Minecraft Makes Learning to Code Fun for Kids

Minecraft is a popular game that many kids spend hours playing every week. The critically acclaimed game has won multiple awards and sold over 200 million copies, making it the best-selling video game of all time. The game enables kids to collaborate with other players and build a variety of immersive 3D worlds, such as aquariums, farmlands, castles, and more. In these worlds, kids can discover and extract raw materials and use them to craft items used in the game. Multiple game modes provide players with varied objectives and options for how to play. More than just providing entertainment for kids, the game offers an engaging way for beginners to learn computer coding. The simple structure of the objects and worlds in the game easily translates into a binary programming language. Minecraft uses Java, which is the first programming language that many people learn since it is less complex than other options. Minecraft: Education Edition is a special edition of the game developed for use in educational environments to make coding easier for beginners to learn. It includes features and controls that are not available in the standard game, such as separate components designed for building code and communicating. The software uses visual block coding, which includes pre-written sections of code that can be dragged and dropped in sequences to produce working scripts that run in the program. Visual programming helps kids gain familiarity with various strings of code and an understanding of how software works. The interface enables the game and programming blocks to run simultaneously so changes to coding can be previewed and implemented in real-time. Included in the software are hundreds of premade Minecraft worlds for kids to explore and modify.

Learning how to code is much easier if a child is motivated by their enjoyment of a game. Minecraft is educational, but it does not seem like work for kids. Kids get excited about modifying the game and creating new mechanics or functions with strings of code. Modifications (also referred to as ‘mods’) can be coded to enhance the game in a variety of ways, such as programming specific actions for characters and giving players additional items. Players can also share the mods they create with other users on a third-party website. If your child shows an interest in a future career in computer science, video games, or related fields, learning how coding works with Minecraft gives them an excellent foundation to start with. It helps to build their confidence by allowing them to try computer programming in a user-friendly and fun environment. Kids can use the software independently or in a group setting with classmates or friends. The game-based learning platform also has numerous other educational features that make it a top choice for educators in the classroom. The Minecraft: Education Edition website offers a library of hundreds of lesson plans in language arts, history, and other subjects. Tutorials and basic instructions are also provided to make it easy for anyone to utilize the software. Students can explore a range of instructive virtual environments and design, model, and engineer solutions to various challenges. They can conduct chemical experiments with a virtual lab, tell stories with characters that they create, and engage in many other interesting educational activities. In addition, the software can be used to explain or model a topic as an alternative to a project or poster board. Learning activities in the software are useful for building STEM skills, developing logic, and engaging students in a range of problem-solving scenarios that are applicable to the real world.