I have often wondered what Minecraft was all about and why almost everyone in my son’s class is crazy about it. I have always “shielded” my son from video games as I felt that it can hinder his imagination as opposed to reading books or playing games that do not make use of the screen or television.

I was thankful that my son did not prefer playing video games over reading his books on dragons, until one day, he asked me if I could download the Minecraft app. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say nor how to react. I guess I gave my thoughts away when I asked him if he was feeling pressured by his friends to play it during his play date at one of his friend’s house. He said that nobody “forced” him to play. He said that it is an interesting game and that he had the chance to have a go at it. He also said that he created houses from stones and trees from wood and that over time, he can create anything he can imagine including weapons to fight the villains like pig zombies (I was flabbergasted), creepers, thieves and more.  He also said that “it isn’t violent at all because the monsters die with a puff of smoke and no blood at all” (a remark he gave as if he read my mind).

I didn’t know whether to feel scared or confident about this game. And so the inevitable happened. Not only did I buy the app but the whole family is into to this game. Minecraft is truly awesome. My husband and I bought a Norton Safety Minder though as Minecraft can be very addicting and vulgar language are used on some servers. As we played over time, I realised that Minecraft is important because surprisingly, it teaches children to be creative in many ways. They develop their skills in creative thinking and learn about geology, geography, geometry, architecture and the like.

Since it is an open-ended game, which means that it doesn’t come with instructions, they learn to explore and work together. It can teach children valuable lessons in life. I strongly advise parents to make sure that their children are under their supervision when playing this game.