Minecraft: 30 No Prep

30 No Prep
Minecraft
Ideas
you can do tomorrow
By Chris Scott
Table of Contents

My Introduction to Minecraft
What is Minecraft?
Gamemode
Why Minecraft?
Suggestions
Watch Out!
How to Use This Book
Idea 1: Character Matters
Idea 2: aMazeing
Idea 3: Diving
Idea 4: Archery Trajectory
Idea 5: Minecraft Writing Prompts
Idea 6: Magic Button
Idea 7: 4C’s
Idea 8: Redesign Your School
Idea 9: Design a New Animal
Idea 10: Calculate Cost
Idea 11: National Park
Idea 12: Parts of a Plant
Idea 13: Be Inspired
Idea 14: Vocabulary
Idea 15: Word Cloud
Idea 16: Make Comparisons
Idea 17: Craft a Giant Chair
Idea 18: Experience Scale
Idea 19: Textures
Idea 20: Float or Sink?
Idea 21: Prefixes and Suffixes
Idea 22: Animal Behavior
Idea 23: Shapes
Idea 24: Automation
Idea 25: Craft Your Partner’s Dream Home
Idea 26: Ultimate Dog House
Idea 27: Story Scene
Idea 28: How Many Mobs?
Idea 29: Pixel Art
Idea 30: Ask the Players
More Resources

If this was helpful please share it with others :) Also, please let me know your suggestions.
@cscottsy Chris Scott cscottsy@gmail.com minecraftercamp.com

My Introduction to Minecraft

I was introduced to Minecraft by a 7th grade student. At my school we used small laptops that
were sent home with the kids each day. The school was rural and sending the computers home
was a huge benefit to many of our families. We used an operating system called Ubuntu
(Ubermix) that was open enough to offer the kids the opportunity to download and run programs
that weren't originally installed. I loved the trust and freedom we offered our students.
Many of the projects in my class were opened ended. As a class all kids were
challenged to demonstrate their understanding of each concept. Not to get too far into how each
lesson worked, but I would be directly involved in helping each child develop their learning plan.
A 7th grade boy had returned to class with the game Minecraft loaded. It was incredible that he
had loaded the game since we were running Ubuntu and typically there are a few extra steps
involved before any program could work. As a class we had been exploring the history of Aztecs
when that 7th grade boy (Luis) signaled for me to see what he had created. I watched as he
flew in game around an Aztec pyramid, it was a simple pyramid made of sandstone block. I said
"that's cool Luis" and started to walk away to help other kids.
I couldn’t help thinking there must be something wrong with the game, maybe it’s
graphics were broken.
Luis called me back saying "wait there's more I want you to see." Although I thought the
game was incredibly simple looking and couldn't imagine what else there could be, Luis flew into
the pyramid. He had built the interior of that pyramid and began to explain why he chose certain
blocks and placed things the way he did. What makes Luis's story incredible was that he was a
student that had an aide follow him to each of his classes. He had certain classification that
offered him simpler lessons and more help throughout the day. At teacher meetings Luis would
be mentioned as a boy that was difficult to work with, not behaviorally, it was more about his
ability to comprehend the content.
Until I saw the quality of thought demonstrated in that Minecraft build I had agreed with
the other teachers. After that Minecraft Aztec temple I realized in some ways that it was our
measurements that were forcing Luis to need special help. Luis could comprehend and
demonstrate his learning in powerful ways using Minecraft. Since Luis I began using Minecraft
regularly in class with my kids. I found Minecraft to work for all of my students. There are always
a few students that choose not to use Minecraft, but by far the majority of boys and girls in my
classes showed their incredible intelligence through Minecraft. No matter how much you use
Minecraft in your class, I know you’ll be doing your kids a huge favor.

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is an immersive 3d simulation game. It’s a massive world made up of blocks.
The object of the game is to ‘Mine’ for resources and ‘Craft’ those resources into new creations.
Players can simply survive in the world by building homes and harvesting food. Minecraft is
whatever players make of it. This guide is a very simple way to help teachers bring Minecraft
into the classroom.
Minecraft works on nearly any digital device. You don’t need a class set of the finest
laptops. The projects listed work on PC/Mac version, console (Xbox, Playstation), Tablets and
phones, even the Minecraft version for Raspberry Pi. Every idea in this booklet works on all th

Gamemode
There are 2 basic gamemodes in Minecraft. The gamemode determines what players
can and cannot do. Many players play in Survival mode. Survival mode players must mine
blocks and craft resources. They must harvest food, plants or animals, to satisfy their hunger
meter. Players can die in Survival mode.
The other mode is called Creative. In Creative mode players have access to unlimited
blocks and therefore do not need to mine for resources. Creative mode is used when players
are attempting to build very large structures and don’t want to worry about harvesting food or
gathering resources. Most of the ideas in this book are for Creative mode.

There is no right way to play Minecraft.

Why Minecraft?
There is some magic mystery behind Minecraft. This game has the most incredible that even the
most avid players don’t really have an answer as to why Minecraft is so popular. Whatever the
magic may be we get to harness the interest and motivation associated with Minecraft in our
classrooms. There’s nothing quite like kids excitement when getting to play Minecraft in class. If
you were to simply allow kids to play Minecraft in your class they will experience the 4C’s:
creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Players work together to design
and build a miniature civilization that is fun and personal.
In class Minecraft becomes something magnificent. Minecraft is a great equalizer, no
matter where your kids are with content areas, this game can become the conduit to amazing
results. I see these results regularly.Our low performing kids have a platform to show how smart
they are, our high performing kids have the opportunity to

Suggestions
Please let all of your students use Minecraft in class. Although it’s tempting to use it as a
reward, you’ll be missing out if that’s the only way you use it. The 30+ ideas in this book are
intended to help you get comfortable with using Minecraft. With a little adjustment you can make
any of these ideas into much longer projects. I suggest a few things when playing Minecraft with
your kids:
❏ Play with the kids. When you play with the kids you learn about how the game works.
Don’t expect to understand the mystery behind it, but at least you’ll understand how
much time goes into Minecraft builds.
❏ Give them time. Please give your kids the time to play. If you only have 30 minutes, try
and give multiple 30 minute class times during the week. The next section has things to
watch out for when just starting out.
❏ Ask the kids. While kids are creating, ask them about what they’re creating. Ask them
why they’re making choices about certain blocks, location, etc. You’ll be surprised at the
depth of thought going into their decisions.
❏ Start simple. Start with a few of the ideas in this booklet. Once your class has gone
through an idea, initiate a class discussion about how things went. Ask: What went well?
Where can we grow? What ideas would you like to share?
❏ Let the parents know. I encountered some pushback at first because I did not
communicate with the parents (oops). Let the parents know that you are using this guide
designed by the cocreator of Minecrafter camps, coauthor of Minecraft Labs (releases
Fall 2016). You’re not experimenting with Minecraft, Minecraft works, these ideas work.
You’re using Minecraft to empower young learners. Here’s the letter I sent home.

Watch Out!
After leading lots of Minecrafter Camps, afterschool programs as well as in class projects, I
suggest a few things that you should watch out for.
Kids panic. When you introduce Minecraft many kids get really excited. When you start
to play it in class the first couple of times kids will panic. It’s like when someone is incredibly
thirsty and are given a little cup of water. It’s important to offer kids enough time to work in
Minecraft. I suggest starting with 30 minutes to 1 hour in the game.

Chat: The worst I’ve seen on chat is kids being silly or accusing thieves.
As players play, it’s easy to assume someone (anyone) has taken something. Players
build chests and store items in chests. Sometimes those items disappear, usually because a
teammate took it and didn’t let the rest of the team know.

How to Use This Book
This book is not designed to tell you how to teach. I believe every teacher has
teachermagic and sometimes all a teacher needs is another idea in their tool belt to help spur
their kids on to greatness. I put together 30 ideas with extensions, printables and web resources
to help you put another idea into your tool belt and to practice your teachermagic.
After you’ve downloaded this book you may want to keep it digital and use it as a
reference or print it out and let the kids pick what activity they want to work on. Keep this book
handy as you may have an extra 30 classroom minutes (I use the ‘may’ loosely) that would be
perfect for one of these ideas
Each idea has a suggested time. It’s just a suggestion, when it comes to Minecraft
players can typically take longer than needed to work on a project. Be generous with the time
offered the players while keeping a reasonable eye on progress.
Suggested age: The ideas in this book are intended to be tweaked to best work with the
kids in your class. I’ve worked with as young as 5 and as old as 17 in classroom settings. The
suggested ideas are for 713 as that seems to be the most common age of Minecraft players.
Play with the kids. It's a great way to learn about the game and connect with the kids. If
you don't know how to play I suggest watching a beginners guide on YouTube and asking some
of the kids to show you during a break at school.


30+ Easy (No Prep)

Minecraft Ideas You
Can Do Tomorrow
With Your Students


Idea 1: Character Matters

Content: All
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative or Survival
Device: Any
Idea: Give points for players that share, do random acts of kindness or help others. Minecraft
promotes collaboration, when the players are given enough time. If the players only have 30
minutes they tend to panic. With a little bit of time players feel the need to run around trying to
build their own house, harvest their own food and gather any item they deem necessary. To
work with the time constraints and encourage players to consider helping others during the
game I created a list of ideas that encourage good citizenship.
You can use the player’s citizenship chart with any of the following activities. It's a great way to
encourage players to work together.

Connect this idea with other content areas. Study citizenship from the past, perhaps Roman
citizenship. Write fictional stories about kids making decisions to do the right thing. Develop
math problems that involve making money versus stealing.

Extension: Encourage the kids to use the citizenship chart and apply it in real life. They can do a
random act of kindness at home by doing dishes or picking up the house. Doing activities in real
life that players are working on ingame is a great way to make reinforce the importance of
character education.

Link to separate printable Character Matters Minecraft Quests: https://goo.gl/JoXvxt

Character Matters Minecraft Quests
We know character matters. Prove you know it to by completing the challenges below. Once you’ve completed a
challenge ask your teacher to sign it off.
Title Description XP Signed
Trustworthy Trade houses with another player for a couple days, act trustworthy 500
by living, adding and improving their home. Act honestly.
Quilt of trust Add your section of the quilt. It’s a 8x8 section that attaches to the 250
rest of the quilt.
Sharing Mine valuable ore and share it with another person (not just your 150
friend).
Random Do a random act of kindness. 250

Kindness
Pay it When someone does something kind towards you, do something 250
Forward kind for another person. It’ll be a wave of kindness.
Forgive If someone did something to you (stole, griefed, etc) Forgive them. 200
Assume it was an accident.
Fill the Add useful items to another player’s hopper. 200

Hopper
Notice Seek out others not in your group and acknowledge their work. 100
others
Move Get up out of your seat and visit with another player in the room. Ask 100
them “how’s it going, can I help you with anything?”
Self Esteem Step back from your build and admire it, enjoy what you’ve created. 400
It’s your creation! Pick 3 things you like about it.
Build for Build a pixel art creation for someone else. 300
others
Save Them! Save someone from a hostile mob. 100
Feed Them! Harvest and craft food for someone else. 100
Positive Send a positive message through chat. 50

Chat
Help Them! Help someone. Unlimited!!! 50x
Teleport to Teleport to someone else to admire their work. 50
Them!
Help Help someone use teleport commands. 100

Teleport
Solve it! Solve a problem for or with someone else. 100
Suggest it! Offer suggestions that will help someone else. 100
Decorate Decorate another person’s yard with flowers. 50
Trade Make a fair trade with another player. 50
Read it! Read something for a young reader in our group 100
Create your
own
Trade in your Character Matters points:
Optional Activity -Best when using MinecraftEDU
Diamond tool: 250

iron tool: 150
Horse: 200
Saddle: 200
String: 100
Weapon: 200
64 arrows: 200
Diamond armor: 1000

Gold Armor: 900
Iron Armor: 800
Brewing stand: 2000

Glass bottle: 100
Anvil: 250
Food: 500
Enchanted Golden Apple: 1000
Any hard to get item: 500
Be teleported somewhere: 300

Idea 2: aMazeing

Content: 4C's
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative to build mazes, Survival to play mazes
Device: Any
Idea: Encourage the kids to create mazes. Maze builders should be in creative mode to help
them build their mazes. To play the maze the players should switch to survival mode, to prevent
cheating. Build the maze walls at least 3 blocks high. Maze builders can place different types
and colors of blocks as a pattern to help the maze players figure out how to get out. All great
mazes are hard enough to be fun yet challenging. If maze builders build their maze too easy or
too hard, ask them if they did that on purpose and if they would like to modify their maze.

Extension: Create mazes outside of the game. These analog mazes can be done on paper or if
you want to go big take the maze outside. Use chalk or masking tape to create a maze on the
blacktop outside your classroom. Invite other classes to navigate the mazes your kids create.

Image: simple Minecraft maze. Courtesy: Finn Scott.
Idea 3: Diving

Content: Math
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Survival
Device: Any
Idea: Diving. Build a small pool of water below a diving station. Create a few different heights of
diving platforms. First should be about 5 block high, second should be about 15 blocks high and
the third should be about 30 blocks high. Use either stairs or ladders to climb to the top of the
platform. This activity not only teachers ingame control but also introduces gravity. Turn this
idea into an exploration into gravity, show fun gravity videos, research the history of gravity and
learn how to calculate gravity. Chart and graph how many times players landed in the water and
how long it takes to fall into the pool. This can be made more challenging by making the water
pool further from the base of the diving platform.
Extension: Guess how long it takes to fall from each tower. Next, time the jumps and determine
the difference between the guess and actual time.

image: Character standing on top of a diving platform looking towards a pool

Idea 4: Archery Trajectory

Content: Math
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Craft an archery range. You can prebuild this or the kids can team up to build group
archery ranges. Set up a shooting station with targets down the range. Place at least 3 targets
at various distances down range. Players fire arrows at different trajectories to make the arrow
hit the bull'seye.
Test out the distances by having one player stand down range to see where the arrows land.
Next the players count how many blocks are between the shooter and the down range arrow
catcher. Extend this by having targets as far as the players can see to find how far arrows can
fly and at what trajectory arrows fly the furthest.
Extension: Using paper or the whiteboard draw flying arrow trajectories. Ask the kids to
determine at what angle the arrows will no longer fly further forward.

Pumpkin themed archery range. Courtesy: Eli Scott

Idea 5: Minecraft Writing Prompts

Content: Language Arts
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Students write stories using Minecraft as a theme. Offer the kids 1530 minutes to play
inside the game, with the goal to get the kids thinking about Minecraft. You can offer the writing
prompts before or after they play.

Here are a few prompts to get your kids thinking:

How would your game play have been different if all the trees were made from a different block?
Pick the block and write about the world where your trees are made from that different block.

If you could control 10 robot players what would you command them to do? Explain how you
would make sure they built according to your instructions.

If your character got deathly thirsty every day, what would you do to make sure you always had
water?

Describe daily life in Minecraft.

What would you include in Minecraft version 3.0?

If you could own only 10 things in Minecraft, what would they be?

Extension: After answering the writing prompts offer time to create ingame what they wrote.

Idea 6: Magic Button

Time: 15 minutes
Age: 716
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: In the game players can move forward, back, left and right. In creative mode players can
fly. Ask the students if they had the opportunity to design a new special button that would
magically do something, what would it be?" Have the students create in the game an example
(may be a simplified version) of what that button would do.

This activity encourages the players, to question how the game was made and to remember
that the game was designed by people like them. Minecraft is not a finished game. Regular
updates include new blocks, capabilities and bug fixes.

Extension: Using paper ask your kids to draw a whole new game based on their magic button.

Idea 7: 4C’s

Content: 4C's
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Let's help unlock creativity in our kids. Unlock the 4C’s by giving kids time to play in
Minecraft. The 4C's: creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Minecraft
players solve problems by thinking critically, build creative homes, collaborate with others in
class and communicate inside the game through chat.
Sometimes our kids get stuck and need a little creative boost. To boost creativity encourage the
players pick any 3 building blocks and build something that inspires them. To find inspiring
things ask about characters from a book or cartoon. Maybe it's a Star Wars character?

The list of blocks starts on the next page. To access the list of blocks on a separate page click
here: https://goo.gl/MDF0sB

Extension: Gather inspirational images for kids to prepare for this idea.

Minecraft Building Blocks
Natural Blocks:
Air, Dirt, Obsidian, Mossy Stone, Brick
Bedrock, Gravel, Snow
Clay, Block Ice, Dirt
Cobblestone, Monster Spawner, Stone
Moss Stone, Sand, Stone, Brick
Cobweb, Sandstone, Cracked Stone Brick
Manufactured Blocks:
Bookshelf, Jack-O-Lantern, Wool
Brick Block, Ladder
Fence, Slab
Glass, Snow Block
Glass Pane, Stairs
Iron, Bars, Wood Planks
Ore:
Coal Ore Redstone Ore
Diamond Ore
Emerald Ore
Gold Ore
Iron Ore
Lapis Lazuli Ore
Mineral Blocks:
Block of Diamond, Block of Quartz, Enchantment Table
Block of Gold, Brewing Stand, Furnace
Block of Iron, Cake, Jukebox
Lapis Lazuli Block, Cauldron, TNT
Block of Emerald, Chest
Block of Redstone, Crafting Table
Mechanisms:
Button, Note Block, Detector Rail
Redstone Lamp, Piston, Redstone Wire
Dispenser, Sticky Piston, Redstone Torch
Doors, Pressure Plates, Redstone Repeater
Fence, Gate, Rail, Trapdoor
Lever, Powered Rail
Plants:
Cactus, Red Mushroom
Dead Bush, Huge Red Mushroom
Dandelion Stalk
Rose, Mycelium
Cyan, Flower, Pumpkin
Grass Block, Saplings
Tall Grass, Sugar Cane
Leaves, Vines
Lily, Pad, Wheat
Melon, Wood
Liquids:
Lava
Water
Non-Solid
Fire
Sign
Torch
The Nether
Glowstone
Netherrack

Idea 8: Redesign Your School

Content: Language Arts, Math
Time: Hours
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Many people are recreating their schools in Minecraft. Momilani school in Hawaii is a great
example of a detailed remake of the school. Their build is complete with interior spaces all built
by the kids. Here's a link to the fly through: https://youtu.be/ggT6AxTtCSg

Let's take building the school to a new level and make it more efficient. If your school is like
most, the pickup and dropoff area is congested at the 2 most inconvenient times of the day.
Some classes are very far from each other. Every classroom has a ceiling full of lights perhaps
using more energy than necessary. Take some time to discuss with your kids what features
should be redesigned to make school better. When doing this activity with my students, they
designed a jet bridge for kids to cross to the other side of the street for pick up. Open the
conversation and you might be amazed at what the kids come up with.

Extension: Turn this project up a notch by presenting the possible changes to the school board.

image: Screenshot of Momilani school built by students at Momilani

Idea 9: Design a New Animal

Content: Science
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Players craft a new animal. Although the animal won't be alive in the game, players can
craft an animal that doesn't already exist. Players may want to craft an elephant, alligator or a
giraffe. Players can venture outside common animals to extinct dinosaurs like a pteranodon,
triceratops or even a trex. One of my favorites is when kids create a brand new animal that
doesn't exist anywhere. Their new animal may have ears of a hound dog, legs of an octopus
and skin like Spongebob. After the activity offer the players a chance to explain their creature
and it's habitat.

Extension: Have the kids draw their unique animal creation before attempting to create it in
game. If the kids get stuck, show images of zoo animals and encourage the kids to take a
different head, torso and tail from each.

image: Liraffepo (liongiraffehippo)
Idea 10: Calculate Cost

Content: Math
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Players build a home out of wood and calculate the cost to build that home in real life.
Players use area calculations to find the size and multiply the area by the cost. This activity can
be simplified for young learners and made more complex for advanced learners. For young
learners each block in the house might cost $1 or $2. An even simpler approach is to look at the
floor plan as an array of blocks that can be counted.

More advanced learners can figure out the cost for different materials. Stone may cost
$4 and fancy blocks like diamonds may cost $9000. This becomes increasingly complex when
using mixed materials for the floor, walls and ceiling with multiple floors and a dynamic view.
Players can set up an economy where they have to purchase the blocks to build their structure.
The teacher acts as the local governing body that collects tax.

Make up your own numbers to help it make sense for your class.

Idea 11: National Park

Content: Science, History
Time: 45 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Player’s research National Parks and recreate the iconic features in Minecraft. One of my
favorite National Parks is Yosemite in California. The most photographed spot is just outside
Yosemite valley looking towards a rock structure aptly named Halfdome. Players use online
resources to discover more about their park and create a version of that park’s features. Players
may want to recreate a version of Old Faithful in Yellowstone or the Petrified forest in Arizona.
Players don't need to recreate the park to scale but can use their creativity to craft up a
representation of the park’s features.

Extension: Extend the research project by having the kids plan a trip to their park. They should
find out the information about the park including: Name, date established, location, size of park,
number of annual visitors, as well as a description of the park. They could use Google Maps to
map out directions and figure how much it would cost in fuel to drive or how many calories
would be burned to ride a bike. Most importantly ask why the student wants to go there.

image: Biking directions to Yosemite National Park
Idea 12: Parts of a Plant

Content: Science
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Players learn and craft the parts of a plant. Plants grow in Minecraft but don't follow all the
rules. Have the kids build large models of plants to demonstrate all the parts of the plants. Be
sure they include: roots, stem, leaves, flowers, fruit/seeds, pistil/stamen and any other details
appropriate for your class. It's fun to read about the parts of the plant and then recreate an
oversized model of it in Minecraft. Offer to give the players creative space as they create the
model plant, you’ll be surprised at how Minecraft offers players the space to demonstrate their
intelligence. Players can label the parts and explain what is taking place in each part of the
plant.

Extension: Ask the players how are plants in Minecraft different than plants in the real world?

image: Top down view looking inside this huge tree with white colored roots. courtesy: Finn Scott
Idea 13: Be Inspired

Content: Any
Time: 15 min
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Show inspiring builds for any content you're working on in class. It's simple to do an
internet search for anything you're working on + minecraft. If you're looking for videos of
incredibly inspiring builds check out FyreUK channel, here's one of my favorites:
https://youtu.be/tq24xl4AB_k

While working on projects using Minecraft my students have found ingame recreations
of: Mona Lisa, Historical sites, pixel art of book characters and more. If you can dream it,
someone might have built it in Minecraft.

Extension: Print and post inspirational images around the classroom. Use the inspirational
images to encourage your students to dream bigger.

image: Screenshot of FyreUK build of Grand Central Station in New York City

Idea 14: Vocabulary

Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Use Minecraft to make vocabulary come to life. As we learn vocabulary it's helpful to
create a visual for the word. We often ask kids to draw the description of the word, but having
an ingame screenshot is much more fun. I suggest using a Google Doc to create the
vocabulary sheet.

Here's an example:
Abruptdefine, describe, create a moment in Minecraft that explains the vocabulary word
"abrupt." A player may go to the edge of a tall cliff, or even take a screenshot of the screen once
the Minecraft server has been shut off. However the player chooses to represent the picture, it's
an incredibly beneficial part of learning vocabulary.

Extension: The player can find antonyms for the word and take a screenshot of the antonym.

Example: antonym of abrupt might be gradual. The player may take a screenshot of a gradual
slope. The slope is in direct opposition to the screenshot of the cliff for the word abrupt.

Word Definition Description/Sentence Image of the word

Abrupt Sudden or I stopped as I saw
unexpected the path abruptly
drop off.

Idea 15: Word Cloud

Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Players create a group of words to represent a character from a book they’re reading. If
reading about a superhero the list of words might be: strong, tough, powerful, genius, special,
hero, energetic, optimistic, confident, fearless, cool, lovable, time travel, etc.
Players create a group of words about the character and drops them into an online word
cloud generator like wordle.com. Next the players create a representation of the word cloud
using colored blocks. Each word is a specific color, as an example: lovable=red. If the character
is very lovable the colored cloud in game would have lots of red. The cloud can take on any
shape.
Extension: Create positive language word clouds and colored representations for each student
in your class. They can selfassess or have the class pick from a list of positive words to assign
to each other.

Idea 16: Make Comparisons

Time: 15 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: In this idea players use Minecraft to compare ingame features. Try out this simple
template with your students to make comparisons. Frontload playing by sharing that they will be
making comparisons of blocks.

Template:

________ and _________ are similar because they _________ and ____________.

example: Cobblestone and Sand blocks are similar because they are meter cubed and are
readily available in game.

Extension: Contrasting. Very similar to the main activity, we'll replace the template to reflect the
contrasting exercise.
________ and _________ are different because _______ and ________.

Example: Cobblestone and Sand blocks are different because sand falls and is a different color
than Cobblestone. Sand can be mined with no tools, while cobblestone is best mined with a
pickaxe.

Cobblestone Sand
Idea 17: Craft a Giant Chair

Content: Science, Math
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: any
Idea: Technically there are no chairs in Minecraft, which leaves us the perfect opportunity to
design and craft our own chairs. Our chairs will be larger than life as we use full size blocks to
craft our creation. Like all Minecraft builds it’s helpful to have inspirational images, I suggest
doing a Google image search for 'crazy chairs' for inspiration. Encourage the players to design a
chair that they have never seen before, maybe it's something that you would find in a modern
art museum?

Extension: Build a physical version of the chair using cardboard. Have the kids write about the
person (or thing) that uses the chair they have designed.

image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al_Dente_Dining_Chairs.jpg

Idea 18: Experience Scale

Content: Math
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: In this idea players create items at different scale. Players can create anything in Minecraft
at different scales. They may want to create scale versions of their bedroom or maybe a gaming
console? If players build their room, they would measure their room (or make an estimate) then
build it at a 1:1 scale. The next build might double at 2:1 or shrink by 1:2. I suggest keeping the
scale small so it's easy to build multiple versions. A skateboard is one example, the player may
use craft the deck 10 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. To increase the scale they may double it or
go even bigger. This is a great way to get players interested in scale and fractions.

Extension: Create equations that explain the scale of their build. An example is 2:1 or 4:1. Real
skateboards vary widely in size but may be 10 inches wide and 33 inches long. As an example
a block in Minecraft is 1 meter cube which is about the length of a longboard skateboard.

Minecraft Cactus

Idea 19: Textures

Content: Science, Language Arts
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Observe the different textures of Minecraft blocks. Although all the blocks appear smooth,
the game designers programmed every block to appear to have different texture. Use
descriptive sensory words to describe the textures. Sensory word examples include: bumpy,
coarse, dimpled, edged, fuzzy, oily, mushy, sharp, slippery, metallic, etc.
Use the sensory words in a short story about exploring.

Example: Imagine you woke in the middle of a dream and your bed is blockly made with sticks
and wool. You look around and see...

Here’s a great list of sensory words consider using with your students: http://goo.gl/iIIRzv

Extension: design a new block with a unique texture, consider not making your new block
smooth.

Idea 20: Float or Sink?
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Guess which Minecraft blocks in real life would float or sink. Ask the kids to pick 3 blocks
that they think would float and 3 blocks that they think would sink. Although the blocks will sink
in game, their real life counterparts might act differently when placed in water. Challenge the
kids to find real life versions of the materials to demonstrate floating and sinking. Some of the
best items to test out are pumpkins, bread, sponge, snow and ice.
Extension: Explore density. Take a piece of metal and ask the kids if it'll float. Most will probably
guess it'll sink. Next show images of huge ships, like a container ship or a cruise ship, made of
metal and ask why the ships don't sink. Show a video about density to help explain, here's an
example: https://youtu.be/CvWrkxzCiaY

Image credit: https://goo.gl/W5Tp3u

Idea 21: Prefixes and Suffixes

Time: 45 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Learning Prefixes and Suffixes help unlock vocabulary words. For this idea players pick
from a list of Prefixes and Suffixes and find items inside Minecraft that have those Affixes. First
give the kids a list of Prefixes and Suffixes with the mission to find items or situations with those
Prefixes and Suffixes. Example: Prefix: un. The player may find a pool of water and take a
screenshot of hem underwater. Another idea is to build a simple structure and take a screenshot
of while 'undoing' (breaking) the structure.
Use the chart on the next page to help your students apply visuals to the Affixes. Here's a link to
the chart that you can share digitally with your students: https://goo.gl/KkwNAC

Prefixes and Suffixes in Minecraft
Use the following chart as you learn Prefixes and Suffixes. Prefixes and Suffixes are
affixes that are attached to the root of a word to create a new word. Choose from this
list of most common Prefixes and Suffixes:
List of the most common Prefixes and Suffixes:
Prefix Prefix sample word Suffix Suffix sample word
un- unbelievable -s, -es foxes
re- reunion -ed jumped
in- interest -ing running
dis- disconnect -ly quickly
en-, em- embed -er runner
non- nondescript -ion, -tion caption
in- involve -ible, -able believable
tri- tricycle -al, -ial denial
mis- mischief -y jolly
Choose 6 Prefixes and 6 Suffixes, add the Prefix and/or Suffix to the
root, then take a screenshot in Minecraft of an example of the word.
Prefix or New Word Minecraft Screenshot of Word Example Pic

Suffix
Example: running Screenshot of Minecraft player running

-ing

Idea 22: Animal Behavior

Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Let the students play in game for about 15 minutes. During the 15 minutes players pick an
ingame animal and watch its behavior. Encourage the players to experiment with feeding,
riding, taming and other actions to watch the animals behavior. Students record the animal’s
behavioral response with each of the actions. Use the table on the next page to record the
results. Outside the game the students research real life versions of their animal to learn more
about the real life animal’s behaviors.
Here's a list of animals (passive mobs) inside of Minecraft:
Cow, Mooshroom, sheep, chicken, fish, squid, pig, horse, donkey, mule, bat, rabbit, sheep,
villager, cave spider, ocelot/cat, wolf/dog.
Your Minecraftloving kids will recognize this list is incomplete. For the purpose of this idea
we're sticking with passive mobs that have a closely related real life counterpart.

Here's a printable that should help your kids with this Minecraft idea: https://goo.gl/mXT3nS

Minecraft and Real Life Animal Behavior

Your Minecraft Animal:__________________________
In-game experiment
How does the Minecraft animal react Describe the animal’s reaction
when:
You try to feed it?
You try to tame it?
You try to put a fence around it?
You try to make it follow you?
It interacts with water?
Make your own experiment…..
Make your own experiment…..
Next, compare your Minecraft animal to the animal in real life
Question Minecraft Animal Real Life Animal
How are they born?
What do they eat?
What type of habitat do

they live in?
Which real life animals are

closely related?
Your Question...
-What are the differences between the Minecraft animal and their real life version?
-What are the similarities between the Minecraft animal and their real life version?

Idea 23: Shapes

Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Although it may seem impossible to make any shape in Minecraft other than a box, with a
little creative work we can push the boundaries. Start this idea by asking kids if it's possible to
make a circle or a sphere in Minecraft. Next show them the images on this idea. The round
shape is made as the Minecraft build grows in size.
Go to http://www.plotz.co.uk/ to help you and your students craft up some new shapes in
Minecraft.
Extension: Research more shapes and figure out how to recreate them inside of Minecraft.
Idea 24: Automation

Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Best on PC/Mac Version of Minecraft
Idea: If using a PC/Mac version of Minecraft (Minecraft or MinecraftEDU as an example) your
students have unlimited access to the best Redstone features in Minecraft. Redstone is a block
that acts like an electrical wire.
All a player needs is something to activate the Redstone wire, like a Redstone torch, to
automate items in Minecraft.
For the PC/Mac version of Minecraft your students should build an automated door. Here's a
super helpful tutorial on how to build an automated door: https://youtu.be/0rLD5nCJXII

If using any other version of Minecraft (MinecraftPE, console or other) your access to Redstone
may be limited. In this case your players should start by creating an ultimate automated roller
coaster.

The depth of Redstone automation goes way beyond this quick idea, if you or your kids are
interested do a YouTube search for Minecraft Redstone creations. Be ready to be surprised.
Extension: Experiment with different configurations of Redstone. Figure out how far the
Redstone can be powered by one Redstone torch.

Look under an automatic door using Redstone to see how it works.
Idea 25: Craft Your Partner’s Dream Home

Content: Language Arts, Science
Time: 45 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: any
Idea: It's easy to craft a dream home for yourself, in this idea you'll craft a dream home for
another person.
You'll need to ask several questions before crafting a home. The answers to the questions will
help you make decisions about type, location, and design of the home.

Question 1: Do you prefer desert, mountain, water, trees, airplane or submarines? Your
partner's answer to this question will give you an idea of where to build the dream home.

Question 2: How many people will live with you in your dream home? This will give you an idea
of how big to make the house and how many rooms to include.

Question 3: What are 2 or 3 of your favorite colors? Use their answer to decide on the look and
feel of the interior and exterior of the home.

Question 4: If you had to choose would you rather be cold or hot? Their answer to this question
may help with the colors and size of the house. A castle is dark, large and feels cold. An
apartment is warm and snug.

Next use the answers and put your own ideas on what would make the perfect dream home for
your partner.

Extension: Watch old episodes from HGTV's show Dream Home. Mostly because it's fun to
watch.

Idea 26: Ultimate Dog House

Content: Language Arts, Math
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: It's fun to build a house for yourself or a friend and even more fun to build a house for
man's best friend. Some dogs sleep outside, while others love to snuggle on their human's bed.
In this idea you get to craft the ultimate house for your dog (or cat).
Before building make a list of what dog's need in their home and a list of things dog's
would want in their home. A dog's needs might include: access to water and food, warm bed, a
place to run. A dog's ultimate dream house might include a huge TV with cats it can chase.
Maybe your dog is like the famous Clifford the big red dog who needs a massive house or a tiny
Chihuahua that prefers a small space. Our dog loves a soft place near the front room window to
keep an eye on the neighborhood.

Extension: Draw the dream house on paper, then build a model of it out of materials you
have available.

Idea 27: Story Scene

Content area: Language arts, History, Humanities
Time: 45 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: There’s a fun minigame that many Minecraft players have played online based on the
book Hunger Games.
In this idea we'll take an idea from a book and recreate the scene. Players can make this as in
depth as they like, I suggest starting small. Pick a part of a book they are reading and create the
scene in Minecraft. The player should create one scene, it’s easiest if that scene can be
captured in one screenshot. Some of your players are going to want to do more by creating a
story path, where other players can walk down the path to experience the story. I’m always
impressed by the comprehension students demonstrate when recreating a scene from a book
they have read.
Extension: Bring in some history to your class by encouraging the players to pick a historical
event or any nonfiction book.

Idea 28: How Many Mobs?

Content: Math
Time: 30 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: There are passive and hostile mobs in Minecraft. Passive mobs include: pigs, cows,
sheep, chickens, squid, fish, etc. Hostile mobs include: creepers, zombies, zombie pigmen,
endermen, spiders, witches, etc.
Minecraft has a day and night cycle. Passive mobs can be found during both day and night
while hostile mobs come out at night. Depending on your comfort level you can set this up for
players to keep track of passive mobs or hostile mobs. If playing in creative mode the players
cannot die from hostile mobs. In my experience kids love the thrill of encountering hostile mobs.

Use the table to help your students keep track of their encounters with mobs. After the players
go through a day and night cycle chart the numbers of mobs encountered on the board.

Extension: Turn this into more a math lesson by asking the kids to use different types of plot
chart or include the area where the mob was encountered.

How Many Mobs Chart

Place a tally mark in either the day or night column for every hostile mob you encounter.
Hostile Mob Day Night
Creeper
Zombie
Spider or Cave Spider
Skeleton
Slime
Enderman
Witch
Other...

Place a tally mark in either the day or night column for every passive mob you encounter.
Passive Mob Day Night
Pig
Cow
Sheep
Squid
Chicken
Mooshroom
Bat
Other...
Idea 29: Pixel Art

Content: All
Time: 45 Minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative
Device: Any
Idea: Pixel art is a fun way to build art inside of Minecraft. Imagine that each block in Minecraft
is a square on a piece of graph paper. Players take a piece of graph paper and color in squares
to draw any image. Players can pick a character from a book, history, or game (I find lots of
players enjoy making Pokemon pixel art).
This activity can be very challenging for some players, I know I have a hard time. Players color
squares on graph paper, but when it comes time to build the art in the game it can become very
difficult. If it is difficult for your players, suggest they start with creating a pixel art version of a
Minecraft tool like the pickaxe or sword.
Pixel art can be built vertically or horizontally. This activity works with any content area as the art
of choice can be related to any content. Players can craft huge math problems, science
experiments, historical figures, story characters, sports figures and anything else.

Extension: If players need additional inspiration for their pixel art. Encourage them to do a
web search for Minecraft pixel art to find more images and ideas.


Idea 30: Ask the Players

Content: All
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 713
Gamemode: Creative or Survival
Device: Any
Idea: Ask the players how they might use Minecraft in your class. I've gotten incredible ideas
from kids. Don't expect the kids to have ideas on how to connect Minecraft with education. It's
likely that most of their time playing the game was outside of school. They have been trained on
how to use Minecraft outside of school.

Phrase the question: How might we use Minecraft to demonstrate our learning of (insert learning
goal/standard here)?
Extension: set up a project management process that helps the kids manage their own time.
Break down the project into 30 minute chunks. Kids write each of those chunks on a post it and
post it on a wall as their 'todo' list.

More Resources

❏ minecraftercamp.com
❏ Minecraft in the Classroom Edited by Colin Gallagher
❏ Minecraft Teachers Google Group
❏ education.minecraft.net
❏ MinecraftEDU

Thanks!

Thank you so much for purchasing this Minecraft Ideas booklet. If I can help you bring Minecraft
to your classroom please let me know. We have lots of FREE resources on our website:
minecraftercamp.com
We train teachers how to use Minecraft effectively with students.

I’m available to help any time,

Chris Scott
8058632381
cscottsy@gmail.com

Minecraft: 30 No Prep

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Title Description XP Signed

Random Do a random act of kindness. 250

Fill the Add useful items to another player’s hopper. 200

Save Them! Save someone from a hostile mob. 100

Positive Send a positive message through chat. 50

Help Them! Help someone. Unlimited!!! 50x

Help Help someone use teleport commands. 100

Solve it! Solve a problem for or with someone else. 100

Decorate Decorate another person’s yard with flowers. 50

Trade Make a fair trade with another player. 50

Diamond tool: 250

Diamond armor: 1000

Brewing stand: 2000

Any hard to get item: 500

Be teleported somewhere: 300

List of the most common Prefixes and Suffixes:

Prefix Prefix sample word Suffix Suffix sample word

un- unbelievable -s, -es foxes

re- reunion -ed jumped

in- interest -ing running

dis- disconnect -ly quickly

en-, em- embed -er runner

non- nondescript -ion, -tion caption

in- involve -ible, -able believable

tri- tricycle -al, -ial denial

mis- mischief -y jolly

Prefix or New Word Minecraft Screenshot of Word Example Pic

Example: runn​ing Screenshot of Minecraft player running

You try to feed it?

You try to tame it?

You try to put a fence around it?

You try to make it follow you?

It interacts with water?

Make your own experiment…..

Make your own experiment…..

How are they born?

What do they eat?

What type of habitat do

Which real life animals are

You might also like

Example: running Screenshot of Minecraft player running