Minecraft Social Development Program

This is an educational program that uses Minecraft as the environment, not a supervised gaming group with no specific targeted outcomes. Because of that, there are no trial sessions.

Families should enroll with the intention of their child learning and building specific social and friendship skills.

Kids are live on camera and live in the game.

Google Meet allows children to see one another, greet friends, participate in conversations, and practice communication skills while they play.

Minecraft creates an environment that mirrors a birthday party or a lunchroom.

Children should already know how to navigate Minecraft independently and be comfortable using Google Meet before joining the program.

The one-hour session is just the beginning.

Children are welcome to stay on Google Meet after group to continue talking and playing together.

They can also log into the private Minecraft Realm outside of group hours to build, explore, and coordinate play with friends throughout the week.

Many families tell me these extra opportunities become some of their child's favorite moments.

The program is divided into three adventures, with each adventure building on the skills learned in the one before it.

Rather than working toward all 24 Social Skill Cards at once, children focus on earning 8 Social Skill Cards during each adventure.

The program follows a traditional school-year format because friendships and social skills take time to develop. Children become more comfortable on camera, learn what to expect from the group, and repeatedly practice new skills with the same peers.

Each Minecraft Realm is limited to 10 registered players. Once all 10 spots are filled, another player cannot be added.

Enrollment is open throughout each Phase but closes once that Phase begins, so children know who to expect and what to expect, creating a more consistent learning environment.

Children are placed into groups based on their current social goals, life experiences, and the friendship skills they are working to build, not by diagnosis or ability level.

The program is designed for neurodivergent children, but a formal diagnosis is not required.

Neurodivergent children learn differently, communicate differently, and navigate friendships differently. That's exactly why this program exists.

However, they do need enough independence and regulation to be available for the practice.

Children earn Skill Cards and Character Awards by participating with peers, trying new strategies, accepting coaching, repairing mistakes, and staying engaged in the group.

If a child spends much of the session leaving the room for parent support, or unable to participate with peers, they aren't getting the opportunity to practice the skills the program is built around.

My goal is for every child to have the chance to experience success.

The most important rule in this community is simple:

We treat other people with kindness.

Conflict is expected. Mistakes are expected. Disappointment is expected. Those are all part of learning friendship.

What isn't part of this community is intentionally making the experience unsafe or unkind for someone else. This includes behaviors such as:

• Intentionally destroying another child's build
• Repeatedly targeting another child
• Cursing at another peer
• Racist, transphobic, or other intentionally hateful language toward another child

These behaviors prevent both the child and their peers from practicing the friendship skills the group is designed to build.

If a child intentionally breaks our kindness rule, they'll be placed in Visitor Mode for 10 minutes.

Visitor Mode allows children to remain with the group while taking a break from interacting with the Minecraft world. They can still watch, listen, and participate in conversation, but they cannot build, break blocks, or interact within the Realm.

However, while a child is in Visitor Mode, they aren't actively demonstrating the friendship skills and behaviors that lead to earning Skill Cards or Character Awards.

If a child is placed in Visitor Mode three times during a session, and that same pattern continues during the next session, and again during the following session (three consecutive sessions), they'll be asked to leave the program.

At that point, it's an indication that the child currently needs a level of individualized behavioral support that can't be provided within a group friendship setting.

Because this is a learning environment, tuition is not refunded if a child is unenrolled for consistently disrupting it.

Each phase includes a Show & Tell or a creative project, like designing a character or artwork that represents them, that ties into Victoria's background as a Creative Arts Therapist. These aren't just fun extras, they give kids another way to express who they are and connect with the group.

Halfway through each phase and at the end, kids pause to reflect: how group is going, what feels hard, what they're proud of, and what they're looking forward to next. These reflections become part of their Adventure Binder alongside their cards and awards.

Kids don't just talk about friendship, they practice starting it. Each phase includes a guided worksheet where a child picks a peer from group, plans exactly how to ask them to play after hours, and maps out when and what to do together. By the end of the year, they've made a plan to stay in touch with three friends going forward.

Skill cards aren't the whole story. Kids also get structured tools to notice what they're feeling, name what's hard, and figure out how to come back into the group, because that's part of the skill, not separate from it.

Worksheets like mapping out a hard moment from start to finish, or checking in on a worry before asking a friend to play, aren't behavior therapy. They're scaffolding for staying in the moment long enough to practice and repair, which is exactly what this program is built around.

Each phase includes a Show & Tell or Artwork Quest activity, like designing a Minecraft character or creating an Overworld identity banner, that ties into Victoria's background as a Creative Arts Therapist. These aren't just fun extras, they give kids another way to express who they are and connect with the group.

Halfway through each phase and at the end, kids pause to reflect: how group is going, what feels hard, what they're proud of, and what they're looking forward to next. These reflections become part of their Adventure Binder alongside their cards and awards.

Kids don't just talk about friendship, they practice starting it. Each phase includes a guided worksheet where a child picks a peer from group, plans exactly how to ask them to play after hours, and maps out when and what to do together. By the end of the year, they've made a plan to stay in touch with three friends going forward.

Skill cards aren't the whole story. Kids also get structured tools to notice what they're feeling, name what's hard, and figure out how to come back into the group, because that's part of the skill, not separate from it.

Worksheets like mapping out a hard moment from start to finish, or checking in on a worry before asking a friend to play, aren't behavior therapy. They're scaffolding for staying in the moment long enough to practice and repair, which is exactly what this program is built around.