Minecraft Meltdown

Posted on Jul 20, 2014 | 0 comments

Have you heard of the video game Minecraft? My Canadian friend’s son introduced it to my son and he has been addicted ever since.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is a video game about creating your own world. You have to mine things and then use them to build what you would like to build. It was originally released in 2011 by Swedish video game programmer Marcus Persson. It was an immediate success and became a mainstream game by 2012.

Pros and Cons of Minecraft

Positives of this – the kids are learning to create. You also have to replant trees and food crops if you want to eat, so they are also learning about sustainability. It is also an option to let someone into your world and then you can work together to create even more – they are learning about teamwork. You must take care to eat enough, sleep enough and keep your house protected – so they are learning about taking care of themselves.

Cons – Then come the zombies and creepers, hmmmmm. You have to kill them and use their bones. I am not overly thrilled by this feature, but perhaps my son is learning to defend himself a little bit.
Then you have to kill some of the animals for food and clothes., hmmmm. I will say that in Minecraft you do need to use every part of the animal and you must learn how to herd them. I’m on the fence about this one.

How old does your child need to be to play Minecraft?

My son got into it when he was 5. He understood it and was able to play it well on his own (and with my husband and my father!).

What machines can you play Minecraft on?

We play on the Nabi DMTABIN08A DreamTab 8 16GB Kids Tablet (which I love so much I put the link to purchase one right here for you!) and on the Xbox 360 E 4GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle (again a great game machine so I have put the link here for you).

Why I let my child play Minecraft.

Because there is no stopping it! Only kidding!

I like how they have to create things. My son has made a whole village (he made houses for everyone in our family), an amusement park, a garden, a rain-forest, numerous buildings and loads more.

I do feel that it is much better than many of the other games out there as it really makes the children aware of just how much goes into building and creating a nice place to live. It also draws attention to taking care of yourself – sleeping enough, eating enough, making a good shelter for yourself. The kids also learn how to care for animals and how to grow plants.

I tolerate the zombies and creepers. I hate the way he kills the animals but he also has learned how to take care of them. And has learned to only kill an animal when he absolutely needs to. He then uses every part of the animal.

How long are they allowed to play Minecraft for?

My children are allowed to play for an hour on the weekend mornings and usually for an hour while I am preparing dinner.

If we are traveling or waiting somewhere, I also allow it.

How do you avoid the Minecraft Meltdown?

Sometimes, my kids will completely freak out when it is time to turn it off. This is normal.

Kids can have a hard time transitioning and when they are fully locked in their own world and you interrupt to tell them it is time to turn it off, of course they may get mad as they are not ready to go to ‘another’ world.

Here is how I try to avoid the Minecraft Meltdown:

Talk to them about it before they start to play Minecraft. Set a time limit together by negotiating. I start out saying they are allowed 45 minutes (as I know I am comfortable with 1 hour). Then they try to talk me up to an hour. After they have proven to me why they deserve the ‘extra’ time, we agree to 1 hour of Minecraft.
Set a timer. I have found that an annoying beeping sound signifies the end of Minecraft time better than me nagging them to turn it off. There also can be no disagreeing on how much time they have had when an actual timer has been set.
Explain to them why too much video gaming may not be so great for their eyes. Everything in moderation.
Remind them how much fun whatever the next activity is you are ending the game for.

If none of this helps, and the meltdown erupts, do your best to stay calm. Stick to your rules and put the video game away. Your child will be fine, I promise. And if you stay calm, wait out the Minecraft meltdown and then point out how ridiculous your child looks when melting down and how needless the meltdown is because they will be allowed to play again, they will eventually come around!

Video games are such a controversial issue. But at the end of the day, when done in moderation and with a game as crafty as Minecraft, I am all for it!

Cheers and Happy Creating!
Malibu Mama Loves Xx

Check it out:
https://minecraft.net/game