Minecraft Library Club
Aim:
To engage and encourage young people to read through the popular video
game Minecraft.
Minecraft is an open world game with creative and building aspects that allow
players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally
generated world. Other activities in the game include exploration, gathering
resources, crafting, and combat. Gameplay in its commercial release has two
principal modes: survival, which requires players to acquire resources and
maintain their health and hunger; and creative, where players have an
unlimited supply of resources, the ability to fly, and no health or hunger.
Using the creative mode, young people can use Minecraft to bring their
favourite books to life!
Sessions:
Suggested running time: 1hr 30mins
First Hour – Build a scene or a structure from a book that you are
reading
Ask the young people to select a passage from a book that they have
particularly enjoyed, and then challenge them to recreate it in Minecraft using
the creative mode.
For example:
“Harry had never even
imagined such a strange and
splendid place. It was lit by
thousands and thousands of
candles that were floating in
midair over four long tables,
where the rest of the
students were sitting. These
tables were laid with
glittering golden plates and
goblets. At the top of the hall
was another long table
where the teachers were
sitting [...] The hundreds of
faces staring at them looked
like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight [..] Harry looked upward and saw
a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's
bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History" It
was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall
didn't simply open on to the heavens." —Description of the Great Hall, Harry
Potter.
Ask the young people to take screen shots or videos of their creations which
can then be added to the library’s website and social media sites, along with
their chosen book passage, to attract new members to the group.
Final 30 minutes – Free time
Allow the young people to explore each other’s creations, have a play in
survival mode and choose a new book to read and bring to life at the next club
session.
Your library will need:
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Computers with Java OR ipads
Individual Minecraft licences and registrations (licences are £17.95 per
PC and available to purchase online https://minecraft.net/store.
Alternatively the ipad app costs £4.99)
Books
Young People!
Beginners’ tutorials can be found here: https://minecraft.net/game/howtoplay
Based on a work at https://jamestburling.com/minecraft-summer-reading/