Oh, this wonderful world where I chase Bertie Botts beans, kill spiders and fly in a car in Harry Potter. This fascinating GTA Universe, where you can kick a prostitute and in an instant flashing packs of dollars will appear on the pavement. In the end, this intellectual springboard, where you thoughtfully choose between a bazooka and a bow, giving weapons to worms, because your life in Worms depends on it.

All these feelings are not close to modern children. No matter how hard the developers try, no matter how the game designers twist the colors and graphics, the children of the 21st century will still play Minecraft. A game in which everything is built on eight-bit cubes: no realistic faces, no radio in the car, not even branches on trees. Flat, monochromatic and terribly addictive. And many parents will be able to throw a stone at me, singing odes to Minecraft, as a universe with its own rules: you build a city from scratch, you get wood and stone for bricks, you look for water. But do these parents know that as early as 2015, a walkthrough of Minecraft had about 4 billion views? That is, more than half of the world's population is mindlessly staring at the screen, while the other half are playing the game of bricks and filming it.

The thing is that from the game to hate is really one step. A harmless attempt to rebuild your country from improvised means very quickly turns into an endless viewing of tutorials, letsplays and a race for mods. For parents who don't understand the last words, let me explain: mods are improvements that children add to their game through programming loopholes.

In other words, we used to be able to enter the password for infinite money in Heroes of Might and Magic, but now our children do it. Only tens, hundreds of times more. They download millions of endless resources, add new dimensions, terrible and evil little men, turn on electricity and start elevators. And as a result, the noble goal of “building from scratch” loses its value. The game turns into a mod chaser.

Kids spend hours on YouTube watching others play, download mods and get around the rules. Fantasy and patient spatial thinking fly into the abyss of views on social networks, like a parent's wallet (after all, mods do not always come for free). Here we add the swearing that the children use in the video, and aggressive superiority - harmless “kids” upload little men into the pirated version, which can be killed and thoughtlessly beaten with an ax. And this endless merry-go-round can last until the parents turn off the light with their supervisory switch.

Some may say that these are all inventions of the separatists. On this score, there has long been a study by the Chinese side, during which scientists observed the brains of 18 students (MRI to help us). All subjects played continuously for 10 hours. Compared to the second group, who were given only 2 hours to play games, the former had much less gray matter in their brains. That is, a reduced ability to reason and analyze information.

If you delve into the subject of Minecraft, you will notice that this is an absolutely monotonous and not requiring special activity (unless, of course, you have pumped up a bunch of pirate mods that were mentioned earlier). The game has nothing to do with creativity, at least because there is no clear ending, win or Boss to defeat at the end of the game. It is the lack of a specific mission to accomplish that kills all hope of developing any skills in a child.

So, with the question "Who is to blame?" all clear. There remains the age-old parental question “What to do?”. Here we can distinguish three types of people - the founders of the family:

Parents who prefer not to notice the problem and just limit the time they "plug" into the computer for the sake of decency. As a rule, this is where problems with children’s imbalance, game addiction and lies appear (for example, children like to “accidentally” pay for new mods from their parent card).

People who completely remove any kind of gadgets and devices with the Internet. The result is one of two things: either your child will be carried away by chess, horseback riding and building halabuds. Or the computer detox will play a cruel joke on the child, and he will start looking for any opportunity to "seize" the forbidden fruit (play with friends, play at night, cheat and fight in hysterics). This also includes the option "bring five - I'll give you a tablet." Because a child, doing a math assignment, will not think about examples, but about a game that he can play as soon as his educational slavery is over. I have read many scary stories on mother forums about how a child banged his head against the wall when he could not learn a verse. To the question "What happened?" the child replied that if he did not learn the unfortunate verse, he would not be able to play. And it is simply impossible to remember such a long verse (here we recall the gray matter).

The best option is trust control. The “trust but verify” thing has not in vain bypassed all Soviet and post-Soviet family councils. In the end, it is a trusting relationship with your child that can provide a dignified old age for parents and a youth that is anti-addicted to games for children. Keep track of mods, control the amount of time spent on YouTube, buy new games that can not only keep your child entertained, but also teach something. And remember: in addition to your home game ban, he will have a scary and cruel world of children who are still allowed to endlessly play and use gadgets. Having learned that your child is "punished", these offspring of gambling addiction will definitely shoot at this already Achilles' heel of the baby. You can’t deny the presence of electronic friends in your child, but dosing is a must.

Eh, to return the Sims, to marry the neighbors to each other and re-paste the wallpaper on the most expensive ones - this is happiness! And then bricks and bricks.

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This toy world is not at all like the realistic 3D pictures that modern 3D shooters or MMORPGs indulge us with. Despite the simplicity of visual performance, Minecraft games are popular all over the world, and for good reason! After all, only Minecraft games allow you to feel like a real artist creating your new perfect reality. Add a little bit of fantasy, and eight-bit squares will come to life, and your own virtual world will sparkle with the brightest colors!

Earn and build!

This is how you can translate the name of this mega-popular toy from English, and it is these words that reflect the main essence of the entire gameplay. Yes, you will have to mine and build here most of all! After all, only in this way, and nothing else, can you turn a lifeless planet into a cozy paradise where you would like to work and live.

Minecraft games belong to the so-called “sandbox” genre, and if as a child you loved to sculpt Easter cakes or even build entire sand castles, then you can approach the idea of ​​constructing your own virtual reality with real enthusiasm! All you need is your imagination and common sense. Fantasy - to come up with new and new forms of organizing your little world, and common sense - to limit this flight of thought a little and direct it in the right direction.

In this case, the right direction is protection from enemies and the development of new resources. All this is simply necessary in order for your character not only to survive, but also to be able to live quite happily on the planet he has mastered. That is, of course, sometimes you want to be weird and build golden palaces with openwork walls, but you should always remember the main thing: first of all, you should take care of ensuring your own survival.

Reade set Go!

So, you thought it over carefully and decided: I want to create and create. And then you run all the time through the worlds of other people's fantasies, fulfilling other people's dreams ... Basta! Now you will embody only your ideas and your desires in your own virtual world.

Minecraft-style games provide you with unlimited opportunities for creativity and the realization of your most unexpected talents. But, before you feel like a full-fledged master of the new world, you will have to survive for some time - and therefore, live according to the rules dictated to you by circumstances.

You must use your first efforts to search for and extract resources. You may need resources both for building a house (it will be your resting place and refuge from enemies), and for building outbuildings. When the priority tasks are completed, you can use the surplus of extracted resources for landscaping and beauty.

Don't forget to feed your hero! As in real life, food can be obtained in many ways and consumed in various ways. You can kill a mob (any edible animal) and eat its meat - but remember that raw meat is best fried. Not only does it satisfy hunger better after heat treatment, but also some of its species (chicken, for example), are generally poisonous when raw, but nothing when fried. And also food can be grown - just like grain is grown in our villages, from which bread is then made.

The Minecraft game tools give you the opportunity not only to influence the terrain around you, but also to modify materials - just like in the real world! Raw materials in this beautiful simulator are sure to go through all the stages before your eyes, from extraction to completion of processing and manufacturing of a finished new item.

Dangers and difficulties

Even in the most ideal world, the hero is sure to be haunted by enemies or some kind of trouble. Agree, if they weren’t there, the world would quickly turn from an ideal one into a boring and monotonous one! That is why Minecraft games are replete with various difficulties that you will have to overcome on the way to your own prosperity.

Let's start with the fact that your hero can… die. Unexpected for a sandbox, right? However, we all saw how fiercely two kids can beat each other with shoulder blades on a walk, if they don’t share their favorite corner of their small construction site or a cone or berry that miraculously fell on a pile of sand. Something similar is happening here, only in a world where you can really achieve a lot, the struggle for resources and territory takes on the character of real military operations.

Depending on the strategy of the game that you choose at the very beginning, the death of your character can lead to different consequences. In one of the options, after an untimely death, you will wake up alive in your bed, and the game will be rewound exactly to the moment when you fell asleep for the last time. That's just all your things and inventory will remain at the place of death of the hero - do not blame me - you will only have half a day to return everything that was acquired by overwork.

But another option is much less humane! Creation cannot outlive its creator - this is the principle that the developers of the “Hardcore” mode were guided by. And this means that with the death of the hero, the whole world, which he so carefully created with his own hands, disappears. Scary? Choose more gentle modes, but for true gamers there is only one life and only Hardcore!

Free online minecraft games provide several options for player death. So what can kill him? Yes, almost anything - the realism of this moment here is simply gorgeous. Let's start with hunger. If you disregard our advice and still forget that the character needs to be fed, he will die. It's unfortunate but inevitable if you don't pay attention to your character's satiety bar at all. Gradually decreasing the satiety value on the scale allows you to feed him in time - before it's too late.

Also, the cause of death can be incorrect interaction with monsters. In general, among them there are not only evil creatures who only dream of attacking your hero! There are quite friendly and even tameable, but there are also those who are not averse to attacking you. Sometimes aggression on their part can be avoided if you know well what can provoke its manifestation. So, for example, if there is a generated golem in the village, then it is better not to touch such a village: in normal times, a peaceful, stone guard of the village instantly comes to life with any attempts to harm his wards.

And there are enemies who will always remain so, no matter how you cajole them. It is to this variety of mobs that zombies belong - a disgusting-looking living dead with square heads. The most disgusting thing is that there is no sense even in defeating them, because even then their meat is not edible. But, by the way, other mobs after their death often leave behind resources, food or some useful artifacts - you can take them, you honestly earned them.

Minecraft and friends

Of course, what popular entertainment could not remain alone. Game development often comes down to implementing the same idea in as large versions as possible. And this is justified, because not always, having missed the square heads of your heroes, you want to run the installer of your favorite game, long forgotten somewhere in the bowels of the computer. It is likely that you just need to shoot from zombies or build some kind of very small world!

For these purposes, there are free online minecraft games. They don't require installation, and every little flash game contains a small but very nice aspect, loved by all true fans. Building and destruction are separated here for more fun!

If you can’t live a day without the pixel worlds of this popular computer game, you will definitely appreciate Minecraft style games! Moreover, you can play Minecraft games on this page for free. And this means that you can now play Minecraft games anytime and anywhere - as long as there is an Internet connection!

It so happened that my attitude to raising children (and who else to educate, not adults) has always been based on humanism, bordering on connivance. Even in my youth, teaching English to teenagers in a private school and my peers in a medical college, I perceived each ward as a whole universe with its own unique laws, life circumstances, opportunities and talents. The students quickly got wind of this feature of the young teacher's worldview and, of course, sometimes shamelessly used it - telling amazing stories about unfinished homework and making me crawl under the teacher's table with laughter.

Of course, over time, my humanistic fever, not fully understood in my youth, faded a little - I began to understand that people, in addition to free will and choice, need rules, boundaries, rituals, stability and a foundation. Children - even more.

Nevertheless, I thought and to this day I consider myself not entitled to create greenhouse conditions around the child, trying not to adapt the lives of those close to me to the growing person, but to help the growing person to get used to the world around him. This is not a question of discipline and not an attempt to raise a child “comfortable” for society - quiet and always obedient (which, of course, is nothing wrong, but I only saw such children on Soviet postcards). Borders and rules are needed not so that the child is not noticeable, but to make it easier for him to get used to the world of people.

For example, the rule “listen to what they say to you, and then speak out yourself, it will be more convenient for everyone,” I consider it justified, and “I am an adult, I know better, and you are silent” - obscurantist. Boundaries should be drawn for the purpose of protection and prevention, and not for the purpose of prohibition.

Frame from the movie "Wall", 1982

The same rules have always applied to available information. The question "Where do babies come from?" - an honest answer in an accessible form, where, how and why. The question "Mom, will I die too?" - an honest affirmative answer and a conversation about the fact that the memory remains alive in our relatives, friends and descendants.

In general, my position in raising new people boiled down to two main factors: the desire to organically fit the child into the daily life of the family and the desire not to restrict his access to what does not pose a danger to his life and the comfort of others.

These two factors have influenced my attitude towards a growing person's access to digital entertainment. I, my family and my friends are modern people who have been actively using and interested in digital technologies, gadgets and the Internet since their youth. Soon the internet became my place of work; naturally, the son constantly saw his mother behind the screen of a laptop, smartphone and tablet; I'm used to the fact that I'm looking for answers to some of his questions in Google; to the fact that cartoons can be viewed on YouTube; to the fact that you can play Cut The Rope on your smartphone. I am pleased with how my son gradually immersed himself in the digital information environment and I am sure that he has developed an adequate idea of ​​the network for his age - as a place where knowledge is obtained, and where you can find everything that interests you if you wish.

Something went wrong

His son got his smartphone at the age of 5 - he got his father's old phone. He played on it all parts of Angry Birds (a great game for children who are not destined to walk with a slingshot in the yard) and Bad Piggies (a cool engineering puzzle - I couldn’t cope with the levels, but a five-year-old was easy). In the summer before entering school, he appeared in the arsenal of Minecraft Pocket Edition. I was even glad - how many times I wrote about this toy right here on Newtonew, and I was going to offer it to my son, but then somehow it just happened.

Minecraft is a game without exaggeration cool, almost immediately after the release, overgrown with a fan subculture. I am still not able to understand what is so attractive about it for children of senior kindergarten and primary school age. If adult players can be nostalgic for eight-bit graphics and enjoy the square Minecraft world, then such nostalgia is unknown to children. Nevertheless, elementary and middle school students are crazy about her - just look at how many let's plays are filmed and posted on YouTube by young unspoiled souls. I came to the conclusion that Minecraft combines everything that basically distinguishes computer games from all other types of entertainment:

• the ability to build your own world;
• a non-linear way of interacting with the game world (not like with a book);
• interactivity (not like when watching programs and movies);
• instant feedback;
• extensive opportunities for communication and self-expression (thanks to the gaming community).

These are excellent properties that develop systemic and strategic thinking, digital literacy, planning skills, and even communication skills. Under several conditions: you yourself know how it all works, you are ready to spend a lot of time learning about the game world together with your child, and… you don’t use the mobile version of the game.

It was Minecraft Pocket Edition, the official Minecraft mobile app, that led to disturbing results.

The Dark Side of Minecraft

We also had Minecraft installed on a free home laptop that did not really belong to anyone, and therefore passed into the possession of his son - on an old macbook (in this case, Mac OS is important). Anton launched his favorite toy, searched for tutorials himself, watched let's plays on YouTube. Everything he watched, I carefully controlled, because he surfed through my active Google account. The version of Minecraft that Anton played on a macbook, and the style of his game only aroused my approval - he learned simple commands in the terminal, found new blocks, learned to handle them on his own, explored the possibilities of the world.

But the style of his game on a smartphone, I could not call constructive. One thing needs to be said here: there is a huge shady industry serving Minecraft - modifications, or simply "mods". A mod is a code file that changes the original content of the game. They can add new features, such as allowing their own music to play in the background, or adding electricity, elevators, or new dimensions to the game; can change the appearance, for example, change textures; and they can seriously affect the entire course of the game, giving a loophole for cheats - for example, giving an unlimited amount of resources. Mods are not officially supported by the manufacturer, but there are a huge number of launchers that allow you to install and run mods. This is very easy to do in Minecraft for Windows and in the mobile version of Minecraft.

The whole industry is built on these mods, millions of views.

Mods, with skillful handling, can greatly enrich the gaming experience, complicate and diversify the game; but, unfortunately, the possibility of easy money turns out to be much more attractive. How to install mods on Mac OS, Anton did not guess, but he also had a mobile version!

In general, all that Anton's game has turned into on a smartphone is the search, review and testing of dozens of different mods. It turned out to be forgotten the main goal of the game - the development of their own world. Fantasy, spatial thinking, patience needed to collect resources were left out of work.

All this has been replaced by a mindless race for new mods, their updates, short joy from visual goodies and a huge amount of resources, and quick disappointment from each purchase - what you have not earned yourself will soon get bored.

And it will be difficult for an adult to stop himself if he finds himself in a giant hypermarket, where there is a lot of everything and everything is free - just reach out and take it. Candy? How many do you want. The most delicate pate? Yes, take it right from here. Lemonade? Croissants? Caesar salad? Imagine yourself in such a place. There is a great temptation to overeat, then suffer from indigestion, then reproach yourself for the weakness of the spirit and promise yourself that never again, but ... But here again the neon sign of this hypermarket, and again you cannot help it, and then again you are angry with yourself.

It is even more difficult for children to control their desires. And they also grow irritated by what they have received undeservedly, but they are not aware of the reason for their negative emotions.

After a couple of months of such a "game" in Minecraft, I got a capricious, apathetic, nervous child. A little more, and it would look like this canonical example:

I had to be drastic. During the winter holidays, after a week of skiing and reading books from his mother's childhood in his grandmother's house, Anton did not find his smartphone in his usual place.

Mom, where's the phone?
- He is temporarily not with us until you and I both understand what you are interested in, except for mods for Minecraft.

And you know what? This explanation, short and honest, was enough. Sometimes we check the official website together to see if there's an update for the game (not mods!). I did not restrict access to the laptop, in the desktop version of Minecraft, which I like, he plays on the weekends. Read the entire home library of children's books. Anton no longer depends on the charger, and the morning does not begin with the words “I will just install this mod and get dressed.”

And yet I do not lose my faith in video games and believe that they are the right place in school. After all, games at school are, by default, licensed versions without the simple possibility of bypassing and adult supervision. Moreover, there are successful examples and experiments - a Norwegian teacher, or even in Russian schools.

Modern parents are on the verge of making a huge mistake in raising their children. Wishing well for their children, they deprive them of time and space for games, thereby limiting the development of imagination - a skill that is the basis of innovation and competitiveness.

A study by toy company Radio Flyer and ReD Associates reveals the disturbing implications of today's overprotective parenting. Before each holiday, adults begin to puzzle over what kind of toy will be interesting and useful for their child. However, before purchasing another wooden construction set, parents should think seriously.

The development of the imagination is facilitated by games that child psychologists call "arbitrary" ( unstructured play) - in those there is no clearly defined scenario, there is no ultimate goal, devices are not used. The child himself invents his own worlds and embodies his own ideas.

According to a study conducted in the United States, children who are given freedom of action by their parents, that is, they are given the opportunity to decide for themselves when, where and what to play, have the most developed imagination. However, most of today's children simply cannot play by themselves - they need instructions from adults or the toy itself.

The conclusions are disappointing: today's children need to be taught to play arbitrary games. Child development specialist and psychologist Peter Gray also noted a steady reduction in time spent on free play. According to other data, children aged 8 to 18 spend an average of 6.5 hours in the company of gadgets daily, and many are even afraid to go out without an adult.

Modern parents are puzzled by how to create conditions for involuntary play. A study of children from infancy to 9 years of age showed surprising results - neither wooden toys nor their digital counterparts create the conditions for unstructured play. So what is wrong with parents?

Consequences of playing Minecraft

Take, for example, cubes. The current generation of children passively press the buttons and the toys themselves entertain them, and when the toy gets bored, they insistently demand another. Some parents have even formed a new tradition: throwing out "old" toys before the holidays to make room for new ones. Other parents admit that they buy their child a new toy a week, and also keep toys in reserve.

Having got used to the constant novelty and change of entertainment, children simply stop playing with ordinary cubes, as a result of which they lose their skills in playing with stationary objects. Parents shrug their hands: "We don't want our children to be bored." But therein lies the secret: boredom motivates children to play with “what is.” If we want to develop children's imagination, we need children to be bored.

And what about computer games like Minecraft, which one parent described as "dice on steroids"?

In this popular game, kids mine for resources, craft items, build buildings and explore new worlds. In the "Creative" mode, players have unlimited supplies of resources and tools, which allows you to create objects of increased complexity. That's where the unlimited freedom of imagination is - take it and build it!

However, the study found that after playing a series of Minecraft games, children felt jittery and annoyed. Many agree that the aforementioned play only "kills time" - once the child begins to understand the mechanics of the game well, that is, to play well, the experience of research and creation turns into endless construction in order to avoid boredom. One of the adults correctly noted that under such conditions, even a favorite pastime turns into a routine.

Creating conditions for unstructured play requires not only restricting the child from certain entertainment, but also providing him with complete freedom. However, as the study showed, this practice does not always show inspiring results - young respondents, left without their usual toys, started fights with peers (and sometimes with parents) and experienced irritation, drowsiness and confusion. Obviously, the problem here is not with toys, but with the fact that children are not used to playing on their own.

The idea of ​​free games is discussed quite often, but ways to create conditions for such are rarely presented. Below are three excerpts from a study by child psychologist Peter Gray recommending the practice of free play.

1. Parents must clearly understand what “free play” is and what it gives

In free play, there is no clearly defined beginning and end - children entertain themselves, adults do not help them. This approach can confuse parents who are used to seeing educational and educational tasks in the game, as well as those who believe that participation in children's play helps to become closer to the child.

2. Children should play on their own every day

When parents try to introduce several hours of free play between other activities of the child, the latter experiences absent-mindedness and irritation. For this problem to disappear, children must learn to play on their own, and not wait to be entertained by parents, teachers, or new toys.

3. In free play, children should be guided by the behavior of adults

It is no secret that children copy the behavior of adults, but the latter, having plunged headlong into work, often forget about it. Parents should be an example for their children and show that spending time without gadgets can be a lot of fun.

How are these ideas put into practice? Quite simply, a photographer father takes his two-year-old daughter for walks. While he is filming nature, the child selflessly plays with what is nearby - he imagines, explores, learns the world. The adult does not interfere, the girl herself leads the process. However, the parent is nearby - minding his own business, he looks after her, and the child is inspired by the actions of the father and copies his behavior.