” with most of its details inside the game!

The Danish Geological Data Agency has been able to rebuild the whole of Denmark within the game Minecraft, in which four thousand billion pieces of bricks were used to create the country with an area of ​​40,000 square kilometers, simulating its most prominent archaeological and governmental buildings, streets and shops, and the size of the map download data amounted to 1 terabyte! What if the map of the United States of America was simulated?!!

Inspired by the game Infiniminer

Try to go to the App and Games Store, whether for Android, iOS, Windows or Xbox and type the word “Craft” in the search and then look at the results… What do you see? A

n endless number of clones of Minecraft, because it is a simple game and at the same time its online, open and interesting world forces you to be addicted to it, and because of its overwhelming success and simple application, it was a target for game developers in an attempt to gain part of this success by cloning the same experience.

But did you know that Minecraft is itself inspired by another game? Yes… Its developer has stated more than once and stressed that the credit for the emergence of the game Minecraft to the light is a game called Infiniminer.

it is a game very similar to Minecraft that relies on digging for different materials from the earth and building your own world, but Minecraft took the idea and expanded in Everything has expanded tremendously, so we see that Infiniminer its world is much smaller than Minecraft, and here the version outperformed the original.

350 starting message

When the game starts and as soon as you finish downloading its introduction, you will find a yellow message in front of you, this message, if you notice, is always changing when the game starts every time, and it is a message whose purpose is foreplay, sometimes it is a joke, and sometimes it is a vague and frightening saying.

The game used to contain about 100 messages of this kind, but it has now reached 350 messages.

It is difficult for you to notice the repetition of the beginning message because of the large number of them, but you will notice the repetition in only one case, if you are addicted to the game and you play it day and night, of course you will encounter some repetition.

Minecraft glossary: ​​what your kids are talking about

Can’t understand what your kids are talking about with their friends? Video games create unique communities with their own jargon that is as unique as it is incomprehensible.

These terms may be confusing to people who don’t play Minecraft, but they definitely help foster a sense of community among players.

Biome – This word refers to a region in Minecraft, such as a jungle, forest, or desert.

Creeper – A creeper is one of the many monsters in Minecraft; often sneaks up on players and explodes.

Enderman – An Enderman is a creature that comes into play in pairs and typically picks up and places blocks at random.

Mob – A mob refers to any group of living creatures in the game, such as horses or cows.

Mod – This term is short for “modification”, as it is a modification made to the game, whether it is adding new materials to the game or changing the difficulty levels of the game.

The Minecraft mod is a game mod that can be downloaded from the internet and installed on the game, which changes game elements and may include custom skins for avatars, additional resources and even themes like the famous dark year and many other changes,

but players need to be careful when downloading a mod Minecraft is from unreliable sites, which may contain viruses or malware.

Nether – The “Nether” is the alternate dimension in Minecraft. It resembles a hellish landscape that can only be accessed through a portal. The Nether offers rare materials that cannot be found in the ordinary world of Minecraft (“Overworld”).

 Redstone – Redstone is a popular material on Minecraft used to make potions or other materials. It can also power items like doors and lights.

YouTube video recommendations

Minecraft Youtubers are real magnets in attracting children to Minecraft. Their fun explanations on how to build certain creations, their game hacks, and their charismatic personalities help make Minecraft a community more than just a game.

While there are plenty of family-friendly YouTubers, there are just as many non-kid-friendly channels out there, so be careful. We recommend that parents read the reviews and watch a few videos before allowing their children to watch a Minecraft YouTuber.

Among the most popular Minecraft YouTubers for kids are:

• stampylonghead
• DanTDM
• paulsoaresjr

Related Reading:

• Scratch coding for kids: A simple guide
• Coding for kids: what is it and why it is important
• Google CS First: Innovative Platform for Teaching with coding
• Coding For Kids: when benefits are beyond coding

The post Minecraft : A Comprehensive Guide for Parents first appeared on Learning Mole.