Minecraft?

[SnarfleThree]

DS(9) has ADHD and ASD, he has point blank refused any summer clubs and is rarely invited out with other children. I try and encompass one thing a day to get us out of the house but that still gives us a lot of time to fill.

He has a tablet which is time restricted as he would meltdown if it was taken off him. He cannot play it early in the morning or late at night.

I was thinking about putting Minecraft on for him to play but I worry about it becoming the only thing he wants to do but also it’s hard having him at home all summer because he spends a lot of time talking at you, rather than to you.

Is Minecraft a safe game?

Also, can it be played offline?

Minecraft is a great game. Very safe. And can be played offline yes.

My son has ASD and ADHD. He loves Minecraft. He taught himself and what he builds is amazing!

My ASD daughter (nearly 8) loves it a LOT. If you play in Creative Mode rather than Survival Mode then it’s basically animated digital Lego and totally non-stressful. (She really struggles with survival mode - the constant threats really freak her out). She finds it very addictive however - we have to cut her off after a set time or she’d literally not move for hours on end. For her, the transition can cause extreme grumpiness, which is amplified by how absorbed she’s been up to that point.

You can play it totally offline - we got a hard copy of the game so didn’t even have to access the online store.

I forgot to add: we have it for Nintendo Switch, hence the hard copy game.

I have an autistic son who went from Lego obsession to Minecraft obsession and is still in the minecraft obsession at 15. It can be addictive and can be frustrating, but played offline it is certainly safe and age appropriate and can be hugely rewarding. Creative mode is, as pp said, the least stressful.

My 9 year old plays it .His teacher uses the education version for some advanced math, so it is a safe platform.

My son's school have an after-school Minecraft club maybe there is something similar near you? Might help your son find his tribe 💐

Oooh what's the education version?

Prepare to be spoken at about Minecraft. My son is coming out the other side of this, but Minecraft was a long-lasting obsession that he never tired of talking about.

It's brilliant. Very open ended. My son went through a phase of building roller coasters. With redstone you can use functional blocks to build machines, such as farms. There is a world of ideas on YouTube although you might need to limit that!

My only complaint (and it's a big one) is that my son spends far too much time watching other people play it on YouTube now, rather than actually playing it himself. But when he does play he is much more creative with it than he ever was with IRL Lego, which he'd only ever do with kits and instructions (he is autistic). And mostly the ideas start from something he saw someone doing on YouTube.

I am with you on the time restriction thing. They do need a chunk of time on it though, it's not very easy to just dip into for 20 mins at a time.

If in creative mode it’s pretty much virtual Lego.
If you are worried about him being on a screen to much would he do real Lego? You can actually get Minecraft themed Lego sets.
You can also get loads of Minecraft books so he can be reading too.

My kids have been playing minecraft for years, my youngest started aged 3 and my middle aged 4. My main rules have been that they play offline or, as they get older, only with trusted real life friends that we the parents know, and that they come off when we ask them to.

They make so many creative things in their worlds, and its helped them with their reading and spelling (as you have to type the names of items in creative mode to find them in the list). They're also learning very basic coding and have minecraft education through school- its a specific version with educational content like a 3d minecraft model of the eye, environmental awareness, coding and so on. We've had them play on a pc so they're also learning to use a keyboard and mouse at the same time, but the other benefits would still be there on the tablet. My husband and I play at times with our friends too!

I echo a pp that you need to be prepared for minecraft to be the main topic of conversation and for them to want to watch people on youtube play minecraft too! But all in all, its a fab game.

@xyz111 our school provided a link but I am sure you can buy it.

It is the only online game I allow. It meant he could do collaborative projects with school friends during lock down.

It is brilliant. My dc used it to remodel our house, I went to the architects with my Minecraft house.

That's amazing!

Somebody set up a safe server for autistic children, you can find out about it at www.autcraft.com
Kids can connect with others with no worries about bullying, inappropriate content etc

My autistic kids love minecraft. I'm a fully grown woman in my 40s and I enjoy it too - we've had a lot of fun all playing together!

My 15 year old autistic son has loved Minecraft since he was 7. I'm happy for him to play on it as it is one of the safest games to play on (IMHO). As other PP have said, you can play offline and not even have to interact with anyone else.

If you're looking for a safe space where your son can play with other ND children, then I'd recommend Spectrum Gaming. They are a brilliant charity for young people who love gaming (and other things). I think their membership is currently closed as they are so popular but they will be opening up membership in September.