Minecraft is Where Learning is Happening

Minecraft is not only creating youtubers: its creating movie makers, storytellers and turning every kid into a teacher, with skills in programming, English, chemistry, physics, biology, math, geography, history and engineering.

Today, against my best judgment, I sat with my hypnotized kids to find out why these YouTubers playing Minecraft are so mesmerizing.

I have to say, I can’t stand them.

They’re too loud, their voices are annoying, and they constantly jump from one thing to another. The list goes on… But I can’t help noticing my kids’ legitimate interest—and their ability, in contradiction to almost everything else they do, to sit still and stay focused for over an hour. They can’t even watch a movie at home for that long—not even the ones made for them by the biggest studios.

Maybe it was because we even went to see the Minecraft movie last week — like half the world. Released on April 4, it became an instant blockbuster, grossing $157 million in its opening weekend in the U.S. and $301 million globally.

My legitimate interest paid off: I learned something. They’re not just watching someone play a game: they’re watching a movie.

And those YouTubers? They’re not just promoters or gamers. They’re movie makers!

These kids are building full narratives—complex, absurd, and creative. They start with story: introducing characters, creating plots, adding allies and obstacles. Then they move into production: building worlds block by block, designing scenes, editing timelines. Finally, they publish—recording, narrating, and sharing their work on YouTube. They’re writers, directors, digital construction crew, editors, and distributors—all in one.

I was already impressed with Minecraft. When my son was four, he knew more about physics and chemistry, at least at a practical level, than many older students. He’d say things like, “This block is harder than that one. If you want to build this, use that. To break this, you need that other one.” He was learning about material properties and atomic structure through play. It doesn’t matter that obsidian doesn’t exist in the real world: if he understands that diamond is harder than rock, he will later connect that to real-world knowledge.

Minecraft seems to be, without even trying, everything I once hoped to build as an educator. 

It’s a simple, audiovisual, amazing world builder: a fixed format which releases the mind to create. It offers endless possibilities within a clear set of rules: fantastical realism. It lets children experiment — punching, hitting, exploding, jumping, flying, even killing — without risking their, or others, physical safety. It’s a simulation engine for trial and error, for exploring cause and effect.

It’s play and work at once, just like Domenico de Masi’s concept of 'creative leisure'. Entertainment first, education whenever possible. It works!

Recently, we turned a homework assignment—about the habits, food, clothing, and practices of an African culture—into something actually engaging. The topic wasn’t sparking much interest at first. So instead, we built a Minecraft Zulu figure, complete with traditional clothing and food, using ChatGPT for guidance. I’m not sure it was exactly what the teacher had in mind, but it became fun, visual, interactive, and collaborative. And now they know.

I’m realizing that my job as a father is not so different from what I once understood to be my job as a teacher. It’s not to tell them what to learn. I getting that I don’t get to decide when they’re “ready.” My job is to be present and genuinely interested in what’s happening to them. To ask: Are you okay with this content? How does this make you feel? My role is to help them navigate, not to control. To help them build criteria (something I once learned from Luli Radfahrer and will never forget).

It’s not about how to learn either. If they want to learn through Minecraft, my job is to support it. In that process, I’m slowly losing the fear that video games or TikTok (that will probably not going to exist in 10 years) are going to melt my kids’ brains. What actually melts brains is propaganda — political, ideological, religious, moral.

Minecraft, and games like PKXD, are not that. They are world-builders! And they are teaching each other how to build the world. Peer to peer. 

The result is always the same: education. Real, authentic, enjoyable, safe learning. The kind that sticks.

When I first signed them up for the Minecraft programming workshop every Saturday morning, I just hoped they’d channel their addiction into something useful. It seemed like a cool idea—and I wanted to encourage it. But now I think it’s not enough.

There should be a whole Minecraft meta-school. A place where every subject is taught through Minecraft. Let the YouTuber kids become teachers. Ask them to build a mod to explain gravity. Create a biome that tells the story of the French Revolution. Simulate climate change on a server. Code NPCs that act out historical conflicts. Design quests that require solving math problems. Program redstone machines that teach logic and circuitry. Build a multiplayer economy that models real-world trade. Use in-game chat prompts to spark writing, dialogue, and diplomacy.

A school made of blocks: peer-led, play-driven, grounded in reality. Global. Fun.

A mix of Coursera, Khan Academy, and Kepler (the Rwandan NGO that grants extremely low-cost degrees by bringing students together in physical spaces with mentors while they take online courses from global platforms).

Wait…
What if I really do this?