Grade 4 kids explore Manitoba history through Minecraft

A group of Grade 4 kids are now the proud ownersof a virtual version of the historical Fort Rouge, a 2016 take on the historical structure built in 1738.

As part of a class project to learn about Manitoba history, Fabrice Siaux knew he wanted to have his class atcole Julie-Riel build their own version of the fort, which was built on the Assiniboine River for the explorer La Vrendrye.

But instead of putting it together with cardboard or blocks, he had them craft it in cyberspace in the popular video game Minecraft.

"The way I describe Minecraft is, it's virtual Lego," Siaux said.

"I figured, OK, all the kids love Minecraft, and I have access to Minecraft, why don't we build a virtual fort in Minecraft? That got them hooked right away."

Siaux said he had the kids break up into groups to work on different elements of the fort like the outer wall, the soldiers' house and the chief's house.

While they were at it, Siaux said he managed to sneak in some teaching, too.

"They always say, 'Can we play Minecraft?' and I always have to remind them, we're not playing Minecraft, we're using Minecraft to learn, and they're slowly starting to get that," Siaux said.

The project is over now, but Siaux said it left an impression.

"They keep asking me everyday if we can go back and explore the fort, and I want to say yes for educational reasons, but again, there's other things to do," he said.

It's not the first time Siaux has used Minecraftto teach.

Last year, he took a workshop on how to bring the game into the classroom after noticing how much his students seemed to like it. After testing it out by having his last class build habitats for animals they were studying, he decided to try out a class-wide project this year.

Siaux said he feels like the kids retained the history lessons nested in the game.

"I asked them, OK, what was the first explorer in Manitoba? And they were able to say, 'It was La Vrendrye.' And I asked okay, what was the first fort built in Winnipeg? And they were able to say, 'It's Fort Rouge.'"

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