Almost seamless today! We have large groups (up to 8 campers) working in the same servers to create and survive in their Minecraft worlds. Although there were some conflicts at the start, campers found that by cooperating with each other and sharing resources, things worked much better.

Today's build challenge was to create a famous landmark, either real or fictional. Some examples given were the Seattle Space Needle, the Statue of Liberty, Hogwarts Castle, and McDonald's. For tomorrow's challenge, we are asking campers for their ideas for building challenges. We have asked campers to post screenshots to the Padlet daily, so if you aren't seeing anything from your child, you may want to ask them why. We aren't forcing the build challenges, as we want camp to be enjoyable for each individual camper, but the challenges do offer a more enriching experience, and many campers are working together on the builds, which helps them develop the very important 21st century skill of collaboration.

An example of a multiplayer game

Everyone successfully logged in by 9 am today - hooray!

Today we spent the bulk of our time playing multiplayer games in both Realms and LAN servers. Campers worked together (often yelling directions to each other across the room - "We need more wood", "Go kill some sheep") within the multiplayer settings to both create and survive. One of my favorite camper quotes regarding this today was "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!" I'm not really sure what the camper was looking at, but it was something another camper had built.

Our build challenge today was "The 8th Wonder of the World". Campers could basically build what they wanted that they would consider a wonder of the world. We'll post screenshots on the Padlet when buildings are complete. Favorite quote about this project: "I'm going to build the Mexican wall!"

Go HERE to see our awesome creations!

Well, yesterday's technical issues have seemed to follow us into Day 2! It appears that this log-in issue is a problem on Mojang's end (the company that developed Minecraft). I have sent them several emails - if you used your email for your child's account, you may get an email back from them. Of course, they do not have a customer service phone number, and so we must wait for email responses. We have found some work- arounds that seem to help, and we apologize that things aren't going smoothly. Unfortunately, these issues are beyond our control, and we continue to troubleshoot so that your children can have a fun experience. We have successfully gotten all campers onto Minecraft today!

To start camp today, we had a group meeting and created some norms for the week. They are as follows:

• No griefing - this means no burning, breaking, bombing, or raiding other people's creations.
• Agree to PVP (Player vs. Player)
• No lag machines (this creation slows the game down)

Today we posed a building challenge to campers. They had a choice between building their dream tree house, or an underwater base. One camper suggested a combination of the two! We are enjoying watching their creativity and problem solving skills, as well as their collaboration skills as they work together and teach each other how to do things.

We will have campers take screenshots of their creations, and post them on a site called Padlet. I'll include a link on this blog once we've posted some pictures, so you can see what they are working on.

Hello Parents and Minecraft Campers,

This week we hope you will have lots of fun surviving and creating with your fellow campers. In addition to free play in the Realms, we will be posing a challenge for each of you to complete each day. Challenges will be posted AFTER camp each day for parents to see (so campers don't get a head start!)

If you have purchased a pocket addition account, you will need to bring your own device to camp (we do have 2 iPads and 2 Android phones available here if needed), and a charger cord if your battery life is less than 3.5 hours.

**Please note that we do have several campers with peanut/tree nut allergies. We will have a nut-free table for snack time.**

Minecraft Basics (Thanks to connectedcamps.com!)

The name Minecraft comes from the game’s main roles, digging (mining) and building (crafting). It is a first-person ‘sandbox game,’ meaning gamers make their own experience and world within the game. Those worlds and experiences are based totally on the gamers’ imaginations. Kids can build famous landmarks (i.e. Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower) movie scenes (i.e. Star Wars or Harry Potter), or anything else they can dream up with the 3D blocks that are Minecraft’s trademark. Players can create individually or as a group, and even when working alone, Minecraft allows for conversation amongst other players on the same server.

There are several modes you can play in Minecraft. We will be focusing on Survival and Creative.

In Survival Mode, gamers are dropped randomly into a world at dawn. They have 10-20 real-time minutes to gather resources, assemble shelter, and find food to survive. When darkness falls, they also have to battle monsters and mobs.

In Creative Mode, players can’t die and are given an infinite number of blocks to build with. The players don’t have to worry about getting hungry or hurt in this mood either. In this mode, players can more easily create massive structures.

We are looking forward to meeting all of you!

Ms. B (Renee Barrett) and Mr. L (Shaun Langevin)