Help! Minecraft Is Taking Over My House, But In A Good Way ...

A major crisis in our house last night: my sons' Minecraft server got griefed.

If you know what I'm talking about, then welcome to the club of parents of miners. If you don't, you soon will. Minecraft is a an open-ended video game that appeals to kids ages 5-105. It may be the first online game that teachers, parents and kids like with equal abandon. There are over 36 million registered users worldwide. It may be the hottest thing to hit home computers, well, since the Internet.?

Until the addiction sets in, that is.?

Minecraft is an open-ended game where players create communities with simple commands. The graphics are not very good, there is no tracking points or winning or losing. Everything is square. If you want your buildings to have windows you have to melt sand. But the opportunities are infinite -- my kids' world has roller coasters and castles and a courthouse.?

Teachers are using it in their classrooms and new mods are being developed for educational purposes.

It was my son's Grade Three teacher that started us off last year. Soon my nine year old was talking about building and asking questions about the colours of gems. His 12-year old brother scoffed but eventually got sucked in. They created their own Minecraft server, which then sucked in my husband.

The best part is that my daughter soon joined in and now she is also building and learning about programming. This makes me particularly happy because girls need to play video games so they can compete in the new economy. (No, I'm not kidding.)

So I love Minecraft. I love how the kids plan ahead, they problem solve, they actually work together and they create a world based on their imagination.

But you know what I hate? Myself yelling: Get off the computer, go outside, enjoy the sunshine. You eyes are turning square! I'm going to ban all screentime!!" And variations on the above.?

So as much as I love what goes on with Minecraft, I would love to see a little less of it. Thank goodness school is starting soon.?

Are your kids into Minecraft?

Want more chaos? Last year, I asked if our playgrounds were making kids fat.

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Source: http://www.embracethechaos.ca/2012/08/help-minecraft-is-taking-over-my-house-but-in-a-good-way.html

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