Undugu Playground as designed in Minecraft and the real-life Playground created from the Minecraft schematic.
More information on Block by Block current projects can be found here: http://blockbyblock.org/current-projects
Who says Minecraft is just a game? In my previous post, I introduced a cool program, Block by Block, that illustrates how video games can be used for good and can be more than just a way to kill time.
In our house we always use “teachable moments” to explain world-things to our boys and many times Minecraft is the vehicle we use to deliver messages or illustrate things a little better. I thought I’d share a recent moment that merges Minecraft-life with real-world life.
For the first time, we signed up to work at a local soup kitchen where we brought food and then helped organize, serve & clean. We felt it was important to involve our 9 yr old boys in the event. We talked to them before we started, explaining the people arriving are “guests” and asking for help with your meals is very humbling (sometimes bad things happen to good people & they have no choice but to ask for help).
They worked the serving line serving desserts (who doesn’t like dessert?) and did a terrific job. At the end of the day, and unprompted from us, they both said they had fun & wanted to do it again. Yay!
Then the questions came . . .
~ Why didn’t the people have food at home? (maybe no job or lower pay)
~ Were they homeless? (Probably not. Just not much money right now)
~ Where do they eat the other days? (Probably at home. They may not have money for all meals)
~ Why did the lady take extra food home? (She took it for another lady who can’t get here)
This was followed up by the Minecraft Teachable Moment . . . It’s just like on a server when someone needs food, you gladly give food right? Or you might help them build a house. Then the boys said “sometimes players ask all the time for free things, which is annoying.” We agreed and said that it’s probably better to help them understand how to build a house or get food by hunting or farming. Then they can take care of themselves and in turn help other newbies or players.
Communities need people to help each other, whether it’s a Minecraft Community or a real-life Community 🙂
Think kids are wasting time playing Minecraft? I’m sure all parents have thought this from time to time. What if Minecraft could do something good, like real-world good or beneficial? They actually are and it’s a shame there isn’t more press about a fantastic partnership Mojang has with UN Habitat.
While viewing the live stream of Minecon 2013, I stumbled across a great concept. Minecraft is being used to involve young people in the creation of urban spaces in economically challenged areas. Mojang has partnered with UN Habitat for a 4-year program to upgrade 300 public spaces by 2016. What a great idea!
Basically, Minecraft stations are hosted and people are invited to come work on public spaces for their community. Maybe it’s creating a new playground or updating an existing area. Minecrafters work within a Minecraft world to build their dream spaces. Then UN Habitat will actually work from a Minecraft submitted design to create/update the real-life area/space.
How cool is that? Who needs 3D Architectural software when you can just use Minecraft?!? This is a terrific way to “give back” to communities and involve young people in the development of their own neighborhoods. It’s also great showing our children that a video game can be put to good use and to illustrate first-hand how beneficial it is for everyone to help others. Truly the Minecraft way!
You can read more on and more about Block by Block, including before/after and in-game pictures here: http://blockbyblock.org/. Check out information about Mojang’s partnership with UN Habitat: https://mojang.com/2012/09/mojang-and-un-presents-block-by-block/.
The master plan of 5 people and 8 devices aimed at securing Minecon tickets failed. We did get into the que for over 1 hour and then was booted like all the other times. Extremely disappointing!
I’m still upset (maybe even angry) over the distribution plan for the tickets. The ticket site stated ticket sales were pending 5 seconds after the batch was issued. I’m not exaggerating. And Mojang was tweeting excited statements saying the 2500 tickets sold in 3 seconds.
I think “sold” is not quite the correct term. I’ve never been able to input my credit card number/billing address/email & contact info in 3 to 5 seconds. Neither has anyone I know.
Now I finally understand why sites use the CAPTCHA system — to make sure humans are making the purchase or filling the form; not a computer program. You would think a game developer of one of the hottest games out there would have better researched the ticket distribution partner and their process.
Looks like we’ve got a free weekend now on Nov 2nd & 3rd — kind of. We won’t be traveling to Florida. However we may attend Minecon virtually . . . . Mojang will be running live video streams. Looks like we have a Plan C.
Well, I admit I was caught up in Minecraft euphoria when I told Jaxluca and ObsidianOfDoom that I would take them to Minecon 2013 if it was on the East Coast of the USA. It’s in Orlando on November 2nd & 3rd. They are doing various chores to pay for the $150 tickets (for both days) and I said I’d pay airfare & hotel.
Now I’m wondering, “what have I done?” Mojang is releasing 3 batches of 2500 tickets to help everyone have a chance to get them. The first batch was released yesterday at 7:00 p.m EST via https://minecon.mojang.com/. I was on the computer at 7:00:05 and ALL tickets were pending sales!
Meaning: tickets were gone. I only have 2 more chances to snag some tickets and honor my commitment.
My August 2nd game plan: to have 2 computers, 2 iphones, 2 itouches, and 1 ipad all set to hit “buy” for the next batch release. This reminds me of dialing in to the radio station in the hopes of winning concert tickets — we’d redial as fast as possible trying to be caller 100.
Hope it works!
Some parents have been hit with the Minecraft bug. Not a techy bug that messes computers up, but an addictive video game that converts most kids into Notch fans and Creeper kids. We’ve gotten the Minecraft bug — I’VE got the bug!
My twin 9 year old boys came home and wanted to play it. At first glance, it appeared like some retro-low-graphic-pixelated game and I didn’t get it. I let them play the free account for a bit and finally let them share 1 account. Yes, just 1 account between two boys. It’s only $26 but I wasn’t sure how it all worked so we took it slow. And I didn’t quite know how the whole Online Multiplayer experience would be structured (how many bad people are on there???).
Well, now I’m on this Minecraft Cart crazy roller coaster! But I love it. I’ve always loved video games and once I understood Minecraft (and the boys helped explain it to me) I realized it’s like virtual Legos. We have gone from 1 shared account only playing the Single Player (not online) to 3 accounts in the house playing Online Multiplayer and creating/running our own server!
I’ve learned a lot and want to share these learning’s. Look for future posts on the benefits of Minecraft and I’m working on a Cheat Sheet for Moms & Dads.
Minecraft Mom2Miners 