Monthly Archives: December 2017

I think its funny as can be, WT’s first video was supposed to be him showing you the world he and I built and explaining the mods we used to create it, But that was a little too structured for my boy and he changed his mind and now he just wants show you his building in minecraft.

Actually he wanted to build by HIMSELF, so we tried again, this time he wanted me to site right next to him because he did not want to build all by himself….

Fun times with a 5 year old

There are a couple of ways to play minecraft, and not a lot of rules – you can focus on playing the game, building a house, completing advancements, protecting yourself from monsters.  basically surviving.  If you want to sleep you have to make a bed, to do that you have to build an axe to cut down a tree and then convert the wood to planks, you have to pick flowers and find sheep to shear to make wool you dye.  Combine the colored wool and the planks to make a bed….  It can get involved.

Personally I like to build perfect villages and castles with roads and infrastructure.  My boy likes fighting monsters with me….

He plays in survival mode – meaning everything he has he has to earn in the game – and if he dies he loses it.  I play in what he calls “cheating mode” the game calls it creative.  My mode allows flying and unlimited build material.  I rarely let him play in that mode because I like to see him figure out how to decide and prioritize when he builds in minecraft.  This means he gets a treat when I let him play in creative – he can build much much faster (and can destroy my perfect towns in the blink of an eye (its okay dad we can fix it together….) LOL

I think mostly my boy doesn’t like building in minecraft, he likes playing with me.  Which is actually why I like playing the game too.

WT Building in Minecraft: First Video

WT has his own channel for his grandparents to watch his stuff, but he wanted to do some videos with me.

When my boy said he wanted to make minecraft videos like hobbypig and toy reviews like Ryan I figured I would let him.  It is a great feeling when your boy wants to do things with you.

My wife was not really excited about adding more technology into the household, but after seeing what minecraft can teach (mostly coding, but some cause effect and resource management) she relented.

I make videos sharing what I do, and to me its a positive. I’m not in it for fame or fortune. This isn’t here to make my boy a YouTube star or to line my pockets, I want my boy to feel good doing what his daddy does while learning to be independent.

My boy sees that and he sees people on YouTube like Ryan’s toy review that he connects with and he wants to emulate. We tightly monitor what our boy does while still giving him freedom to grow in his own direction, so I keep a firm hand on him so he does not see the negatives or the trolls but his mother and I support his creative endeavor.

I could probably do a whole post on why Minecraft is positive, but almost anything can be positive if it is monitored and the child parented. This maybe something you would not do with your child, and I get that, but for mine we are going to test it out.

WT Building in Minecraft: Parkour

I am sure 90% of the readers of this site don’t subscribe to see this kind of content, but it makes my son very happy when I take the time to share his work.

He worked very hard on his minecraft world, and he wanted to share it like the YouTube he watches do with their creations.

I like supporting my son, and while too much technology can be a bad thing with developing children, I think exposure to it at appropriate levels is also important.

I had to “fight” with his mother about allowing him a minecraft account because she did not want him to veg out on the computer all summer.

She has a valid point, but also minecraft is a way to learn basic computer coding, and because you have to manage wood, stone, food – and other resources in the game it does teach concepts like cause and effect and resource management.

I am not quite ready to let him play with others, but when he is older it is also a way to manage group dynamics as people have to work together to build towns and such.

WT Building in Minecraft: Glass Blocks for Lava

William Tell