New to Minecraft - where to start with a 6 year old?

[yellowbirdie]

DS turns 6 next week and he is desperate to play minecraft. We are thinking of downloading it for his birthday. Unfortunately for him his parents are a bit out of touch with popular culture. We are not a gaming family, we don't have xbox or a PS so it would be on the ipad. Where do we start?!! What version is suitable for a keen but unsavvy computing 6 year old? Are there any books/tutorials you'd recommend - to help both us and him? Thanks!

Also following for an answer as my DS is similar age and it is something that he has shown interest in...but I am the same and have no idea where to start!

iPad is fine. I found it difficult to use but my six year old (5 then) quickly figured it out. Youtube videos by Stampy are good for tutorials once they know what they're doing. The minecraft videos on the Youtube kids app should be safe/appropriate.

You must be able to google some beginner guides. My DS usually plays it in peaceful (no scary enemies) and creative (has access to all bricks) mode, which means it's just placing blocks to make what you want. There's lot more you can do once you learn more, but to be honest my son has tonnes of knowledge and I have zero...

This web page covers the basics of survival mode - the mode of the game that most people think of (so kind of the main mode) where you start with barely anything and have to mine or chop resources and craft them into blocks to build defenses with and tools to help you- minecraft.gamepedia.com/Survival

The only other mode worth trying as a starting point is creative mode, a mode where there are no enemies and you have immediate access to all blocks, and you just build as if its digital lego:
minecraft.gamepedia.com/Creative

There are some brilliant books as well, beginners guides, building guides etc. You can get them in asda etc for about £3-£4 each, hardback books. That, mixed with you tube tutorials and stampy, means i have a complete Minecraft legend with no input from me!

Stampy on youtube is a firm favourite of my DS and you will be surprised how quickly they pick up the app. It's really worth the download. You can learn what to do simply by watching a few youtube videos with your DS beforehand or maybe ask friends if they have the app for him to try out.