As I type S, E and O are all on Minecraft and Skype.

O is playing with friend L on his Realm. After a break he is back into Minecraft and has reactivated his realm and is building many Mario inspired creations and cat islands

E is really leaping forward. I sat with him this afternoon for an hour and watched him typing and joining in the chat on cosmicpvp. Hooray!!! It's slow and laboured but he's doing it!

Overnight I read the twitter updates of a few of his best YouTubers and server hosts and had a few new facts at breakfast that he didn't already know!

E is also playing on his server, his realm and Mineswine and Hypixel.

E showed Andy Parker (our LEA HE advisory person) how cosmic works this week.

S is playing on a server called Down to Earth which she really likes. She has also enjoyed the Christmas remake on the HE server

S - changed gamer tag again


O - playing with friend E from the Doctor Who walking tour - Ender dragon


Person plays the most by far remains E

He has been really disappointed by the loss of his Iron Golem Spawner on CosmicPVP

We've reset his server

Today I watched him toggling between youtube for ideas - copy pasting command blocks typing more - many words he can type now

Skywares on Hypixel

November 10th 2015 Minecraft Mum 9th and 11th Birthday Updates

 S in her Aphmau T Shirt

E aka GoldenEt006

Has turned 9 since my last post

For his birthday he had MVP plus on Hypixel and Inferno on comiscpvp and a Hypixel T Shirt and Preston T Shirt and Hoodie and Minecraft T Shirt.

These are ingame ranks which improve your game experience.

He continues to be absorbed / engrossed with Minecraft in its many forms and it definitely meets his social needs in a way that would be hard otherwise.

He has a core group of friends he plays with most days.

S aka Fondue_Deer

Is 11 now

Is still really enjoying her friend's realm called Kellack Green - several people worked together designing costumes (skins) and sets and wrote the scripts to put on a play of Frankenstein.

Sadly there was some griefing on the Realm and some gorgeous pixel art was burnt

Having virtual gifts and virtual friends has made this years birthday experience different to normal this year. We've posted cake and builds have been made as gifts.

O 6 aka DobotAttack

Likes to play on Technic Launcher when he's on single player mode  Especially the Dan TDM Ensmallening mod

Handled the clearing of the plots on the HE server amazingly especially given all the effort he put into the Redstone work on the castle - The 28th October post has the photos of the  start and this post a few more.

O has rewatched the whole of the Stampy Wonderquest series

O plays with a handful of people on Skype but nothing like as much as S and E

 Script for the play above

 O's castle above and below

 Some amazing mini armour stands on Kellack Green

The play on Kellack  Green

October 28th Update

Did I really start this blog on June 1st?

That's 5 months ago. And even then it felt like we'd had Minecraft for years!

What's been happening?

The person playing the most Minecraft is defiantly E (8 for 10 more days)

He likes Skywars on Hypixel (where he is a VIP) and Factions on CosmicPVP - Since our last post he has bought the Halloween GKit on Cosmic

He's had a few carried away moments on Cosmic the last few days and his friendships have suffered as a result.

I've been reading up on the forum for ideas to help him.

E is playing with new friends today - made via this blog :) - good timing  

S (10 for a few more days)

has been mostly playing on the realm I mentioned last time, Kellack Green, tonight they have plans to put on a play of Frankenstein and have been writing scripts, casting for actors and making scenery. That's a bird's eye view of the amazing builds at the top of this post.

S has changed her gamer tag - she is now Fondue_Deer

S has taken several furniture ideas from the YouTuber Magnamusen

O (6)

Plays on Kellack Green too - in fact he showed me how to do the screen shots!

Has been building a castle on the HE server

Watching Dan TDM playing incognito to see if he still wins

Playing on the server belonging to his friend from the Doctor Who walking tour

and me? Since my last post I have clocked up around 10 hours on the cross trainer and feel so so much better for it mentally and physically. Way less grumpy about not doing any exercise.

That't my Minecraft Mum tip for today if being home all the time is hard for you too. I have the cross trainer next to the PC O plays on so I can do the reading with him. As a very great friend said yesterday quoting back one of my own catch phrases to me

''Home ed problems have home ed solutions." 

Orin's castle with redstone doors on the HE server

Sunday 18th October

This blog is a spin-off from my main blog The Gallivanters a bit like the Colbys and Dynasty!







It's been an intense weekend's Minecraft here. So much so that I have started to wonder what we will put in the log cabin when we move the lego out........It is a year this week since we had BT Infinity (high speed internet) installed. 3 simultaneous Minecraft servers and group Skype calls would not be possible without this!




S (very nearly 11) has found a cool gang of 4 or 5  like minds, mostly via the HE Server, and plays on a Realm divided into towns Kellack Green and Rosewood. They publish daily newspapers and sell pumpkin spiced lattes in Starducks and the Cat Cafe where the staff have uniforms. They are currently working on a play of Frankenstein organizing the scripts. The website Skindex, which we have long used for skins, has had a update and is apparently now much fiddlier to use. Some plays require several costume changes.  The villages also have a Police force.


S still has a realm but since our last post has mostly been playing on MCGs Realm.


Aphmau remains S's fave YouTuber for Minecraft role plays.




E, nearly 9,  has his server, hosted by Apex, up and running and a kind friend, A, has installed several plug ins and a money system. There was a funny moment when a member of the Apex staff came on and E and all his friends immediately killed him as they didn't recognise the gamer tag. It's mostly PVP and factions although there are some cool builds on there too.



E also likes CosmicPVP where he has invested huge chunks of time and real life money and Hypixel especially SKywars and Cops and Crims and Build Battles. Extras for Hypixel and Cosmic are hight up his birthday list. He has two solid friends A and A who he mostly plays with and a fluid group of 5 or so others (C, P & R)


E is looking for more people to join his server IP available on request.


E briefly played League of Legends but is more about Minecraft again now.


He likes PrestonPlayz and theRedEngineer on YouTube



O, 6, met a friend E on the Doctor Who walking tour of London last week and has been playing Minecraft with him on his server and Skyping this weekend. They have made themselves in giant version and on Saturday played for 5 hours with not a single argument! O is happy to play when there is a specific person or project but plays lots more Lego and MarioMaker than S and E


O likes DanTDM



And me? I have bought a cross trainer so I can exercise at home without having to nudge the gamers to leave the house............

October 8th Minecraft Mum Update

I haven't posted on here since September.

There has been Mario Maker too but still lots of Minecraft

My role with E is reading, paying, setting things up and helping him navigate friendships.

E(8) aka GoldenEt006 is loving living Skywars on Hypixel especially when he plays with his friends. He loves it!

He is also still on Cosmic and talks about AH (auction house) and prices with real confidence and always has an eye on arbitrage opportunities

He still has a realm and a server. The server is hosted by Apex. First it was Crafting Dead then he moved it to Attack of the B team

On home days Minecraft with friends A, A and C is his best thing.

I have helped Et with several more of the Red Engineer's command block projects. We have tried those of other YouTubers but not managed to replicate the same success we've had with the Red Engineer


O(6) doesn't play as much as E but does enjoy Realms


S(10) continues to play very differently to E preferring role play and community building on realms and saving animals.

She remains very inspired by Aphmau's Minecraft diary series and was really excited for episode 100 recently - Aphmau uses Minecraft to act out plays produced and edited to a really high quality.

September 20th 2015 Minecraft

The first post on this blog was back in June and outlines a little about us.


S, E and O are home educated and spend lots of time playing Minecraft. I have another blog called The Gallivanters which I have posted on everyday for the last 5 years but this one is a new departure.



What's happened in the past week on Minecraft?




Last Sunday night Minecraft went down for 3 hours! Due to a problem with the authentication servers.


Orin aka DobotAttack age 6

Has a new Realm mostly so he can play Pizza Spleef with his friends. S, E and O all have Realms atm.


O has been using mods via the Technic Launcher platform - my fave of which is Tiny Man and has introduced a new word to our family "Ensmallening" - led to lots of conversations about scale.


Watching Dan TDM again for first time in ages for mod pack ideas and projects


Etienne aka GoldenEt006 age 8


Has actually been playing another game online! League of Legends. He does also play MK8 and Mario Party but not generally on line. E played Legends at teenager J's house and was keen to play at home. His friends A  and J play too.


Don't worry there's still be hours of Minecraft


E has a Realm and a Technic Launcher server hosted by Apex set to Attack of the B team - it is a really big mod pack though and only one or two of his gang of friends can play it. I was so proud of myself for co-ordinating it all - it is a shame it hasn't worked out.



E's made a Big leap in coding - he literally pushed my hands off the keyboard when he realised what he needed to type  to modify the command for an enchantment - I wrote about this on my sister blog The Gallivanters on Wednesday - using commands outside of a command block - Definitely inspired by the Red Engineer.

thing this morning E asked for help in  making his Minecraft sword extra sharp. He is really into commands now and we talked about the instructions contained within each section - once he realised how the code was comprised and which bit did what  he was literally pushing my hands off the keyboard to make amendments himself.

Those kind of lightbulb moments are really cool to be around.

The sample code we used to copy was for a Iron Sword so he said "Why have iron when you can have diamond?"

 http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/168227/how-to-make-an-enchantment-with-more-than-standard-allowed-max-level

and swapped out the word iron for diamond and then further down the code changed the numbers .........

First time the base that E shares with his friends was  raided on Cosmic PVP - continues to really enjoy PrestonPlayz and Woofless on YouTube - E learns lots from YouTube and "my YouTubers" as he calls them.


E likes to play SkyWars on Hypixel. He does play other Hypixel games (Build Battle, Warlords, Galaxy Wars) but likes Skywars best.


Sapphire (Saff) aka CaramelTiger age 10


S's best YouTube channel remains as Aphmau Minecraft diaries and this inspires much of her play especially RolePlay.


S has been building on various friends Realm's - mostly people she's met via the HE Server and a few people she also knows IRL. She often plays with Orin 1:1 but only plays with Et when there is another person in the mix like a mutual friend.


She plays regular Minecraft on the PC in her room and Technic Launcher downstairs - Copious dogs has been a popular pack this week.


S is really keen to switch her realm to a modded server - Crazy Craft maybe with deco craft which she likes and has been discussing this with her friends to avoid some of the problems E has had.


TMO (The Mummy One)

I've been really enjoying helping E with enchantments and commands and seeing him really think about the possibility and helping O with mods- O mostly plays on the PC right by the kitchen so I can chat to him most easily of all  - S can do all of this herself and more uses my PA services to link up with friends who don't have Skype. I follow all of the trio's best YouTubers on Twitter which keeps me in the loop.

The Tiny Man mod

September 11 Minecraft Update

What's happened using the platform of Minecraft this week?

Lots of news from S - CaramelTiger (10) E GoldenEt006 (8) and O DobotAttack (6)

E met his online friends A and A from Cornwall IRL at Legoland Windsor - he's played with them nearly everyday throughout July and August on his realm, CosmicPVP, Hypixel, their realms, other servers...........and yesterday they met IRL - Minecraft makes friendships.

I've set up a Technic Launcher server for E using Apex - Minecraft pushes me to the edges of my comfort zone and I can do things I wouldn't have understood a year ago! Keeping me connected. So far he has played on it with 2 friends and S and O - it's all very new and a lot more to learn than the Realm (which was a great starting place)

S broke the B key on her new keyboard and consequently has been playing downstairs again. I miss watching her play but realise that she also wants privacy and peace. There's no work/play distinction in fact she often says "I need to work on my Realm." It has a swimming pool.

Since my last update I have helped E and O  complete a few of the Redstone Engineers' projects - The endless rollercoster, the Harry Potter Spells and one of the gun command blocks.

CosmicPVP a server E likes has been reset with a free for all give away just before and investment in new bases after. Shortly after the reset E found a free rank in a chest which he gave to a friend (he could have sold it for in game money) as  he already has a rank on Cosmic.

S has had a gathering on her realm to discuss whether her core group of friend could play mods via a Technic Launcher server like E is.

All of the animals on S's realm died due to a command block error and she put it right by remembering she could reset her realm because she had been baking it up - Minecraft encourages problem solving.

E met a friend at the NBTSP who doesn't have Skype and we talked with S too about the pros and cons on typing (you might die whilst you are typing) vs Skyping whilst playing and various parents shared their stories of kids learning to read  type using Minecraft with us. S's friends are 50/50 Skypers and not and she often now only uses chat if not everyone can skype as it has had led to parallel play and people feeling left out.

The HE server has been a good meeting place and O has been on there too. S really enjoys the Role Plays (RPs)

S continues to laugh out loud at Aphmau on YouTube and will probably chose Aphmau Minecraft Diaries as her Technic Lancher server if it is available. S also likes LD Shadow Lady and Smallish Beans and Minute Minecraft Parodies - They are pretty funny I like this one

E's best YouTubers are PrestonPlayZ, Sundee, Squid and AshDubh and also Popular MMOs


I follow all of the Trio's YouTubers on Twitter - It is a great way to stay connected to what they are watching if you don't have time to watch it all with them - they are a cool bunch with a real sense of fun.

S can type really fast now.

A few days before the reset on CosmicPVP

A parasol one of S's friends made on her realm using a Red Engineer Command blocks project

The babies on the Minecraft comes alive mod pack are so cute

Below O with his

September Update

Entropy

I've found something in Minecraft I am not terrible at! It has only taken 2 years but command blocks seem to be my calling!

In the past 24 I have built several giant DanTDM Rollercoasters and a Harry Potter magic spell set up engaging S, E and O in the process :) Turning animals upside down and all sorts. 

I am so inspired by this 17 year old Italian kid "The Red Engineer" I can see what he is doing and it makes sense and he has great taste in music.

Hooray. Once I had managed to complete one of his projects on a Mac yesterday I was inspired to do more on the PC. I even had a practise when I was the first one awake this morning. Of the many right and wrong good and bad parenting choices made along the way being connected to and understanding Minecraft is up there with co sleeping and breastfeeding :)

Last night was #homeedhour on Twitter. It was really busy. The first one was a year ago but we took a break for summer. As we had finished reading HP HBP whilst I was busy TD, E and O watched the first half of the movie together.

News today that there may be an Artemis Fowl movie has pleased S

We've booked to go to Legoland next week - a little notbacktoschool gallivant. I didn't think we were going to squeeze it in this year (for the first time since 2009) but thanks to the catalyst of E's online friends being there for an IRL meet we will.

S has had some drama on her Minecraft Realm in which all of the animals died but she remembered she could reset her Realm and the mischief was managed. I read this great post about leading questions to help your child trouble shoot Minecraft problems and when I was using some of the phrases she ran upstairs to fix it :)  See above comment about understanding Minecraft :)

O has been doing some impressive days into weeks into months into years maths - "3 months is 90 days." he said today but is rather irritated at the whole 30 days has September thing as it makes it more complicated than his logical brain would prefer.

Today's Phoenix comic lacked a lump. S gave it a good squeeze.

More dissertation work for TD this weekend so another Friday that doesn't really feel like a weekend.

A month of Glitter Village (GV) - "It's an ironic name Mum."

A month in Glitter Village

Saff's (aka CaramelTiger) 2nd Minecraft Realm Glitter Village is a month old today. A realm is an easy way to play Minecraft with friends online as it doesn't require hosting a server or whitelisting and it has mini games too.

I have written several posts on this blog about Glitter Village and last night S gave me another tour.

""I have made a cork board advertising for roles in the play e.g. a kidnapper is needed. You can change your skin so that you look more suitable for the roles. Apply now! Audition!

The theatre receptionist is a ginger cat. This realm started out with me and my friend R but he has gone now and it is 18 people. 5 boys and 13 girls.

This is a new set for the theatre with tents. They are small ones made to fit on a stage. I have cut the mine open like a Doll's House back so people watching the play can see inside. I built trees not planted trees as I don't want them to grow on the set.

This is a cat. Every evil kidnapper needs a cat. The whole director thing is inspired by a server I like called creativefun.eu but on there it is way bigger than this. (RP is RolePlay)

We have built a jail and shops and L's shop is already decorated for Halloween with pumpkins and cobwebs and skeletons. It is a clothes shop. The clothes are made using armour stands and heads. 

A has a shop which comes to smooth out the terrain when you have TNTed a build that has gone wrong. 

The dragons have built a really big house really quickly with this neat pressure plate that makes it say 'Welcome' when you go in.

These are my potions - night vision, speed, water breathing. We all have mail boxes and you can post basically anything in them. Anything that will go in a chest can be posted. 

This is the fire pit version two point o surrounded with clay.

Oh yeah and I made this aeroplane with a flux capacitor and a hyperdrive. Those are some cool time travel movie references I added.

I've been making fireworks - if you put a diamond in the crafting recipe then they look more like fireworks do IRL."

~~~

We looked at some of the other realm features afterwards including the player activity log where you can see who has been on and for how long. It was really informative / interesting / alarming depending on your perspective. The data is represented as a bar chart and you can see who is on when , for who long and who with.

As S has made a new skin this week we also talked about our first adventures with Skindex in 2014 and how they coincided with April Fool's Day when Mojang decided to turn everyone's skin to villager!

This is Skindex

Wednesday 19th August

Quick wrap up of the trio's Minecraft projects as it is nearly a week since the last one.

Since my last post the trio have been whitelisted to play on a large home ed server. Suggested by a friend as a source of new contacts for S it has also been great for E and O.

E (8)

E said today "All the best mini games on my realm are designed by Seth Bling!"

E was really sad on Sunday when he was on the end of some griefing on cosmicpvp. Real tears! What a transformation from the boy who was always doing the damage a few months back. He appears to be turning into the diplomat! I hear him suggesting drinks and screen breaks to overwhelmed friends.

All forgiven and forgotten E  has made a skywars map with friends on his Realm. So quickly!

He has been learning about command blocks and watching popular MMOs to do so.

As we are pretty much hibernating during August he has been on MC lots - Today he has Skyped with around 10 people (not all at once!!) Meeting his socials needs without leaving the house.

S (10)

S has had her latest realm 3 days shy of a month. and what a month for her and Glitter Village! Initially she had one friend on there then invited two others but often really struggled with situations that weren't 1:1 Fast forward to today and her realm only has 2 free slots remaining from the 20 maximum!

She has built shops and jails and courtrooms and a theatre and is now moving in a new circle of people completely. It's really amazing to witness the transformation.

She is really enjoying the plays and talking about casting and directing - I can tell she 's really into a new zone as she has changed her skin. (using Skindex BlueGem)

Not all of S's new friends have Skype so she is doing way more typing.

O(6)

O has been joining in too thanks to the HE Server - tonight he helped out designing a plot inspired by bees which is cool as he is enjoyed the bees at Haslemere Museum last week. He used item frames filled with dandelion to represent the honey in the bee hives he built.

O also helped E and his friends build the Skywars map on E's realm

I wonder what the collective total of blocks placed since my last update is!

Minecraft - Thursday 18th August

Talking about the learning places Minecraft can take you I remembered this post from 2014 when we borrowed the obsidian from Haslemere Museum and went in search of diamonds and ocelots. That was back in the vanilla days. Now it's all about being a VIP on Hypixel and mods and technic launcher and, well, a whole nother level really.


Today has been a day of Minecraft. I could say it is because it has rained all day but actually atm sunny days are pretty similar!

When the lightning flashed the lights this morning I thought "Please no powercut!"

First thing this morning E asked me to investigate the idea of server hosting because although he extended his realm yesterday he really wants to play modded worlds with his friends and a server is the way to do that

This morning S and O played the mod pack "MInecraft comes alive" via technic launcher on the LAN - It is like Sims and you can have fairy lights!! O was finding the breeding really overwhelming and he said

"I've had enough of the family thing take these kids away."

He likes Minecraft comes alive because of the wardrobe options, deco craft and that you can have different kinds and colours of beds.

They play this on the two downstairs PCs

Later S played on her realm with her friend L decorating and making guest bedrooms. S's realm is amazing and really the culmination of years of learning - she seems fluent in redstone and command blocks and is always using the ideas from her YouTubers

E played on Cosmic PVP. I watched Preston Plays with E this morning (he is the co-owner of Cosmic) E likes to speculate how much money it earns him!

E also played on Cops and Crims since we looked at the leader board together he has taken a bigger interest in his stats.

I mentioned to someone today that O pretty much always stands up to play Minecraft.

E tried to play a new mod pack Bridge? but it was too big for all of our PCs

This afternoon E invited S to his Realm and they played with friend A building and enchanting. They have not played together is ages (months? maybe more) They also played a few rounds of build battle on Hypixel a server they like and where E is a VIP.

Minecraft Journal

Haven't posted on here since Tuesday. What's been happening in Minecraft land here during Augist Hibernation

S and O have been playing on Aphmau Minecraft Diaries S2 via technic launcher and when that crashed the LAN Minecraft Comes Alive - they like the weddings and babies. it is very Simsish. Technic Launcher doesn't run on S's new PC so it is cool that she has to come and use the downstairs PCs to play with O


E has been on CosmicPVP - still his fave  - here's a great description of Cosmic  - When he is on Solo I help him with the words and numbers but when he is with friends he prefers to play alone. He's also been on Hypixel. His realm expired a few days ago and as almost all the people he plays with now have a realm he has decided to wait a while before renewing it

Had a chunk of time with E on CosmicPVP (a Minecraft server) this morning. It's not my thing at all but he loves it - first he asked me to google "On cosmicpvp can you withdraw MCMO?" and this lead on to a whole big thread and me reading out the forum comments as others had suggested it to and the reasons why not. Then after helping him with some buying and selling he wanted to make a hopper so I wikied the crafting recipe (S made hoppers on her realm last week so I sort of knew about them) and we needed iron. 5 at $40 each and without missing a beat E said "I'm gonna need $200 for that"

So, we bought the stuff, followed the recipe and then it said hoppers were disabled on the server! And again we had a good chat as to why that was. Then Skypeland woke up and I was surplus!! Well sort of! He's learning from his friends too.

There's lots of other gaming too Harry Potter Wii for O and Skylanders for E - We hosted our first Skylanders club this week

Fave YouTubers

Squid - although for Ark Survial more

Preston Plays for Cosmic


i now follow all the YouTubers and servers on Twitter and sometimes. occasionally, I knw things before S and E do!

S's Minecraft Journal Tuesday

"Today on my realm I added balcony to my house because balconies are really fashionable now. I've been using anvils and we are still recruiting for a postman. I have made a hall way of art and all of the pets have a room. I discovered with my friends that like dinnerbone turns your pet upside down that naming your rabbit toast makes it be certain colours. I made a cork board using coarse dirt as a block and added a desk and a laptop and a canopy bed.
Since I discovered that if you put pigs in carts and then drive them I built a forecourt inspired by Harwoods.
I've also played on a new server today called MC beanblocks and I am in the bubbles. It is run my smallish beans and I made a faction on there. I have also done a few role plays (RPs) on creative fun.eu"

S (10) Minecraft Diaries

Minecraft Diaries - S specifically asked to do this last night and that's really cool.

"Today on Minecraft I have been working on a brewing room. It's deep underground. 35 blocks down. I use it to brew potions I give them to my friend R who has a potions shop on my realm.

I have added a dog house for when my dogs are naughty.

Ooh there is a letter in my postbox. We are recruiting for a postman.

I've done some more work on the road and street signs.

I've extended the dog trail area with some tents.

These are the fireworks my friend L has done.

I've made a archery range with an idea from a Stampy video and the idea for the chests I took as you were reading Harry Potter next door.

I've made a cat flap but I need to disable the pressure pads to work it.

My friend L has a clothes shop here called "Shop Til You Drop" and an assassination business too.

So far we have a laundrette, a redstone dude, a library, 2 x bakers, a chain restaurant, clothes shop, fireworks shop and a communal nether portal."

Minecraft Update August 3rd 2015

So I'm still not exactly sure now this new blog is going to evolve, mostly I need to learn how to store screen dumps from 3 different PCs centrally so I can upload them here, but anyway here's what's been happening on Minecraft since my last update

E (8) has become a VIP on Hypixel. Since I said it my first post that Minecraft is amazing VFM I realise that E especially is running with a number of "add ons" like ranks and realms but, that said, it still is. He has also won a round of build battles for the first time ever. We've been on the Hypixel forum together looking at the leader boards for the two games he likes Cops and Crims and Sky Wars and talking about how the numbers differ from his own.

O (6) asked me what the numerical value for the scoring was for each level on Hypixel build battle (super poop through to epic and legendary) and I expected to find a quick answer but it turns out the formula is a closely guarded secret!

For E (8) there has been a lot of learning from mistakes going on. Or so we thought! He wanted to spend some of his money on a new Heroic Diablo Kit for a server he likes called CosmicPVP. He's heavily invested in Cosmic. It's the kind of brand loyalty advertisers dream of! He watches the two owners of the server on YouTube everyday and has been playing on it since at least Easter as he has the Easter Kit. It is a factions server and only one of his friends likes factions.

So on Friday morning we bought the kit and when it didn't show as unlocked during the 5 minutes suggested we worried we had made a mistake. We emailed, tweeted and I joined the forum......but no luck. This lead to us talking about exchange rates, time differences.....(the server is in Canada) but for 3 days E has felt really upset, let down and cheated. Then, today it appeared as unlocked!!

Faith in Cosmic restored and he's all smiles again! Straight to AH (Auction House) which is like Cosmic's eBay to sell some of the unwanted bits. Lots of conversations about 000s!


The book in which I write E's server addresses and commands was looking really messy so I started a new one and was copying the commands over. As I was writing them E was saying "I know that one now without looking at the book so you don't need to write that one done."

E now has 15 people on his Realm. A mixture of real life local friends and some whom we've met via a Facebook group for Unschooling Minecrafters. He seems to manage them all okay. It's a dilemma for me as if I sit right by him he lets me do all the typing and reading whereas if I come away he really makes much more effort to try and do it self.

One of E's friends J now has a server of his own. E has been on there a few times but again his reading ability coupled with the many typos that come through the chat mean he often seems to miss the just!


There's a really good article about Screen Time here btw

S continues to find ideas for her Realm (population 4) from StacyPlayz and LDShadowlady on YouTube as they do lots of the stuff with pets and interiors and architect design she likes. 

On her realm she has built a cool dog walking trail and a spawn hut as the spawn is miles away from the centre of he world. She has also created a bookshop which might now be a library. A times she says the actual building takes second place to the negotiating that goes on. 

We've had some good chats about the pros and cons of Skyping versus Typing (you can't sleep if Monsters are nearby for eg but by the time you've typed that in the chat you might be dead as you can't type and fight!)

And Gamer tags.


You might think that kids learn about Minecraft by watching YouTube then play on line with their friends but my! The wrong YouTuber or the wrong Server ~ I hope that huge diversty of possible play is partly what these posts using three different children as examples illustrate.

For me the big adjustment has been that S and E now both have PCs in their bedrooms which are connected to Skype and Minecraft so physically separate in many ways. My challenge is to maintain the connection.

Saff July 29 2015

"I tried to build a nether room today but there's been an update to Minecraft overnight which means you can't close your Realm anymore when you go off line. I don't know how my brother manages 12 people on his Realm. I have 4. It took ages today to sort out some spawned in rabbits combined with mega fast potions as one of my friends isn't on Skype so there's the whole talking typing thing. Et has this idea to switch the realm to a mini game when I come off so there can be less misunderstandings when I'm not there."

July 28th Minecraft Saff age (10)

"I've been on my Realm today. I've had this Realm a few days. It's the second time I've had a Realm."

S (10) gave me a tour of what she'd done today whilst she sat at the screen and showed me whereas E and I sat down away from the PC to talk about what he had done. He plays more games so has less tangible builds to show!


S has just two friends on her Realm atm R and C although she has asked me to advertise for shoppers to come and test out the shops they are creating she generally prefers creative 1:1 or small group play

This is what S told me about what she has done today


"Using command blocks I have made this the world spawn, there is a house with a bed and nearby is a big field of reeds. I harvest those to be sugar cane. R has made a lighthouse. His is purple and mine is cyan. Cyan is my best Minecraft colour. We've made lots of signs. These houses have numbers as well. There are pressure plates outside my door for my house they set off lights in my bedroom. R made that for me it is like a burglar alarm. I also renamed all of my armour by putting Saff in front of it. Then I made this tearoom thing there is a button where milk and cookies come out. This is my private farm, I named the animals there and there is the emergency tent and the nether portal.

This is the market place. We have made a currency board so say 1 block of gold equals £50 and coal is 50p You can mine here and spent what you find in the shops

These are the shops so far. There is a Redstone shop like a plumber electricians, it's R shop called Redstone Dude. He could fit you a burglar alarm for eg

This is my shop. I sell melons, bread, wheat, eggs and cake. It is all local produce from my farm out the back.

C is setting up a weapons and armour shop

We've made bins and we've decided that if anyone griefs their penalty will be to empty the bins.

My shop is called "Saff's quality Nummies." It is going to be a chain selling cake, bread and pumpkin pie. This is the Staff Only area there is some really complicated redstone behind those doors.

This is the newspaper stand - we have called our area Glitter Village and the newspaper is the Glitter Village News. R writes it.

We made a washing machine. I named the detergents Hubble Bubble, Flowery Fresh and Fancy Pants - Fancy Pants is glostone. It works using a hopper and redstone. We also made a washing line. We take turns to work in the laundrette and can also add enchantments

This says GV for Glitter Village. It is redstone and it lights up. I can use Time set day and time set night to show you as it has a daylight sensor. R did that.

and there's a bonfire pit. The water buckets are called "Just in case."


I have some more work I need to do on here now."



Work? Play!

E (8) on Minecraft July 28th

This is a new evolved blog style for me. I've been blogging at The Gallivanters everyday for nearly 5 years but as the trio grow and things change this is my attempt to review their thoughts on their learning through Minecraft.


Et's been on Minecraft a long time today - Maybe 10 hours between 8am and 8pm This is unusually long but during August we tend to hibernate.


This is a summary in mostly his words of what he has done, I've chatted to him about it and sat with him for bunches of time when I can - such variety.


Played on his Realm. At one point he was coordinating friends A, A, C, R, A, T, P, L (8 people all boys between age 8 and 12!) in the building of a Sky Island Map (based on Sky Wars) apparently it also features someone naked. He coordinated and organised all of them.

As I asked him what he'd been doing today for the purposes of this blog his chest really swelled and smiling he said

"I think I am good at organizing people." (always nice to hear from someone with low self esteem)

"It's easy with some people and harder with others." "People with their own realm understand more sometimes." "We had a problem with swearing today and other people said they couldn't Skype with that."



"I also learnt that if I don't come off for supper I get really cross."



On Cosmic PVP I typed /leave and /join as A and I changed the name of our faction. We couldn't do much just /kit starter. I type that everyday.

My friend L showed me how to name a sheep Dinnerbone and how to make it rainbow colours. He went to Minecon and knows loads of stuff.

"I spent some of my Grandparent money on being a VIP on Hypixel. The prices are in dollars so my Mum showed me how to google exchange rates. She knows them without google. I played Cops and Crims to test it out. "

"My friend A showed me /Kill AE which kills all entities and players and is great if you need a clean slate"

Monday July 27 2015

We've had a THD so there has been much Minecraft



O (6) "Saff I'm making a smelting room  its already got 15 furnaces plus 3."

O then told me about all the things you can smelt and what happens when you do

He's on a single player vanilla world


E (8) "Mum, Mum, there's a spaltoon in Minecraft - It is a mini game on my realm. we're all playing!!"

Random question over lunch

"How many obsidian is it to make a portal again?"


S and her friend R have been on her Realm the past 24 - they have developed a currency system for the realm and explained it using signs. They have both made lighthouses and S has used redstone in a port area for the boats.

S was pleased to see the amendments to the Nottingham poster with an iron bucket!

S has also been playing Minecraft comes alive via the Technic Launcher platform and gave back some of her babies as she has too many!

Overheard on the loo

"I need notch apples"

E has been on H1Z1 a while and his realm and his friend J's server.

Minecraft Update July 2015

Minecraft continues to be the best value game ever purchased ever!


Hours played divided by cost - I can't imagine another game ever coming close.


O hasn't been playing so much. He logs on for the odd game of build battle on Hypixel or a build in single player vanilla when the mood takes him but his realm has expired and he's more into Moshi Monsters atm.

S is really into the Minecraft Comes Alive mod on the Technic Launcher platform. That's a single player game. Server wise she still really likes Hypixel and creativefun.eu and she has recently renewed her Realm but only has one friend on there (which is really how she prefers to play 1:1) Her best YouTubers atm are Aphmau, Stacy Says and LDS Shadow Lady - she still sometimes watches Stampy and Squid but less so.


E by contrast has more than 10 friends on his realm! He best of all likes to play CosmicPVP with his friend A and usually manages that for an hour or so most week days but otherwise he has two real life friends he plays with, either on his Realm where they like both the mini games and building or on Hypixel or the Zombie server H1Z1. He has also recently picked up with 3 or 4 new friends via the Unschooling Minecraft group and has had real fun playing with them. He's okay until group calls reach 5 then he struggles at bit. His slow reading also lets him down using the chat function but that said on any given home day 70% of it will probably be on Minecraft!

E's best YouTubers are Jack Septic Eye and Preston Playz and Ballistic Squid

He's keen to test out Steam games but love the democratic aspect of Minecraft in that almost all of his friends have access to it.

He's been though several pairs of headphones since my last post and is now running with a separate microphone but currently no webcam as he Skypes from our bedroom.

This is us

In Sunny West Sussex I home educate 3 children who are 10 and a half, 8 and a half and 6. They have never been to any kind of school and we follow a path of unschooling / interest led learning rather than a curriculum. We do not limit access to technology. From the beginning we have believed in learning through play and Minecraft is the main shape play takes at the moment

Minecraft has been really popular for over a year now. Minecraft does not come with an instruction book and the trio have learnt by watching YouTube tutorials and well, by playing really.

Each of the trio has their own gamer tag and skin which they like to change and personalise to reflect their current interests using a website called Skindex - Skindex tip one first log in then make your skin - if you try and do it the other way round you may well lose your progress.

S (10) has a creative Realm and likes to plays on servers with her friends. S's main Minecraft friend lives 300 miles away so it is a perfect platform for them.  At the moment her best server is Hypixel and her favourite game is Build Battle. She recently won build battle with a Marge on a sofa for the theme couch. Her knowledge of the blocks is amazing. S watches Stampy and Squid

E (8) has a realm too but it is more PVP (player versus player) he likes Hypixel but prefers the game cops and crims and also likes CosmicPVP His best YouTubers are PrestonPlayz and PopularMMOs

O (6) likes Stampy's WonderQuest series. He plays Minecraft mostly using Technic launcher and remarked the other day "I never play vanilla single player anymore!" He likes redstone and using technic launcher has been the perfect way to easily access the mods his best youtubers use and he can fly to the moon too,

This is going to be a place for me to log the trio's builds and adventures as they relate to Minecraft