Teaching Kids to Program Using Minecraft

This page is about helping kids or teens to learn to program using popular Minecraft game.

There's two ways to get kids started; the first is almost programming which is completely within the Minecraft game itself.  There's a limited ability to "program" using something called Redstone.

The other way, with proper programming, is writing "mods".  A mod is an addition to the game that changes the way it works.

I'll go into a little detail on each below.

Redstone

Redstone is a bit like electricity in Minecraft, it lets you do basic circuits that control the game; people have built sophisticated things like calculators using Redstone, but kids can do simple things like trapdoors that open when you step on a specific square.

Mods

Mods are usually written in Java, but there are add-ins that let you write using Python and JavaScript.  The most popular modding framework is called Forge.

    Books on Modding and Using Redstone

    There are a good selection of books on Minecraft modding and circuits.

               

    Minecraft Modding Resources Suitable for Children

     EnvironmentNotes 
    LearnToMod

    Very easy to use site for getting kids going with modding.  Great set of tutorials taking them through from the beginning.

    They can either use Blockly (a visual programming system) or JavaScript.

    Note this is a for-pay service, when I checked it was $29/year.

     ForgeThis is the framework most people use for modding Minecraft, but you'll need help getting going. Check out the basic modding tutorial.


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