Do you sometimes have trouble understanding where other people are coming from? Do you feel lost in new situations? When you see a problem, do you ever have trouble thinking about solutions? Believe it or not, Minecraft can help you get better at problem solving and gain more mental flexibility.

To survive in Minecraft you need to be open to new experiences and prepared for the worst. Many times in Minecraft you’ll only have certain resources, food, or materials available and you need to make the best with what you’ve got. The game constantly forces you to change your plans.

For example, diamond and gold are the hardest resources to find and you have to save them carefully. Sometimes you get a nice open field to build on, but other times you spawn inside a giant mountain range, so you have to be flexible about where home base is. Working with what you’re given in Minecraft makes surviving much easier.

Learning problem solving and flexibility skills in Minecraft is really important. But it’s even better when you can apply these skills at school and with your friends.

Say you and your friends want to make a homemade pizza, but you realize there’s no tomato sauce. You might choose to make pizza bread or a Greek pizza with just cheese. You might also need to compromise with your friends about what you choose for the “plan B” pizza.

Or maybe your teacher gives you a lot of homework one night and you had plans to go to your friend’s house right after school. You might choose to use the time with your friend to do homework together, or change your plans altogether.

To help you see how Minecraft can improve your problem solving and flexibility skills, check out this Let’s Play video.

You can find even more videos about Minecraft and your other favorite games on the LearningWorks for Kids Let’s Play YouTube channel.

Featured image: Flickr user Mike Prosser