Aiden (nearly 7) and Nathan (5) are begging for minecraft. Nathan is also asking endless questions about how people make the websites and programs inside the computer (programming).

They are getting the Lego WEDO set as an intro to programming for next year, and Aiden wants to start lego robotics too.

Should I just get minecraft, or just scratch? or both? are they vastly different? any insight here would help.

thanks!

I would get both. Minecraft is like building with virtual legos and Scratch is learning how to program.
I tried Scratch and DD got into it for a few days, but they have been playing Minecraft for years. DS was around 3 and now he's 6 and they are still both really into it. If you choose only one, do Minecraft (but be prepared for obsession).

There is a free version of Minecraft on the PC. My kids always play on the PC but we have a paid version now.

I'd get minecraft, but make sure you set time limits up front! They can get seriously SUCKED IN.

Scratch is a totally different thing, but he might enjoy it.

I see that scratch is free, so it makes sense to get both in that case.

Thanks for the heads up on the obsessive minecraft behaviour. lol. I think the gift will need to come with attached rules upfront.

Scratch is free - my ds played with it for awhile but lost interest. As the others have mentioned, Minecraft is a whole different thing, and can be a bit addictive (but I also think it's cool!). My kids loved it for a long while, but it too was also a phase that eventually passed. I'll spare you the details of what came next

Best wishes,

polarbear

hahah polarbear now you have me VERY curious...

Don't worry... my ds found the next addiction without any help from me lol! Yours will most likely too

pbear

My impression of the free PC version of Minecraft is that you're time-limited and you can't save your work. That gets old fast.

The free version on the i-device (DD played it on iPod) is a little more robust.

We have paid for two PC subscriptions, because DD likes to get others playing along with her. She has another friend who also shares worlds within our network using her own account.

hahaha - shall I come compare notes once it hits and you can giggle as you keep teasing me with "next obsession" hints?? LOL

My son plays Minecraft on his Kindle Fire - it's the pocket edition, which is different from the PC version. We travel alot for his soccer tournaments, and when the boys are in the hotel between games, they all get together and play - I think 5 can play in the same world together when they're using the same wifi connection. He also plays at home - with his 60 year old aunt !

If it's Roblox, then my DS has escaped that one -- he says it's lame, and remains addicted to Minecraft.

I will need to check out this Scratch thing, though.

My son has extensively played with both (age 6). I have two recommendations. The first is if you have an iphone or ipad, buy that minecraft version as opposed to computer because there are no monthly fees and at the moment you can't play online with random people but you can connect two or more devices through wifi even if they are using the same apple account. This game can be addictive, but probably a phase like other people said. My son likes to watch YouTube videos to get ideas for new types of structures to build. It's pretty fun... We are building a lava palace at the moment.

Scratch is an awesome into to programming. We bought my son the book Super Scratch Programming Adventure (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593274092?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links) which I HIGHLY recommend. He got through 5 or 6 chapters and is now capable of making his own games. It's great! You can draw your own characters and stuff or use all the premade guys.

Both games allow lots of creativity.

Beware of YouTube Videos on Minecraft because DD fried the hard drive in our laptop watching them.

Stephi: The computer version does not have a monthly fee. It's a one-time subscription fee to create an account.

Yes the files can be saved and sent to other people. You can also use the online version of scratch and save and download the files or upload files which is useful when traveling or going to friends or relatives houses. Makes it easy to have educational entertainment.

Ah yes YouTube videos... Wish there was a better way to screen those besides having to watch them all and make a kids playlist. I have no patience for that. He pretty much only watches them on the ipad which I think is safer than my computer in terms of messing stuff up. Doesn't help with other kids' bad language though! =]

Oh did not know that! Thanks dude!

We started them both on scratch this afternoon. They are out now but I am so curious to see what they thought of it and what they created.

We are considering the minecraft codes as Christmas Gifts.

Don't know much about Scratch but both DS10 and DD10 are into Minecraft although in different ways unless they are playing each other. DD is more into designing (skins, etc.) and likes it when strangers download her designs. DS is more into strategies (hence, all those youtube videos) and battles. I had to pay twice for the PC version so they would each have an account. The Pocket Edition for Kindle is nice as well and I only had to pay once since their Kindles are on the same account so all the software in the library can be shared.

I am very comfortable with un-monitored access to Minecraft at DS/DD's age and a couple of years younger but I would have been hesitant about introducing it to a four-year-old due to addictiveness/self-control issues.

My DD8 has really gotten into Cato's Hike. I started her with that one, but I really don't know the difference between them all. I've heard so much about Scratch that I was going to start her on that one. The other one that looked interesting was Stencyl because you can make video games and share them. Does anyone know the difference between Cato's Hike, Scratch, and Stencyl? Is there a reason to choose one over the other?

They kinda go in order of sophistication and intent.

Cato's Hike is a goal oriented system focused on moving a character and thinking programmatically. It is all drag and drop, and I don't think it ncludes like numbers.

Scratch is a free-form system with good programming structure and ways to use math and such values to do animations and drawing.

Stencyl is a programming environment even more wide open than Scratch but based on the Scratch visual approach. It can be used to make applications and games for i devices.

So, that order would make a nice progression. One interesting thng about Cato's Hike is it was crated using Codea a full programming implementation of Python that is all text based and can make i apps. It is also a reusable skillset to learn Python to program other things like robotic systems or websites.

Just for the record - I opened Scratch the first day on both the boy's laptops. And I left them to it. I really wanted to see how they would figure it out etc.

Aiden (6) dove straight in and was making the cat move and dance and change colours within minutes.

Nathan (who turned 5 on 1st November) couldn't figure it out.

It was an interesting little experiment (all hail my little lab rats lol)

Thanks for the info, Zen. That is exactly the kind of information that I needed.

I want to start her on programming first. I think Minecraft will be on the list for summertime.

My son likes the code writing more than the gaming aspect of many of those programs so he uses codea and loves it. His progression was scratch--cargobot--codea and that seemed to be a good logical progression.

*saving this tidbit for future use!!* Thank you

Oh crap... my 4 1/2 year old has been playing minecraft on his computer for about a year now. I have worried that it isn't good for him. However, he does not like to play alone too much. He does seem amazing at it - my older DS keeps admiring younger Ds's "mincraft giftedness." LOL I have to admit this little guy builds spectacular things on it but I have no computer interest or abilities and no experience (or interest in) minecraft so I don't really appreciate his creations or apparent abilities. Incidentally, this kid is really good at all kinds of puzzles (well above his age-level) tangrams, block puzzles, etc. I suspect he is very visio-spatial. But I do hope it's not harming harming him somehow!

DS loves to watch youtube videos also to get ideas. He turns off the sound if her hears any "bad words" LOL

Don't mean to cause unnecessary concern! You know your kid best. I think it is actually child dependent as well. As long as the amount of time is not unreasonable and Minecraft is not interfering with other developments, harm is unlikely. I severely limited computer time until DS turned 8 because he would have spent too much time otherwise. He has decent self-control and reasonable judgment now so I can trust him to monitor himself mostly. For him, not having that computer access early on helped nurture a love/habit of constant reading and helped develop a practice of ceative play.

My DS was also very into Minecraft since he was about 3. Since he was delayed due to his dyspraxia, it seemed so odd to see a toddler who could barely speak zipping around on the site like it was nothing, building logical buildings, etc. I often wonder if his high PR score comes from Minecraft, or if he plays Minecraft because of his PR ability.
At six, he is still obsessed with it (and builds amazing things--the latest is some sort of operating mill), so I decided that he needs to "earn" screen time. He begs me to give him homework so that he can earn some more screen time.

I think Minecraft actually taught DS how to read. He was so obsessed with it that he was bound and determined to figure out what the names of all the materials were. He also started constructing signs by the time he turned 4, that said things like "GoThisWay". So there is a lot of educational value in it.

Even in this age Minecraft has been giving me a great entertainment, it is not an option only for youngsters

Along these lines, I have a question for y'all. I am looking at those summer tech camps for my DS8 and they are so expensive I can only have him do one of them. The options are (1) Adventures in Programming with Scratch; (2) Adeventures in Robotics: LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Base Set and Software; (3) Adventures in Game Design Minecraft.

DS likes them all but wants primarily to do the minecraft one but since we can only do one I was thinking he should do one of the other two since he plays minecraft all of the time. Any one have any advice on which one to have him do? Should I just let him do the minecraft one (do you think he will learn new things?)? Or shoud he do robotics (no experience with that yet) or Scratch?

Thanks for any insight/advice/thoughts!

I'd favor the LEGO one, because that also builds to skills for robotics competitions and needs specialized hardware to do and is not easy to troubleshoot oneself; does he do LEGOs at home?. With Scratch, if it interests him, it is free at home and fairly intuitive to use: if he likes it, odds are he is up and running and doing stuff in an hour on his own, if he doens't odds are the class isn't that much fun. Minecraft is pretty clunky to do progammatic work in or game design, I'd speculate it is more soft skills in level design than re-useable programming type skills; Minecraft also has such a rich Youtube presence and community, a class seems a bit counter-intuitive.

Thanks Zen! That's what along the lines of what I was thinking but I know nothing about this stuff. He does stuff on minecraft all of the time (for example "making adventure maps?" etc) and he and his brother watch youtube videos for ideas. They also play with my husband so I was thinking there may not be much more that a class can give him. Scratch, I have heard is free is free online and my DH said he could do that with him. The one he has never done is the robotics...

When you ask if he does "legos at home" ... He builds with the real legos but has done nothing that I am aware of with any lego software or computer related. There is a robotics club at school but you have tp be in at least 3rd grade to do it (frustratingly it is the same with chess grrrr)

Welcome. I meant with real LEGOs, since doing Mindstorms necessarily involves physical LEGO construction. If he hadn't worked with LEGOs, I was going to suggest trying them before committing to that path.

Ahhh got it - yes has been doing free-play with legos since he was very small, has done kits as well (like the ninjangos where you build certain things per directions) Also loved the lego bionicles...

Okay great ... I'm gonna sign him up for that one! Thanks again!

For people who like Scratch, check out what I just came across!!

https://www.play-i.com