Classroom Ideas Using Minecraft for Education

Minecraft for Education is available to all learners in Wales through their HwbCymru.net login.

Through Minecraft for Education learners can make use of the gaming platform to:

Support videos for how to use Minecraft for Education can be found here.

PS1&2 Uses

Learners can open a world and build something about which they are learning.

This could be rebuilding a local building, recreating their home, or planning a play area. They could recreate different vehicles, insects or flowers based on what they have learned in class. 

Learners could then screenshot their builds and add them to a portfolio, such as Seesaw or a web-based portfolio used by the school.

Learners can collaborate on builds and develop an understanding of working together online. 

They also begin to understand that their actions online can impact other people's feelings in the real world (this will happen when children start to break other children's builds, even accidentally), this does allow for discussions about online actions having real-world impact.

Learners can use the Book and Quill to document their builds, or things they find in a world. 

Pictures can be taken with the camera and learners can add text to support. These can then be exported as a PDF, which can then be shared in a learner's Google Classroom or MS Teams.

PS3 Uses (All PS2 activities plus...)

Additional Minecraft Lessons can be found here

A Christmas Carol can be downloaded from the web and then imported to Minecraft

Learners can recreate artefacts from the past, showing specific features of things they have learnt about in class.

A Tudor building incorporating the features of the period. 

Learners can then add signs and boards to explain their reasons for the design features they have added. 

Learners can recreate to scare, using 1 block as 1 metre x 1 metre. 

Learners can begin to plan their builds, and when collaborating they can assign roles and responsibilities to those within the team.

Using a Screen-recording app such as Flip learners can create a 'tour' of their build. To do this effectively, learners must plan their tour and write a script of what they want to explain. Deepening their understanding of the topic they have been learning about.

Learners can start to develop their understanding of Block Coding through Minecraft worlds. 

Minecraft has several worlds which help develop Computer Science. These worlds have set tasks which allow learners to apply their coding skills to complete tasks. This will mean learners also have to develop their ability to 'debug' their codes.

Learners can add Non-Playing Characters (NPCs) to their builds, this can be to give more impact than simple signs or boards. 

The NPCs can be used as characters to share information or tell a story. 

The NPCs can share links to other sites.

PS4&5 Uses (All PS2&3 activities plus...)

Learners can start to incorporate coding skills into their builds. 

Using Redstone and Command blocks learners can use switches, and coding to support functions within their builds.

How you could evidence work created in Minecraft for Education

When asking learners to make use of Minecraft for Education to show their understanding of what they have learnt, it is good practice to create success criteria. This will ensure that learners know what is expected from their builds.

Learners are then able to tailor their builds to fulfil the set criteria. If learners are building as part of a 'team' they can create signs that express the roles each person has undertaken. 

If learners are screen-recording a virtual tour of their build it is advised that they write a script, this works well when the script supports the success criteria.

Learners could-