Minecraft Camp Returns To Young

After a huge success at last year’s event, Minecraft Camp will return to Young on Friday, July 8.

Despite having to postpone the original visit to Young due to COVID, 70 children attended the Minecraft Camp in November last year.

Minecraft mentor, Noelene Callaghan said the children were absolutely fantastic. “They were so creative, insightful and their builds were much more superior than I have seen so far in other camps,” Ms Callaghan said.

“Our curriculum is different this year and students will be completing a very different set of activities. We will, however, have the same amount of fun throughout the day.”

Ms Callaghan said that they were looking at accommodating 50 students this year, a little less than last year. The smaller group size will allow them to do more work collaboratively. The main question Ms Callaghan said they receive from their students is if they can play PVP (Player Versus Player).

“This means students will play against each other in the one world to the point where there is a player,” she said. “We don’t use PVP as we don’t play games. We are purely educational - that is fun educational.”

Of course, that leads on to the types of questions that parents tend to ask. “There are two common questions that I receive from parents,” Ms Callaghan said.

“The first is what version of Minecraft does their child need. Any version is fine - whether it be Education, Bedrock, Java, etc. You don’t need to go out and buy anything new.”

“The other question is what device does my child need? Anything that is portable, such as an iPad, Tablet, phone, laptop, Nintendo DS, and the list goes on. There is no need to purchase anything new. We will also provide wifi on the day, so there is no need to worry about that.”

The Minecraft Camps also accommodate students with special needs (ASD and ADHD) and students who are gifted and talented. If you aren’t quite sure whether or not to send your child to Minecraft Camp, Ms Callaghan said there were definite benefits for you to consider.

“There are so many benefits for children to attend an event such as Minecraft Camp,” she said. “Typically, the students who are attracted to games such as Minecraft have limited social skills, so there is real value in helping our students find new friends and develop those skills as needed.” “Academically, Minecraft Camp has so many educational benefits, namely in literacy and maths as the way in which the student engages with the game requires these skills to build. We also teach code throughout the day and have our students complete a challenge based on that code.”

Coding is becoming a key skill that all children need to learn. Who knows, they may become an AI (artificial intelligence) inventor or play a key role in developing new processes, systems or techs in the future. Spaces do not last long for these camps, so get in quick. Creative Kids Vouchers can be used for the camps, making it a free day of fun.

Minecraft Camp will be at Young PCYC from 9 am to 4 pm on Friday, July 8.

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