Life Skills via Minecraft

A 6-month online course to develop kids’ life skills

What is the goal of this course?

The goal of this course is to teach our students problem-solving and self-management skills.

Why are these skills important?

These skills will help our students become successful and happy in their future.

Problem-solving skills help people in their life and in their work.

From changing a light-bulb at home to getting a promotion at work – your success depends on how well you can solve problems.

Doctors, engineers, scientists, managers, business people and many other professionals solve difficult problems and that’s why they are appreciated in society.

At the same time, it’s important to learn other skills like communication and self-management.

These so-called “soft skills” help people apply their problem-solving skills to the community and to achieve long-term success and life balance.

Who is it for?

This course is for students who already can understand, and explain their ideas in English (level CEFR A2 – Beginner-Intermediate – and over). The target age is 8-13 years old.

This is for students who want to develop as a whole person, not just learn programming or STEM using Minecraft.

Who is it NOT for?

This course is not for students who just want to play.

This is a structured course and it will require a moderate level of effort during the classes and between classes (simple homework).

Since this course will be in English, it’s not for students who only know basic English or who struggle with expressing their ideas.

Who is the teacher? Meet Your Lead Instructor.

Hi, I’m Alex, the founder and lead instructor of this course.

With over 15 years of teaching experience and qualifications like TEFL, Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization, and a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics, I created this program to bridge the gap between the school curriculum and essential life skills.

Throughout my career, I saw that the most successful kids aren’t the ones with the most talent. The most successful kids have other skills and habits that allow them to outperform their peers.

These skills include resilience, communication, problem-solving, creativity, self-awareness and many others.

As a teacher, father and a gamer, I was looking for a program for my son to learn all these skills in a fun way. But there was no such program!

So, I developed this course myself.

Now, he and my students can learn to express themselves confidently while developing real-world problem-solving skills in a safe, structured and fun environment in English.

What is the format of this course?

The course is a 6-month long weekly online 50-minute lesson.

This course will follow MiQ English School’s Yearly Calendar found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w16YJVWkZKvkTBWOi-kvj3IdlnCuyfdg

The course is structured around projects and challenges.

Some of these challenges are given by the teacher, while others are chosen by students themselves.

The course will teach the following skills in a spiral structure (each lesson will include some of these skills, and the challenges will get progressively more difficult throughout the course).

What are the contents of this course? What skills will students learn?

I. Communication

Presentation skills – how to explain your opinions so that others understand you.
OREO – the best framework for presenting your ideas in writing or during speeches.
Basic human values – understanding human motivation and how to use it for conveying your ideas.

II. Emotional self-regulation

Emotional intelligence – how to understand what you feel so that you can manage your emotions better.
Mindfulness and Minecraft meditation – using Minecraft world to learn to relax and de-stress.

III. Creativity

Creativity made simple – mental techniques to boost your creativity quickly.
Colors – color matching, contrasting and complimentary colors
The basics of art: modeling the world in your art.

IV. Problem-solving

MIST – A simple framework for solving any problem.
Research – how to ask the right questions and how to find the right information.

V. Planning and project management

Making a plan: creating step-by-step instructions and note-taking.
The basics of project management for kids – how to get things done faster and easier.
Checklists – how to use checklists to keep track of your projects.
Constraints – learning how to use constraints for better thinking and better problem-solving.
Iteration – the most important process in problem solving. How to not get discouraged by failure and stay resilient.

What are some sample challenges?

Recreate your real-world house in Minecraft and give a tour to other students.
Build a castle that protects you from enemy characters.
Protect a village from a volcano’s lava.
Create a farm for other students to use.
Team-challenge: which team can find their first diamond fastest.
Team project: Build and develop your own village.
Build your own tree house and explain why you like it.

Here is a sample video of how seamlessly learning these skills can integrate into a gaming experience:

Watch a sample video: https://youtu.be/22lKa8RdpIA

How is this program different from other Minecraft programs?

There are many classes and courses that use Minecraft.

The majority of these courses fall into these two categories:

Minecraft social club – kids play Minecraft for fun and communication. There is little structure or direction. Fun is the priority. The type of student who joins these classes probably doesn’t like studying.
Minecraft for STEM – kids learn programming and STEM using Minecraft. Problem-solving, communication and self-management aren’t taught. These courses are great for learning STEM and technical skills, but some kids either get eventually discouraged by ever increasing difficulty, or develop very narrow skills that are hard to apply in their daily life.

This course is centered around life skills. The Minecraft world is used to teach these skills.

Even younger kids are able to understand this course’s ideas and apply them in the game, and then, in their daily life.

Skills like planning, clear communication and emotional regulation can be applied in their daily life at home and at school immediately after the lessons.

What’s more, the kids will be able to grow and apply these skills throughout their entire life.

This is the only course in the world that teaches these skills using Minecraft in a fun and challenging way.

To apply, please, click on the link below and fill out the application form at the next page.

https://miq.school/minecraft-course-2026-trial/

FAQ

What is the maximum number of students per class?

There will be up to 5 students in class.

What do we need to participate?

You will need to install Minecraft Bedrock Edition (and keep it updated), and Zoom – we will communicate via Zoom. You will also need a reliable internet connection.

It is recommended to use a PC, but any other set-up that has Bedrock Minecraft and Zoom will work.