I don’t like my children having screen time playing games. What’s so special about Minecraft anyway? — Mine Mania

I’m in the first session of our Open Working meet ups. We’ve been set a task to write a post in a timed slot during the session: Write Your Weeknote in 30 Minutes! Here it is. Its something I have been reflecting on the past couple of weeks, as I have been asked about it and talked about it A LOT with parents in Minecraft clubs, workshops and interviews.

5 mins outline

20 mins expand into paragraphs

5 mins wrap up and publish

Lets go.I love a deadline to sweep away all procrastination!

Outline:

• Topic “I don’t like my children having screen time playing games. What’s so special about Minecraft anyway?”
• Paragraphs:
• Is all screen time a bad thing?
• What is involved in a Minecraft play session
• The wider benefits and longer term impact my groups have experienced.

Expand

Screen time can be games, TV, phone, tablet, computer — I know I spend far too much time in front of various screens and I know when I’ve over done it and I get a headache, and my eyes get tired.

My daughter definitely has too much screen time. It’s hard to impose limits as a parent — she’s on the autistic spectrum, and her friends are online, her special interests are coding, which she’s a whizz at, and she has made some amazing achievements — her screen time is educational and her life passion — it’s really hard to take it away from her as its means so much — and its emotional support as well in many ways.

But every parent has to make their own call for their own set of circumstances.

Minecraft has been a huge part of our lives for years, and has led to a lot of her achievements, sparked a lot of projects, and been the source of her longest and best friendships and support networks.

Its a unique game — we choose Minecraft for our LAN gaming sessions over other options such as Among Us or Fortnite because of it’s unique set of benefits and the opportunities it can offer players.

Its a sandbox game — play in Minecraft can take the form of whatever the player is interested in and wants to do — we go on flower hunts, bug hunts, create gardens or farms, build machines with electricity, hunt, go on exploring expeditions, or fight each other!

Children work together — they make friends, fall out, make up — for children who aren’t in school or are socially isolated it can be a lifeline. We can use principles of Lego Therapy to engage and work with groups and individuals.

In Minecraft, without realising they are learning, children can learn about maths, geology, architecture, botany, wildlife, agriculture, electronic circuit, write books, team work and leadership skills, design and technology and coding. I have led in person sessions with children who have never used a laptop before! And they learned keyboard skills, practiced their alphabet and numbers, having to use the letters and numbers on the keyboard, and were soon playing as if they used a laptop for years.

In advanced Minecraft you can learn coding languages such as Python, Java, C++, and learn really complicated stuff that I don’t understand (luckily my team do — you can see examples of their work here: https://github.com/MineManiaUK)

Minecraft makes STEM fields accessible and relevant to all ages irrelevant of gender, abilities, additional needs — our project aims to provide a safe place for children and young people with SEND to access all these opportunities if they want to — or just play and have fun with others.

There are wider benefits that happen alongside the learning and the fun though. And this is the really magical bit for me.

I have seen time and time again over the years doing Minecraft club, the children growing in leaps and bounds in self confidence and self esteem. Children laughing and talking with friends on the computer — who normally don’t laugh a lot, and not with friends. Children who are shy, and not wanting to talk, opening up. Children who don’t want to leave the house or their bedroom, up at the crack of dawn, getting ready to come out to in person Minecraft Club, and staying there happy and engaged talking to and playing with other children — yes at screens! But next to each other, helping each other, and having the best time. Good screen time 🙂

Minecraft is awesome.

Originally published at https://www.minemania.co on November 3, 2023.