How to develop your child’s creativity in a fun-filled way — Roblox!
We all were very sincere in our childhood days and did our work with utmost dedication and caution. Remember those times when you’d keep your ears raised for the sound of footsteps? And as soon as you’d hear the danger signal, you’d put your comics under the bed, turn off your PCs and throw your mobiles in the farthest corner of the room and pick up the book closest to you, and start reading (without even caring if the book is upside down- extraordinary talent).
(Sincerity overloaded, isn’t it?)
Times have changed and so have tastes. Video games have been replaced by online gaming. Why not? When books can be replaced by pdfs and classrooms can become Zoom classes (special thanks to our chief guest — Covid-19) then why can’t the means of recreation change?
Online games play a major role in the lives of children today. There’d rarely be someone belonging to the teens and tweens, who doesn’t play games. One such game is Roblox.
Have you heard of Roblox? You must have heard owing to its immense popularity.
(Even if you haven’t, don’t consider yourself a sage away from worldly affairs, read on to know about it).
What is Roblox?
Roblox is a global online gaming platform and game creation system where millions of people gather together to imagine, create, and share experiences with each other in immersive, user-generated 3D worlds. It allows users to program games and play games created by other users.
Imagination doesn’t have a definition, for something which can be defined is limited. The types of games on Roblox are as limitless as the imagination of its users.
Roblox is democratic!
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is ‘of the people, by the people for the people’.
And Roblox is a gaming environment of the users, made by the users for the users.
(Thank you! You are admiring my logical skills, right?)
All the online games you see on the platform have been built by members of the Roblox community for members of the Roblox community.
Players can unleash their creativity and build an imaginative world of their own, where they can play, hang out with friends, as well as put it out for use by other players.
What makes it fascinating is the fact that apart from allowing users to play a variety of games and have fun in the virtual world, it provides useful skills like teaching them to code and design games and consequently entrepreneurship, along with socializing by making friends with other online players, which undoubtedly would prove beneficial in real life as well. It is free to download and free to play on all modern smartphones, tablets, computers.
It was founded by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006, and hosts user-created games of multiple genres coded in the programming language Lua.
We at Turing Ninjas provide byte-sized courses for building Roblox Obby (Obstacle Course) Game. Under proper guidance, your kids would learn to code and put their creativity into good use. If interested, contact us, by clicking here! (Enough of self-promotion, I guess? But try it out, you won’t be disappointed).
What features does Roblox provide? And why do kids love it?
Roblox allows a player to create an avatar for themselves, which can be dressed and updated as desired (which costs real money sometimes). On the other hand, they can earn money as well by developing assets and games.
It allows them to code for any game they wish to (though there are certain age-restrictions) thus exploring their creativity and fulfilling their fantasies. In simple words, it lets your kids create their own magical dreamland, which is equivalent to the real world, but stands unhindered and unrestricted (where no one would chide them, something every kid desires, isn’t it?)
No doubt kids love it.
For the same reason, Roblox has been called “the world’s most popular game”. In fact, this massive multiplayer online game has recently outnumbered even Minecraft’s user count.
Which programming language do kids learn while building games on Roblox?
“Hearts are often broken by words left unspoken” — ever heard this?
(Hey! Come back to reality. You can get nostalgic about your college crush later on)
You need to convey your ideas and emotions. (Everyone can’t read eyes after all)
And for this, you need to know a language, which is a medium to express yourself.
Similarly, to bring your virtual fantasies to reality, to portray your ideas, you need a medium, a programming language.
Roblox is based on the Lua programming language.
Lua is a lightweight, high-level, multi-paradigm programming language designed primarily for embedded use in applications. Lua is a powerful and fast programming language that is easy to learn and use.
Many of the other famous video games like Angry Birds, Civilization V, Star Wars Battlefront, World of Warcraft, Stepmania, Far Cry and many more use Lua. You can also get started with Love2d where you can make 2D games in Lua. Using Lua for scripting on the front end allows for quick development. You need not compile each time. Just compile your game engine or start to play, the Lua scripts will start running.
Is Roblox safe for kids?
It claims to be suitable for kids above 13 years of age, but has age-restriction enabled for younger users, with their parents’ consent.
To be honest, every coin has two sides, and Roblox too, like every other online social platform, is at the target of predators. Online scams, exposure of children to inappropriate adult content or violence are the risks these online games carry as side-effects. But there’s a solution to your worries.
Improved technologies have been developed to ensure the Roblox platform remains a safe and fun space for players all over the world.
Being available for players and users of all ages, it does have a risk factor, which can be overcome by the privacy settings which Roblox provides.
Feeling hesitant now? Concerned about your kid’s safety?
We understand. For parents, their child’s safety is of utmost importance.
Mutual funds are subject to market risks. Read all scheme related documents carefully.
I guess we all have heard these lines, uncountable times, till date.
Yet, people do invest in them.
What I mean is, everything you do, involves a risk. What is required is being careful and taking precautions.
Don’t believe me? You got married? You took the biggest risk! (And congratulations, you survived!)
Jokes apart, here are certain ways through which you can make good use of Roblox for teaching programming to kids, while avoiding the negative atmosphere of predators.
Roblox offers account controls that let parents restrict how kids can interact on the site.
You can limit or disable online chat capabilities and restrict access to a curated list of age‑appropriate games. You can control whether kids can be contacted and who can message them and chat with them using the contact settings. To enable these settings, you need to add your email address to your kid’s account and create a PIN that prevents kids from changing the settings back. (Outsmarting your kids seems fun, try it out!)
An automated detection feature ensures that all players are wearing appropriate attire within the avatar editor and avatar thumbnails.
Reporting System — Players can report inappropriate chat messages or content by using the Report Abuse system, which is located throughout the site and in-game.
Roblox uses a combination of chat filters to remove inappropriate content from the platform.
Why parental supervision is of utmost importance if your kid is playing Roblox?
Parents, along with being the child’s first teachers, are also his/her best friends. Your guidance won’t let your kids go astray. Have faith in yourself.
It’s important for parents to familiarize themselves with the robust parental controls that Roblox provides (as mentioned above) to ensure their children are shielded from inappropriate content or communications.
With careful attention to red flags, privacy settings, and other safety precautions, kids can have a rich and thrilling experience playing Roblox. But your understanding of how it works, and how your kids can use it safely, is the key.
In the words of Laura Higgins (a British child-safety veteran hired by Roblox in January 2019 as its ‘director of digital civility’) regarding the positive side of the games that children are creating on Roblox, citing the example of a game made by a teenager whose father had recently died, “He developed a game around managing mental wellbeing, mental health, as a journey for other young people experiencing those kinds of issues,” she says. “It was an amazing outlet for him, but it also helped many young people who played it, and were able to explore their emotions.”
Time to rest my aching fingers!
(I see, you have managed to reach till here. Hats off to your level of patience.)
So basically, gear up for some philosophy. (Roses have thorns too, and cows have horns too — kind of stuff!)
We can’t deny that everything comes with its own merits and demerits. What needs to be done is weighing both and deciding for yourself.
(Time to look for the weighing machine?)
The risks associated with Roblox can be dealt with the help of proper settings and supervision. And it’s benefits overweigh the flaws.
Take measures to guide your kids about the right and the wrong, and use it for creative development, coding skills development and let your kids discover their interests in technology and programming.
That’s it for now.
(Must have had enough? Bored? If not, feel free to read more of our articles, here at Turing Ninjas, and acquaint yourselves with the courses we provide for the development of your children).
