Minecraft has been around in some form for almost a decade now, but in recent years it has become the game for kids to play. Due to its sandbox design (you can do anything), and its basis in science and math, many teachers have found ways to bring it into the classroom. 

The Minecraft Educational Edition has a ton of extra features which give you tools to reach an even wider breadth of topics, so to help you consider how you could use Minecraft in your classroom, here are 5 great ways it can be used:  

1 Coding

Coding is a subject that has already been introduced in many schools around the world, and this will only increase as time goes on. In our digital world, more and more jobs require multi-talented people with a basic knowledge of coding. However, coding shouldn’t just be taught for employability – it is also incredibly creative and the perfect mix of technology, science, and art. The educational edition has a feature to help you teach coding to your students.

2 Immersive Without the Mess

Many STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities that take place in or outside the classroom involve a lot of hands-on building that can leave you with a lot to set up or tidy away. While hands-on projects will always have their place, completing projects within Minecraft makes it easier for you to pick up and put down long-term projects and won’t leave you with any extra cleanup. 

3 Chemistry 

Teaching chemistry to younger children can often be a challenge, but Minecraft makes it easy to start introducing the subject to them. Students can learn about basic chemical reactions and see them work within the game. 

4 Hundreds of Preplanned Lessons

The Minecraft education edition site has literally hundreds of lesson plans covering almost any topic, tagged for their age group, lesson, and learning outcome. Not only does this mean that you can quickly find a fun and educational lesson for kids to do in a pinch, but you will never run out of ideas or custom worlds for your students to explore and learn in. 

5 Teamwork

Minecraft can be used solo by each student, but when used in teams or as a class, it becomes an incredibly collaborative and immersive experience. Students are required to collaborate to build and solve problems, and it often helps kids who struggle to communicate with one another in the classroom find a way to work together and build bridges they would otherwise have been unable to create.