Apr 20, 2021
My 7 year old maps his pandemic experiences in Minecraft
On a cool, sunny, spring Sunday, my husband and I took our two sons to Robert Moses beach and walked to the Fire Island Lighthouse. Due to covid, entry to climb the 182 steps to the top was limited. While we waited on line outside the visitors center, I pointed out features of the architecture- the Gothic arches, the keystones, the portico, the lintels. Inside, the kids scuffled around the gift shop with $10 of spending money. They bought chips and a couple of souveniers: a pirate map in a tiny glass bottle, and a figurine of the black and white striped lighthouse.
We live close by so we had been to this lighthouse before and learned about the old Fresnel lens and how they used to light the lamp with whale oil. We waited in the museum room and examined a cut-away model of the building.
Finally it was our turn to climb to the top. We were given plastic gloves (the rope railings couldn’t be sanitized) and we climbed the spiral iron grate stairs inside the lighthouse. Every couple of rotations we encountered a landing and a window to look out towards the ocean. At the top, the lighthouse keeper reminded us to hold on to our hats, and he let us out to the windy balcony. We marveled at the clear view of Fire Island, a protective barrier island off the coast of Long Island where we live.
Back home, I would normally ask the kids to draw a map or a picture of wherever we went that day. But after our trip to the lighthouse, my youngest son went straight to his laptop and started building in Minecraft.
He spent the evening working on his black and white lighthouse which included the spiral stair (in a more pixilated fashion, naturally), the windows and landings, the Fresnel lamp, and the balcony at the top. He walked me through his 3D model, tracing his path from his memories, reminding me of funny things that happened, and commenting on the great view from the top.
The next day he built the lighthouse visitors center, complete with the portico arches, the museum room, and the gift shop. He even added the people we came in contact with- the ticket collector, the salesperson, the lighthouse keeper. In Minecraft, they were villagers who he could trade with.
I was impressed with how he correctly located in Minecraft each place he came in contact with in real life- the chips display in a little alcove, the cash register counter with panes of glass in certain places to minimize contact, the basket of plastic gloves at the ticket counter and the table with hand sanitizer. He even found a way to render the pirate ship in a bottle souveniers.
I sometimes lament the time spent on computers this past pandemic year, but I also find it has given my kids new tools to express themselves and share their experiences. Map-making is a powerful tool to share one’s story, and I think Minecraft, with its easy, 3-dimensional model-making and world-building capabilities, has that potential too.
