I don't claim to know much about Minecraft except for the fact that this virtual world has taken over the minds of my 3 kids, however, I have found a few positives as of late:
* Sometimes all 3 of my children cooperate, collaborate, and interact nicely with one another while playing this game. :)
* Lincoln designed a Minecraft Valentine garden for me complete with a rose-lined walkway which leads to a ginormous M&M character. I thought it was VERY sweet!
* Lincoln and Shiloh were inspired by their Minecraft gardens to plant real ones. They said, "We want to plant real seeds and harvest a real garden!" Fine by me. So, on Valentine's Day they planted pea seeds. They are in charge of their own little garden boxes (old dresser drawers) and have to water and take care of them.
* Minecraft has even helped us during Bible study. My kids were able to give me the low down on Lapis Lazuli when we came across this term while reading Job. (Job 28:6) I knew it was something you mined but wasn't exactly sure what it looked like. I was quite impressed with the accuracy of my kids' description of this beautiful stone.
* Shiloh built a Rapunzel tower, but I didn't take a picture of it. :(
* Lincoln decided to recreate the Israelite camp in his world after reading the Biblical account. This is wonderful to me because it's what I call sneaky education. It's educational without my kids really knowing it is. Because anything fun can't possible be educational.
Y'all, his camp even has the rock Moses struck, the cloud by day, and a nifty manna & quail machine up in the sky! Pretty creative. :)
This is the Israelite camp. On the sides are the tents complete with little beds, the cloud is hovering above the tents, and the tabernacle is at the end. I loved that Lincoln looked up the tabernacle to see what it really looked like in order to try and replicate it the best he could with Minecraft materials.
So, here we have the inside of the tabernacle: (from left to right starting at the top) entrance, aerial view, lampstand, and I believe the Holy of Holies. He had the ark on it but destroyed it. I don't think he was happy with the way it looked.
The Moses Rock. It's neat. You hit it and water pours out. :)
In the above video, Lincoln demonstrates his "manna machine." He pulls a lever and out pops manna and quail. Hard to see it fall from the sky, but it does. Then, he collects it off the ground.
Gotta love the Minecraft creativity. Beats a paper-box-glue-scissors craft any day. No mess! And all the moms cheered, "Yea!"
Okay, so hands-on projects are wonderful. Just in moderation. :)
Well, this mama will end with these words of wisdom:
Minecraft on children, Minecraft on . . .
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