So, I’m going to be honest here. I am a complete beginner when it comes to Minecraft. At most, I can name a few mobs and blocks and build a very simple house or move a character in a battle. Ask me to race you and I’m bound to come last in the competition.
However, my son is a true master at Minecraft and it is with his patient teachings that I have now upgraded to intermediate level as I can (sort of) hold my ground if there was a zombie outbreak at night. But please, oh please do not release the Enderman, Evoker, or Vex. Oh, Vex are just the worst.
Okay, if you understood me so far, then you are probably at least at the intermediate level like me. But if you have no clue what I’m talking about, that’s okay, I was once there like you. The terminology for complete beginners in gamer talk is called ‘noob.’
Now, I’m not going to give you a Minecraft 101 lesson, but if you’re interested, comment below and I’ll have to ask my son to create a video. However, my post here is to share with you a Minecraft story that applies to everyday life. This story is on the theme of persistence.
There’s tons of competitions on Minecraft and people play on servers all the time to battle against each other to be #1 rank at something. Some are more violent battles while others are more friendly like farming competitions for carrots, pumpkins, or potatoes. My son was determined to receive Gold in the carrot competition and me, not knowing what was going on, cheered him on from the sidelines like any good parent would do for their children. However, it was not until the day my son actually received the title of Gold that I realized something. That it was through Minecraft that he learned persistence pays off.
Sometimes, the best way to teach life lessons is actually from what we learn from games. Yes, believe it or not, gaming can be a good thing. The more I think about it, Minecraft has taught my son many life skills, and I’m certain that other children are learning these exact same skills too because of these server competitions.
To build or battle in Minecraft requires patience, strategic thinking, and even good hand-eye coordination. Honestly, my son has impeccable click accuracy because of Minecraft. Also, Minecraft has taught him how to plans before taking action, and when he doesn’t succeed, how to breaking things down and learn from your mistakes.
Just like in a math problem, he’s working it out, but using Minecraft as the playing field. Since he is passionate about the game and determined to win, he is very patient and doesn’t stop even if he fails. And here’s the thing, when children get into this mentality for something they play often, it becomes a habit. A habit that eventually would be applied to many other things in their life.
I found that ever since he started to play Minecraft, his thinking skills have improved significantly. He doesn’t throw himself into a situation without some thought and actually brainstorms when things don’t work out. Hence experimenting and trying to solve the problem. This is amazing! Although he’ll still get frustrated sometimes if he loses, he doesn’t give up as easily as before so gaming has definitely helped with his patience threshold.
After many months of trying, my son finally won gold for his carrot competition and I’m very proud of his accomplishment. Parenting tip 101: even if your child accomplishes something for a game, you should still let them know how proud you are. You shouldn’t only show them that you’re proud because they do well academically or athletically. We should be proud of our children if they are well behaved, show good sportsmanship, or even win in a friendly competition or video game.