Short answer: Minecraft and Roblox both come with official ways to build, code, and design, not just play. Start with Minecraft's Creative mode for younger kids, a free Minecraft Education demo lesson around 8 to 12, and Roblox Studio for older kids, with you nearby for the first project.
Last verified 2026-10-01 against the official sources listed with this post.
If your kid can spend an afternoon in Minecraft or Roblox, they already have the patience it takes to make something. The trick is pointing that energy at the tools the game makers built for creating. Everything below either comes with the game or is free to start, and it all comes from the companies' own pages.
Do this tonight
- Pick one tool from the age list below. Just one.
- Install it from the official site. For Roblox Studio, go to Roblox's Studio setup page and click Download Studio, run the installer (RobloxStudio.exe on Windows, RobloxStudio.dmg on Mac), click Launch Studio, and sign in with your kid's Roblox account. For Minecraft Education, download the app and choose Try a demo lesson.
- Build one thing together in 30 minutes. A house, an obstacle course, a silly story game. Let them drive, and you ask questions.
- Agree on the rule for sharing (more on that below) before anything gets published.
What to try, by age (our picks)
These age bands are our suggestions, not the companies'. Your kid's reading level and patience matter more than the number.
Around 6–9: Minecraft Creative mode. Minecraft describes Creative mode as the mode that focuses on the building aspects of the game. In Creative mode, Minecraft says you have unlimited resources and the ability to fly, and "mobs won't attack you." That makes it a calm place to build. Give a challenge: your house, your school, a zoo. Two things to know: Minecraft has a recommended PEGI rating of 7 and an ESRB rating of Everyone 10+, and multiplayer is turned off by default on child accounts in both Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.
Around 8–12: a Minecraft Education coding lesson. Minecraft Education is the classroom version of Minecraft, with lessons and a Code Builder tool for coding in MakeCode. For home, the catch is licensing: Minecraft Education says it "typically requires a license purchased by schools or educators." Ask your kid's school first. Minecraft Education says your child may already have access through their school account. Families can also buy it directly through Minecraft Education's commercial offer (listed at $36 per user per year and set up through a free Microsoft 365 admin account). A regular Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription doesn't include it. Even without that, Minecraft Education says anyone can play an Hour of AI lesson for free: download the app, launch it, and click Try a demo lesson. In Hour of AI: The First Night, players solve coding puzzles and program an AI Agent to craft tools and build shelter before dark.
Around 10 and up: Roblox Studio. Roblox Studio is Roblox's free tool for making games, and it runs on Windows and Mac. Roblox says the same account works for playing and creating. Two official starting points:
- The beginner coding lesson. It starts with a Story Game template, and the first step happens on paper or in a text editor: your kid writes a short, silly story with blanks that players will fill in, then turns it into code.
- The core curriculum, which recreates a simple 3D platformer where players collect coins. Roblox says it's meant for people who already know general coding ideas, so save it for the second project.
Building, not ghostwriting
Roblox's core curriculum offers both Build with Assistant (Roblox's AI helper inside Studio, which can generate scripts) and Build it Yourself options. Roblox says completing the manual steps can help you understand how Studio works. That's the same tutor-not-ghostwriter idea we use for homework: let the AI explain or unstick, but have your kid write the first version. Our post on kids and AI chatbots covers the talk to have about AI.
Building time vs. screen time
This is a family choice, not a research finding. A house rule to consider: time spent making something counts differently from time spent only playing, as long as there's something to show at the end. A new level, a script that works, a build they can give you a tour of. Keep your usual limits for the rest, and keep the computer in a shared room while they're learning.
Before anything goes public
Roblox. Roblox says new games are private by default, so only the creator and people they give edit access can get in. Releasing a game to everyone, or even to a small group of friends or playtesters, is a separate step. Roblox requires an age check first (a facial age estimate or government ID) plus a content questionnaire. Our pick: agree that nothing goes public until you've played it together and checked chat and contact settings with our Roblox settings by age post.
Minecraft. Building alone in single-player keeps it simple. If your kid wants to build with friends, Minecraft says parental controls for a child's account are at account.xbox.com/settings. See our Minecraft chat guide first.
Going further
When the first project is done, both companies have more free material: Roblox's Creator Hub has tutorials for building, scripting, and making avatar items, and Minecraft Education's parent page links worlds to try at home or in school, including its CyberSafe series on protecting personal data and using AI tools responsibly.
Our free checklist builds a plan for Minecraft, Roblox, and your kids' other apps, no login needed.
Guidance, not a guarantee: settings change; check the linked help pages.
Raising Bytes is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Mojang, Microsoft, Roblox, or any other company mentioned. App names are trademarks of their owners.