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What could be the best way to introduce the world of computers to a kid, let's say of 6 years old, so that he learns to handle it like a toy and stops dreading it like some esoteric, arcane and (thebrainbin.org)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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What could be the best way to introduce the world of computers to a kid, let's say of 6 years old, so that he learns to handle it like a toy and stops dreading it like some esoteric, arcane and recondite machine from some eldritch, enigmatic, cryptic and phantasmal world ?

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[–] 51 points 10 months ago (7 children)

We started with Win10 e-waste, and started with Ubuntu Mate. Java Minecraft was the trick. Got them motivated, reading, doing math. Then wanting to install mods taught them about the filesystem and such. Age 4 and 6, they both got on board and are now top tier computer users. Giving them access to gimp, inkscape, and tinkercad got them using it for art and 3d modelling to get involved in the 3d printer, and they use blockbench to make custom models...which you configure with json in a resource pack. They're now 9 and 11 and are motivated to play on computers.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago* (6 children)

    Heheh that was my oldest a couple years ago. He's 9 now but I let him use one of my laptops when he was like 7 to play Minecraft, and it eventually became "his" laptop.

    He's also using Tumbleweed.

    He learned how to do all sorts of Minecraft console commands mostly "on his own" (as in, without my guidance, he saw some of the stuff streamers were doing and I explained what it was printed out a little cheat sheet for him and set him off on his own to mess with it. I haven't taught him any Linux shell (yet), but he is getting pretty good at typing and keyboard shortcuts.

    I don't much care for the streamers. Especially a lot of the Minecraft streamers that pander to kids (cough Mikey and JJ). I don't allow them in the house anymore. But I'm glad he got some inspiration out of it at least.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    I dont know much about how family friendly they are (id say mostly) but mumbo jumbo, grian, and a large number of the people who make up the Hermitcraft are all pretty wholesome, entertaining, some of them are wizards with Redstone, others for aesthetic builds.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Those you mentioned are pretty family friendly, I think. I'd add GoodTimesWithScar, he's pretty wholesome.

    To add to this comment, I'm over 30 and still can't resist binging a few episodes once in a while, particularly Mumbo Jumbo's Redstone magic. Don't feel the need to watch everyone. I usually stick with Mumbo Jumbo and then when someone else builds something really cool I hop onto their video and watch a few episodes, like when Scar built the death star, or then when Grian showed Scar his secret temple I went to watch him build it. (... I had significantly more free time at that time due to life circumstances)

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  • [–] [S] -2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    @titter@lemmy.world these are games ??🤔🤔🤔

    @surfrock66@lemmy.world @JasonDJ@lemmy.zip

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    My suggestions of grian and mumbo are you tube minecraft streamers. I used to only watch mumbo because he is good at technical things like the in-game logic circuitry called Redstone.

    Hermitcraft is a minecraft server that hosts players over a season to build and play and create content together

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    We steered the kids away from Minecraft YouTube, but I actually watch it myself. And I would say Mumbo is good if you have a kid that likes technical stuff and contraptions. Grian is good if you like pranks. BdoubleO100 is an absolute artist, and I think he's my pick, especially his Hermitcraft Season 10 complete season. GoodTimesWiithScar gets into a lot of silly chaos. Hermitcraft gets a new world every season, and so, picking a hermit and watching a whole season of their content actually may be a fun family activity. I get a lot of inspiration from what they do.

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