In case you’ve been stuck in an attic for the past five years, Minecraft is an online world that you can build, create and control all on your own.

Never heard of it? Here are some FAQs.

1. What is Minecraft? What do I need to play? Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks, that you play on your Mac or Windows computer. You need an Internet connection, and parent’s permission. In this Washington Post story, you learn that it was made 2009, by the Swedish company called Mojang.

2. How much does it cost? There are two versions: classic and beta. Classic is more creative and free to use, while beta is the paid version ($27) with the adventure/survival modes. You can register at https://minecraft.net/. Make sure you read http://bit.ly/1k4kpQV to learn how to survive your first night online.

3. What is a Minecraft block? At http://bit.ly/1lxgI1H you can read about this basic unit of play. Blocks can be made of just about anything — like dirt, wood or stone or you can make your own.

4. Help! I’ve come across a mob! What do I do? Mobs can be nice or mean. At http://bit.ly/JrYjaH can learn how to tell the difference. Check out http://bit.ly/19Ewp1E to see what the dangerous mobs are like, and how to beat them.

5. How does Minecraft end? Minecraft never ends, however, there is a way to ‘beat the game.’ We found a link at http://bit.ly/1hSBIQC that gives you step-by-step directions.

6. What do Minecraft and Great Britain have in common? At http://bit.ly/JrYzXk you can visit a version of a part of Great Britain that somebody made using 22 billion Minecraft blocks.

Application:

1. Minecraft is best for ages 8-up. But we found blog that lists ideas for younger kids, that include taming a pet or building a house, at http://bit.ly/JHP9qa.

2. Print some blueprints to make some Minecraft products, at http://bit.ly/1d47NAQ.  You’ll also need scissors and tape.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Download this column as a one page PDF

We’ve all seen, and certainly stepped on, those famous sharp cornered LEGO blocks. But where did they come from, and what can you make with them? Let’s test your brain, with some LEGO trivia.

1. True or False: The first plastic inter-locking brick was made in Denmark. The answer is False according to http://www.hilarypagetoys.com, where you can learn the about an English toy inventer named Hillary Page who designed a self locking brick (right) nine years earlier than the first LEGO.

2. Are LEGOs based on the English or Metric system?  According to http://bit.ly/11VmmBP the Danish version is based on the metric system. Hillary Page’s design was English based.

3. What does the word “lego” mean? At Neatorama.com http://bit.ly/10IsKde you learn that “lego” is made from two Danish words leg (play) and godt (well). If you take the first two letters from each world, you have lego, a word that is nearly always spelled in capital letters. Interestingly the Latin translation means “I put together”.

4. What is the biggest thing ever made with LEGOs? At www.geeknaut.com http://bit.ly/10wEHZp you can see a 102 foot tower made of 500,000 LEGOs. You can also see a LEGO printer, a full sized car and an iPhone.

5. LEGOs are made of plastic. But what kind of plastic?  At 3D Printing for Beginners http://bit.ly/10wUa6T you can learn that LEGOs are made of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene or ABS for short. It is a material that is strong and resilient but it is not biodegradable.

6. How many LEGOs are there?   At http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/megafactories/lego-facts.aspx you can learn that about 400 billion LEGO blocks have been produced since 1949, about 1140 per second. If all the LEGO bricks were to be divided equally among a world population of six billion, each person would have 62.

7. How Strong are LEGOs? Said another way, if you stacked LEGOs on top of one another, how tall could you make the stack before the LEGO on the bottom crumbles? According to a study reported in the BBC http://bbc.in/12lpWFU the tower would have to be 375,000 bricks to cause the bottom brick to collapse, which represents a stack 11,781 ft tall. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall. That’s 9.4 Empire State Buildings!

8. What is the most expensive lego? At CNET http://cnet.co/YISl so you can see a photo of a single LEGO brick worth $14,500 dollars, up for auction at www.brickenvy.com. It’s made of solid gold, and was given to a valuable employee who obviously thought that $14,500 would be better.

APPLICATIONS

1. Make a LEGO Maze for your car. Make sure you include turns and dead ends.

2. Make a lego photo frame.

Remember to make a pyramid shaped holder using Lego blocks on the back so your frame stand up, and use colors to compliment your photo. You can glue your LEGOs together with plastic cement (commonly called model glue). According to, http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Immortalize_Your_Lego_Creations, Crazy glue works well.

———————————————————————————————————————————————— LittleClickers.com (this page and the associated web site) is sponsored by Computer Explorers. Neither Children’s Technology Review (publisher of LittleClickers) or Computer Explorers has any vested interest in any of the sites listed on this page. Librarians and teachers are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To report a bad link, use this form, or contact us. Copyright 2018, Children's Technology Review.

Cyberchase Tangrams

At the PBS Kids Cyberchase site, Tangrams is our favorite game. By moving shape tiles around you can copy designs and make buildings and creatures. All it takes is a keen eye and steady hand. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/math-games/

Crossword Puzzle Maker

At this handy site, you can quickly and easily make your own crossword puzzles to print out. Just enter your words and clues and the site makes the blank crossword and even an answer sheet, too. You can make puzzles to study with, or just for fun; see if you can stump your mom or dad! http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp

GAME DESIGNER?

What do you want to be when you grow up? How about a game designer?
If this sounds right for you, here are some steps to prepare yourself, right now.

STEP 1. Play a lot of games!

According to experienced designers, like Elliot Olson of THQ (video, top right), play a wide variety of games on a lot of different platforms. Start keeping track of the things you like don’t like. Ask, “If I was going to redesign this game, what would I do differently?”

Also, watch our interview with Sam Roberts, Festival Director of IndieCade (International Festival of Independent Games) during E3 2010, discussing what types of games he feels are good for kids.”

STEP 2. Do well in school.

Guess what?  Being a game designer means being good at things, like art, music, math, and reading. Listen to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak describe a programming job, and you can see how math, problem-solving, and creativity mix together in programming.

Also watch and learn how education influenced different designers. Marc ten Bosch  has three different college degrees, and you can see how his education influenced the game he designed.

The team at Duck Duck Moose, who makes children’s apps, has wonderful cello music. That’s because one of the members of the design team has a music degree.

STEP 3. Start programming!

Or we could say, Scratching. Scratch is a free computer language that you can download, for either Mac or Windows computers. First, go to http://scratch.mit.edu and download the program. Next, watch the tutorial videos, to teach yourself the basics, like how to make a sprite move. See http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Video_Tutorials.

You can also program with regular game hardware. For the Nintendo DSi, use Flipnote Studio (http://bit.ly/bkvhME) to learn about animation, or visit Kerpoof (http://www.kerpoof.com) to program some stories. For the PS3, get a copy of LittleBigPlanet (http://bit.ly/b7Em7g), and for the Xbox 360, try Kodo (http://bit.ly/2k5Iph).

STEP 4: Publish an App!

Ready to start making money? Make an app for the either Apple or Android devices. Here’s how. For iPhones and iPod Touches, you’ll need a Macintosh and the Software Development Kit ($100, from http://developer.apple.com/ipad/sdk/ or free for universities). Use App Inventor for Android ($free, Google from http://bit.ly/cEJYBy) to make — and possibly sell — an app for Android phones. Next, start watching videos. Listen to how one artist/mathematician (video, top right) learned how to program by watching YouTube videos made by middle schoolers.

So what are you waiting for?  “Just do it!” said Jeremiah Slaczka, who made Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS.

Jeff Braun, who started Maxis, and helped Will Wright publish SimCity, would agree. “Believe in yourself, and never take, ‘It won’t succeed’, for an answer.”

Quiz: If you want to be a game designer, which school subjects are the most important?  (Check all that apply.)

SCHOOL SUBJECTS:
o Art
o Science
o Writing & Language Arts
o Math
o Reading, Honors Literature
o Spelling
o Music and the fine arts
o Sports

HOBBIES & OTHER SKILLS:
o Ability to work with others
o Programming (C++)
o Building models
o Playing a wide variety of video games
o Reviewing apps and games, and picking them apart to find out what bothers you.

Did you check every single box? You should have, because making and selling video games uses a diverse set of skills, and you’ll be in a better position if you have a well-rounded education. It also helps to have experience with sports, art, and/or music. For example, if you love baseball, you’ll be in a much better position to create an accurate baseball simulation.

You also need to be able to work with others. Games are often designed by multi-national teams, so being able to take other people’s perspectives and communicate clearly is very important. Finally, remember that game design is not very fun or romantic. You might get stuck animating a game for weeks at a time. There’s also a lot of failure that you might have to experience before you have success. As Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun says, “never underestimate the value of persistence.”

Game Designer Videos

Visit Children’s Technology Review’s playlist , to view 17 select YouTube videos that deal with famous programmers of game designers.