Video games have cemented itself as a staple of childhood experiences. All kids love games! Phone games, console games, computer games–kids want to be challenged and want to win! Video games have received a bad reputation amongst parents, however. Are video games good for childhood development, or do they hinder and harm? 

The good news is that video games aren’t the bad guy. In fact, there is mounting evidence that video games are good for kids and provide value beyond entertainment. Technology has made amazing leaps in the past few years, allowing kids to explore and craft intuitive online worlds! 

They are called “sandbox games,” which allow players to explore a vast digital world with little to no limitations on what they can create. Sandbox games do not have a defined storyline to complete and everything is unlocked at the start of the game. There isn’t anything that your child has to do to move the game along. Instead, they can build and explore freely using everything in the game from the start. Sandbox games are especially helpful for teaching children self-direction and critical thinking skills through creative freedom. 

Minecraft and Roblox are the world’s leading sandbox video games. Kids love to play both of these open-world games in their free time, but Minecraft and Roblox have educational potential, as well. These sandbox games can be utilized to teach children the basics of coding, video game design, creative expression, and more!

At KidzToPros, we offer a variety of enrichment programs that utilize Minecraft and Roblox to help your kids have fun while learning. The hard part is deciding between the two! While these games have a lot in common, they also have distinct differences that can help you decide.

Here is a look at Roblox and Minecraft, including similarities and differences to help you decide which one is right for your child.

Minecraft

Minecraft offers an innovative experience for players to explore a quirky 3D block universe with minimalistic visuals. This old-school look may seem simple, but it actually gives the game numerous advantages. It makes the game less stressful to render on computers and kids like the older graphics style. 

Minecraft lets players reconstruct the world by manipulating blocks. There is an actual structure to the world in the form of different environments to explore. Players can manipulate the environments by traveling, adding blocks, or removing them. Players use toolsets to build structures like houses or to create mines in mountains. There are even different environments to explore and they can interact with other players. 

Roblox

Roblox is a newer version of a sandbox game, more akin to a gaming platform. In essence, it is a collection of games that are built on the Roblox platform. Roblox itself isn’t the game, it’s just the system that facilitates the other games. Players create a character and choose which game they want to play with that character.

Roblox takes a different approach to graphics in that it mixes lower-quality designs with higher-resolution elements, but it has more of a LEGO vibe. Even the player characters look like LEGO people but with a higher degree of graphics development. Roblox lets players travel and interact with things in the world, creating communities, and developing their own ideas.

The games in Roblox are all made by players, with moderation and oversight by the Roblox development team. New games are added constantly and players can make their own games if they want to. In short, your child can try a game to experience what other players experienced or create a game of their own for other players to enjoy. 

Similarities & Differences

Minecraft and Roblox both use the sandbox concept to develop their games. This means that players build and use their imaginations to create a world within the game as opposed to competing with other players or trying to get through levels of play with a certain number of collected items or points. There is not a set storyline to either game, but there are in-world events that they can participate in to get valuable items or share experiences with other players. 

The biggest difference between Roblox and Minecraft is their structure. Minecraft is a self-contained game where players create the world by manipulating blocks while Roblox is a system that gives you access to other games. This makes Minecraft more predictable in terms of content. Everyone is playing with the same basic content while Roblox players have an entirely different experience from the start based on their choice of game. 

How Are They Educational?

When simply played for fun, Minecraft and Roblox can foster creativity and problem-solving skills. In Minecraft, for example, players must use creativity and problem-solving skills to build and interact with virtual worlds. This can help to hone their spatial reasoning and critical thinking abilities. 

Minecraft also lets your child fully explore engineering concepts through construction and world-building. There are virtually no limits to what players can build in Minecraft if done on an appropriate scale. That means that your child can practice creative and critical thinking skills while constructing new parts of the world.

Unique to Roblox is the ability for your child to craft an experience for other players. This feature makes Roblox similar to being a game developer, which can be a good way to explore a possible future as a developer or content creator. Similarly, being able to experience games that others have crafted for the platform helps build a stronger community and a chance for your child to experience and review other people’s work. 

Roblox uses a more detailed coding system that actually involves creating code for the game. Because of this, many young people are creating new content to practice coding. Some have even begun to turn their Roblox development efforts into viable businesses making thousands of dollars. If your child is interested in learning to code as a career, Roblox may be a better platform for them than Minecraft. 

Both Minecraft and Roblox also promote collaboration and teamwork, which are highly valued skills in today’s fast-paced world. KidzToPros takes these benefits a step further. We offer guided courses that utilize these open-world games to encourage specific creative goals and teach the basics of video game development. 

Minecraft Courses

This summer, we have several Minecraft-centered courses that will engage and enrich your child–all while they have fun! These camps are designed to ignite the curiosity of young gamers by teaching them the process of game design. Students learn how to design game maps with intention and how to create unique storylines within their games. These camps are suitable for students in 2nd-5th grade and are appropriate for all skill levels!

Minecraft Coding & Game Design: Adventure Maps

With guidance from experienced instructors, students will learn how to create efficient game maps and use Minecraft’s tools to add special effects to their games. Kids will explore popular game styles like parkour, role-playing, and adventures. Students will also be introduced to Minecraft’s MakeCode tool, a programming tool used to make the game development process more efficient. MakeCode teaches students scratch-style coding, allowing them to spawn huge walls and buildings with a few lines of code! 

By the end of this camp, students will have developed a new appreciation and deep understanding of Minecraft and its endless possibilities for creativity and gameplay.

Minecraft Coding & Game Design: Ancient Structures & History

In this Minecraft camp, we utilize the game to teach kids the history of ancient civilizations while they also learn how to build replicas of pyramids and monuments. Students will spend the week experimenting with different Minecraft resources such as texture blocks, crafting recipes, and Redstone dust, incorporating them into each map.

At the end of camp, students will proudly showcase several interactive maps that they have built and can share and explore with their classmates. 

Minecraft Coding & Game Design: Theater Script and Performance

Minecraft can be used to teach coding, game design, and the history of ancient structures, but also theatre and playwriting! At this camp, students will grab their typewriters and learn the skills of a playwright while building an original production staged in Minecraft. Each day, students will exercise their creative muscles by thinking through set design, props, plot, scripting, and more. They will work on their individual projects while also practicing collaboration and creativity in groups to build stories together. 

The camp offers a unique opportunity for students to experience Minecraft in a whole new way. They get to tell beautiful, powerful, and fun stories, with scenes limited only by their imagination.

Roblox Courses

Roblox – Obstacle Course

In the Roblox Game Design: Obstacle course camp, students will learn the fundamentals of building and scripting in Roblox Studio by designing their own obstacle courses. Kids will design their own obstacle courses, including platformers, search-and-destroy maps, and beautiful 3D worlds – no prerequisite knowledge needed, just the desire to learn and have fun! Kids will also challenge their classmates to their obstacle courses. 

By the end of the camp, students will have gained proficiency in basic 3D building, creating, and sharing games, and as a bonus, they’ll also receive an introduction to coding with the Lua Scripting Language. 

How To Choose?

KidzToPros Minecraft Summer Camp Courses are a great way for your child to learn the basics of coding and game development, in addition to ancient engineering, playwriting, and other expressions of creativity. We also offer more Minecraft-focused courses than Roblox. 

However, your child will need to learn more about coding to create new content with our Roblox, which also ignites your child’s competitive spirit as they make obstacle courses for their classmates to try to beat.

Whichever option you choose, Roblox and Minecraft can be effective ways of learning game design and coding skills. At KidzToPros’ Minecraft and Roblox camps, kids not only learn how to design and build in both worlds, but they also learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Creativity and innovation are also strongly emphasized in KidzToPros camps.

See which KidzToPros STEM, Arts & Sports Summer Camp programs are near you! Discover other programs that will inspire your child’s creativity and innovation, and get them physically active.