Minecraft Lego in Our Homeschool
My kids have always loved Minecraft and playing with Minecraft Lego is no exception, we just love it! In fact, we love most anything related to the game Minecraft and we have used the game on the computer and the WiiU over the years to encourage learning, such as Spelling in Minecraft, teamwork, creating and using your imagination, learning some survival skill concepts, and building houses and mining for ores. (Don't forget, fighting zombies too!)I have recently spread out the learning with Minecraft for my kids with my most recent printable, a Minecraft Counting Book which you can Download NOW in the subscribers-only area! My boys love it and it's getting them both reading, counting, and coloring.
And we recently got the boys two Minecraft LEGO Sets as a reward for the work they have done up until now, and to encourage a bit of seat work, in a way. My 6-year-old really loved this idea, and he took a couple days putting together his set mostly by himself, which is a huge change from him needing me every step of the way.
Playing with Lego sets are great for following directions, fine motor skills + building patience.
I just love to see them interested and focused on building! Sitting there intently searching for the right piece that they need, turning the page to the next set of instructions, seeing the work they have created. And then all the joys of imaginative play that follows with them is just really wonderful. This adds to a good homeschool day and makes a fun end to a good week.
Going to the Store was Half of the Lesson
I'm sure many of you with kids would agree that going to a store can be a nightmare, right? Well, this time, because the kids had been doing well with their school work, and playing together nicely, I wanted to use this time as both a reward and as a learning tool for them.
We arrived at Toys R us, and I asked them to tell me what the rules were, and they told me 'be nice, find one thing, and have fun', Ok great, let's go! The boys got to test out a Nintendo Switch, which they have been interested in since Christmas, but patiently waiting to someday get one (Connor has begun saving up his own money for this, which I am proud of).
When they finally figured out what they wanted, we reached the till with the three little carts in tow, each child with their own precious toy of their own choosing, (only one) and they placed their purchases on the counter one by one, chatting ever so nicely with the cashier lady about what they had found, and why they loved it so much. Then they proceeded to stack the carts on top of each other after I stacked the first, and my oldest offered to take them back to where they had to go.
I was happy it was going quite well, and we paid for it all. Then the cashier said the nicest thing, I think I have ever heard, "Your children are so well behaved." I was totally shocked, however, because it does not normally go so smoothly with all three kids, not in the past anyhow. But for some reason, it did go well, and they were brilliant. I could not stop smiling, and I replied: "Thank you, we homeschool." And that really cool, it was a good sign that this lesson may have just paid off.
These are the moments when I pause and tell my children how impressed I am with them and give them positive praise about it. It was a precious moment, and a good momma-love moment too. Sure, they did just get a toy they wanted, but they were incredibly reasonable, curious and polite and if they had not been, well they knew what would have happened. A car ride home empty-handed.
I suppose I have been switching up some of my parenting methods too, ever since I took part in the Homeschool Summits Fitting It All In Conference, it was just great and has helped me look at things differently and I see a lot of positive change in us all. I would recommend this to anyone, go and check them out, if you have not heard of them before.
Where do we store the Minecraft Lego Sets when the playing is over?
So, we store the Lego sets in their school drawers, as we are using the Work-Box System right now, and hope to include them in our school day for a fun brain-break and play time. We will see how this plays out in the following weeks, as we do switch up the contents of the drawers often (and if you have been following me for any length of time, you may have noticed that I like to change things up a lot).Here are a couple pictures of Logan's drawers (my 4-year-old). He absolutely loves the workbox system. This plastic drawer unit that we found at Walmart for around 30$, or try this one. This unit has come in very handy for him and the projects he has on the go. I hope to smash out another post in the near future about my kids work-box drawers because these are working really good for us lately.
Do any of you use Minecraft Lego Sets in your Homeschool?
If so, comment and let me know which ones your kids love and why! I would love to know. The Minecraft Lego Sets that we bought the boys were, The Polar Building Set and The Nether Portal Building Set. They are really great sets because I found that the boys just played and played with each other, with them together side by side, or on their own.Each set is very fun and interactive, such as the igloo top can be lifted up, there are chests to store their fish and weapons and the Minecraft cart rides straight through the nether portal door. Super cool! All in all, these were really good purchases, and we found days and days worth of screen-free play time with them, so if you are looking for a Minecraft Lego Set, for your kiddos, I would recommend these for sure!Till next time,Breath deeply and build your masterpiece,Alexandra
If you enjoyed this post, here are some other posts you may enjoy also:
Minecraft Counting Book
Our Free Trial with BrainPOP
Minecraft Guided Reading Unit Level B + C