As a parent, it's a constant struggle. Every choice has benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, you can't be too lenient because kids need rules and structure. On the other hand, you also don't want to make too many rules because it will stifle creativity.
Modern parenting also offers a major dilemma in screen time. It's hard to deny my kids the iPad when I'm constantly on my phone or laptop. While they are normal in most respects and like to play outside, they also love their games and videos. One of their all-time favorites is Minecraft.
This humble game was one of the first to really catch fire. Think of it as electronic Lego. While there is a survivalist game that was part of the original release, more often than not the kids like to play the "creative" version. In this setting, there are unlimited amounts of building materials available. You can literally spend days building entire worlds. Here is one example for the more literal minded. It's an electronic re-creation of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris:
You can find many spectacular examples with easy Google searches of elaborate presentations that go on and on.
I ran across an article recently that discussed ways teachers are now incorporating Minecraft into lesson plans. It helps capture the imagination of students in a non-traditional way. Here is one quote from the article:
Diane Main teaches a high-school computer-science class at the Harker School in San Jose, California. She has been using MinecraftEdu with her students for the past two years and has been consistently impressed by what her students have created in the game, especially when they are given the flexibility to follow their own interests, figuring out how to do the desired actions in their own way. "When you have opportunities for creativity and more open-ended situations, it allows kids to figure out that they can try things, they can do things differently—there’s not one formulaic way to do well in this class," Main said. "A student told me after the class that he learned that first option [to solving a problem] isn’t always the best option. And that’s something you can’t teach kids—they need to have the opportunity to experience it themselves."
What surprises me even more than the creative potential is the way that Minecraft is opening new doors for entertainment. My boys will literally watch others build and navigate these virtual worlds. There are YouTube videos with famous players like Stampy Longnose that serve as virtual guides for ten to twenty minutes at a time. I literally have to set time limits to get the boys to stop watching. Their endless fascination reminds me of the time I spent in arcades once I had run out of quarters watching other expert players on the games. I suppose this is something similar--where you can watch and learn new moves and tactics you might never otherwise had considered.
Here are the links to the articles I referenced:
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