Tag Archives: child development

“Why create Reid TDR on YouTube with Minecraft?  Part 3: Why YouTube and Minecraft?”

So, why start Reid TDR on YouTube?

Because gaming was a passion of mine (see Part 1) — and after 2 years of playing Portal, Minecraft, and BigLittle Planet with Reid, it appears the force is strong with him, too.  Thus, to answer some of the questions of how my kids will engage with YouTube and the Internet and technology (information/entertainment tools, specifically) – we are skill building with our YouTube show (see Part 2).  We will be creators too – not just consumers.  And we will focus on areas that may be underserved in the community of YouTubers as we further develop these skills.

We are starting with video content on YouTube similar to those that are already successful (topics like Minecraft minigames, adventures, tutorials, storymode, story-driven games, puzzle games), and Reid and I are both still improving our skills at crafting a 15-25 minute episode that will hold interest.  Meanwhile we are making sure that content is safe for younger kids (no swearing, no bad words, few bad situations, positivity and questions, silliness, sharing/helping, bonding, ethics/morals, communication, etc).

YouTube happens to be the current popular video media outlet for this endeavor; however, other media are similarly valuable to create an ecosystem that people want to engage with, participate with, and create with.  What will the next YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter be?  What will the next Audible, WordPress, Book Publisher, or Kindle be?  And can we as a community help utilize, optimize, and participate in the development of that technology for a positive impact on the world and society?  I hope so!   So, lets start creating media where things are.  And thus, where things start is YouTube (but they certainly don’t end there!)

 

And why focus on Minecraft?

Because it is a toolbox for so much: a virtual Lego set, an adventure game where you can work together and help each other, a place for experimentation, an engaging space to learn basic circuit design and computer logic and de-bugging skills, a unique way to learn resource management, a trove of self-driven problem solving exercises, place where you can be collaborative or competitive, and much much more.

Whatever you are trying to teach in real life, there is a way to explain it in Minecraft.

And now that the Minecraft phenomenon is global and pervasive across all forms of technology, it provides a new language for shared experience and connection.  Now that Microsoft is a power behind Mojang, my hope is that Minecraft will also stay a relevant and evolving gaming and education platform for another decade or two.  Minecraft Education Edition exists and can be integrated into school curricula.   The Hour of Code also has a Minecraft version.

Minecraft is pervasive in our children’s experience of the world.

As a creative person with an entrepreneurial itch, I see Reid TDR on YouTube as one part of a larger eco-system that will be developed over time.  As opportunities arise, new components will be created and expanded in this eco-system.  Books?  Games?  Real-life experiences?  Vlogs?  Podcasts?   VR experiences?  I don’t know.  As I said, the eco-system (like the game industry and media/technology) is continually fracturing and shifting and morphing and evolving.  Opportunities, collaborations, introductions, ideas, and resources are also always shifting and morphing and evolving.

This Blog is part of the initial expansion.  If you enjoy it, please subscribe to our Reid TDR Channel on YouTube, join our mailing list, follow on Twitter, Like our Reid TDR Facebook Page, share this Blog with a friend or Minecraft Parent, and leave some positive feedback and inspiration below!

This Reid TDR Blog is also part of a larger strategy to have a positive impact on parents and kids throughout the world over time.  If you want to be a collaborator, creator, or experimenter with us, let us know.  All of that is a topic for a future blog series.

And finally, the existential, immortal ego part of me also wants my kids and grandkids to be able to “know” me when I am gone.  Creating something that will live beyond me (like videos and blogs) can enable this.  It is a legacy for my kids and for their kids.  It will hopefully enrich their lives in the future, or at least entertain them in some small way (as technology will certainly have eclipsed this medium by then).

I wish I could capture some of the engagements I had with my dad and grandfathers when I was young, to have their teachings/wisdom recorded so I could listen back to them.  As I get older, I would have loved to review, debate, and discuss their ideas and life concepts with them to gain greater knowledge.  Though I couldn’t accomplish that very easily with my parents when I was a child (I could just use my memories, photos, and anything they happen to have written and saved somewhere); today, we have the capacity to record all sorts of things for our children’s future experience — even if we aren’t here anymore!

For example, I asked my dad once why he had so many fiction books on his book shelf (Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, The Peanuts, etc).  Specifically, I asked why he read many of them again and again every few years.  “I mean, after you’ve read the book, don’t you know what happened?” I asked.   “Son,” he said, “I know what happened, but it all means something different the next time I read it.  The book is the same, but I am a different reader.”

Ok.  I get that now.  And especially related to science fiction, he’d mention that it gave glimpses of the future — and that some of it was actually happening today or just about to happen.  While none of that made sense when I was a boy, it does now.  I hope some gems of parental wisdom leak into Reid TDR’s videos during our “interactive play,” too.

Perhaps Reid TDR’s channel and this Blog will be one way to capture some of that “wisdom” for my kids and their kids.  Perhaps my kids will extract new value over time and see Possibilities and Passions and Potential in these words that had only been foreshadowed when I wrote them.  Perhaps they will perceive their role in the World Community differently after re-reading these Blogs when they are 15, 25, 35, 45, 65, and 95.

And perhaps your kids will find that these Blogs and Videos are a way of learning to be a better member of the Gaming Community and World Community.   Perhaps it can help them be inspired and better connected to their Mom/Dad.  Perhaps the words and videos can be points for dinner table discussions, exploring ideas, sparking your family’s creative engines!

This can be your way to tap into and use the positive energy of the Reid TDR community to strengthen your own family bonds and friendships around the world.

My hope is that our viewers will enjoy, be inspired by, and want to deepen their relationships with their parents too – via gaming or other interactive play mechanisms.

Remember, by age 6, the foundation of your relationship with your child has been poured!  Interact and enjoy!

Watch Reid TDR on YouTube or engage on Facebook.

Let us know your thoughts!  @DaddyDroyd on Twitter

“Why create Reid TDR on YouTube with Minecraft?  Part 2: YouTube Possibilities”

From the previous post “Part 1: Passion & Purpose with Daddy Droyd,” you can see where Passion starts to open Possibilities directed by Purpose.  In this entry we will explore some of those Possibilities and Purposes.

Which brings us to YouTube.

What will my kids do with the Internet, and YouTube specifically?  Is it a passive entertainment or education vehicle?  Or is it a broadcast and communication platform for their voice and passions?  Or is it an entrepreneurial global economic engine?  Are they consuming content or creating it?  What skills can they learn as a creator of Video Game YouTube shows?  What can they learn just by watching it?  Are we just creating more “internet clutter” or is there a Purpose behind what they share on the internet?

These were the questions rattling around in my head every time my kids and I turned to YouTube to learn something (e.g. how do pistons work?) or to be entertained (e.g. what silly thing did Stampy or Dan TDM do today in Minecraft? (@StampyLongNose, @DanTDM)).  It was these questions that drove me to launch Reid TDR.

For those that think a YouTube Video Game Channel is cute or perhaps a waste of time in child development, consider the skillset required to create a substantive channel:

Some of the skills I have had to develop for creating ReidTDR’s Video Game YouTube Channel include:

  • Music composition
  • Recording engineering
  • Video editing
  • Video production
  • Hardware design/setup/cabling
  • Licensing and legal compliance
  • Maintenance and care of electronics and data storage
  • Computer space management
  • Data management
  • Social Media management
  • Project management
  • Engaging people with words (the audience, collaborators, potential viewers, Reid, my wife, etc)
  • Improving my speaking
  • Creating a story arc / Narrative design
  • Search engine optimization
  • Advertising
  • Graphic editing
  • Animation
  • Self-analysis and self-critique
  • Consistency and determination
  • Habit development
  • Prioritization
  • Time management
  • Expectation setting (for myself, Reid, my family, collaborators, viewers, etc)
  • Problem solving / Trouble shooting
  • Process design
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Creativity
  • Telling jokes (usually badly!)
  • Laughing and being flexible in the moment
  • Playing a character
  • Developing a persona
  • Enrolling others in the project
  • Learning about early childhood education
  • Networking with others
  • Negotiation
  • Experimenting with content structures (2 minutes? 20 minutes? Tutorials? Adventures? Etc)
  • And much much more

 

I think I have just scratched the surface.

The Video Game world and YouTube creators seem to be both expanding, fragmenting, and redirecting at a rapid rate, so many of these new learnings will simply be a starting point for continued evolution and development.  Also, many of these technical skills will be transferring to my sons as they get older and can take over some of the editing, data management, story design, game design, social media management, etc.

In speaking with experts in child education, I have also been told that a child’s relationship with a parent in areas of trust, communication, and openness are mostly developed by the age of 6.

WHAT?!

You mean if I don’t have a strong bond of trust and communication with my kids before they turn 6, that there’s no hope for open communication with them as they grow and mature?

No. That’s probably not what it means.

Yet, knowing that the FOUNDATION of that relationship has crystalized by age 6 means I’ve got to be involved *in depth* with my kids before age 6.  Regular Video Gaming sessions can be one way to develop that bond, just like playing catch, playing chess, playing duets, reading books together, going on hikes, building with legos, making pillow forts, etc.

Why YouTube?  Well YouTube is where my family (and sons) learned details about Minecraft.  And pistons.  And airplanes.  And trains.  And trombones.  And cellos.   And beatboxing.  And so much more…

And very quickly thereafter, my wife and I learned the pitfalls of not monitoring Minecraft videos (i.e. swearing, age-inappropriate topics, etc).  It is also where we learned how to do basic things in Minecraft by watching videos of others playing, tutorials demonstrating specific things, and entertaining shows in the Minecraft world.  Those experiences stimulated us to get the game, learn how to play and build, try new things beyond what we’d seen in the videos, and experiment.  Those experiences also made me wonder “how on earth did that badly recorded video with poor grammar and horrible sound quality on [insert topic here] get 500,000 views?!”

It is also where I wondered, “Why are we spending time watching someone ‘play’ silly games in a fake world doing things of no real consequence?  Where is the applicable educational value for real life?  Where is the life lesson in this show?  Or is this all just brain candy?”  And, after jolting for the off button more times than I’d like to admit, it is why the top search term for Reid TDR’s channel is “Minecraft videos for kids with no bad words.”

But all that is a topic for another blog.

Here’s Reid TDR’s YouTube Channel and Facebook Page

–Daddy Droyd   (@daddydroyd on twitter)

What are your thoughts?  Leave a comment below.