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Minecraft buildathon

Enter the Go Construct Minecraft Buildathon competition to plan and build an environmentally friendly and sustainable structure with prizes to be won courtesy of Microsoft.

Participants smiling

What is it?

To support families at this difficult time, CITB wants to give primary school pupils and their families the opportunity to engage in an exciting and interactive competition.

Using Minecraft Education Edition, families can come together as a team and use construction skills to design and build a winning structure that is unique, sustainable and environmentally friendly all the while having fun indoors.

Who is it for?

The competition is open to pupils ages 5 to 12.

Families are encouraged to join in with the design phase of the competition; however pupils must do 100% of the building in the Minecraft world.

What do you need to enter?

You will need to have the Minecraft Education Edition app installed on a desktop/laptop (Windows 10 required) or Apple iPad.

You can log in using your school’s Office 365 Education account details. See ‘Additional Information’ if you need help getting started.

Buildathon participants

Are there prizes?

Prizes will be awarded to 1st place winners of each regional competition courtesy of Microsoft.

There will also be a national final held for all competition winners.

When is the competition?

We are holding a total of 6 competitions allowing you to choose a date that works for you.

Each competition is the same, with winners announced after each competition.

Buildathon 1

Wales

Winner: Gabriel Walsh, Year 4, St Marys RC Primary school, Cardiff.

England and Scotland

Winner: Alice Francis, Year 4,  Bishop Wood C of E Junior School, Tring, Hertfordshire, England.

Buildathon 2

Wales (11th - 15th May)

Winner: Zac Allsop, Roath Park Primary School, Pen-Y-Wain Rd, Cardiff.

England and Scotland (18th - 22nd May)

Winner: Oscar Stockdale, Oldfields Hall Middle School, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

Buildathon 3

Wales (15th - 19th June)

  • Launch webinar: 15th June
  • Winners announced: 24th June

Wider UK (22nd - 26th June)

  • Launch webinar: 22nd June
  • Winners announced: 1st July

Let's go!

Think you have what it takes to challenge contestants across the UK?

Entering is easy and you can work remotely to design and build a structure.  We encourage family to support the build - but not take over!

Step 1

Register for your chosen competition date.

Step 2

Attend the launch webinar for your regional buildathon (further details provided in confirmation email)

Step 3

Taking on the construction related roles of project manager, construction manager and design manager, contestants and families will design, build and explain their structures.

Find out more about the judging criteria to build a Minecraft structure with your family.

Step 4

Submit your structure using the competition guidelines (see 'Judging criteria')

Competition requirements

  • This competition is open to any child with access to the Minecraft Education Edition. The app can be downloaded for free at education.minecraft.net.
  • Siblings may work together as a team with support from parents.
  • To play, the Minecraft Education Edition app must be downloaded on to a desktop or Laptop (Windows 10 required).
  • You can also play on iPad - download the app via the Apple App Store.
  • For pupils in Wales, you have free access to Minecraft Education Edition using your Hwb logins and passwords.
  • For pupils in the wider UK,you can access Minecraft Education Edition for free using your school’s Office 365 Education login and password. Find out more.
  • Google, Apple and other platform account details will not allow you to login to Minecraft Education Edition.
  • To enter the competition, register your interest to enter the remote buildathon. The link will take you to a registration form with more details.

You will be a ‘Construction Professional’ and along with your family, will need to explain and show:

  • The inspiration behind the project and explain how it will help the environment by using as many natural resources as possible.
  • Why your chosen blocks were the right materials to construct your project. A minimum of 3 different blocks must be included in your explanation.
  • A design that aligns with the finished build. The design must be drawn using a ruler and have a key to inform of any icons or colours represented in the design. This can be made up of a maximum of 2 x A4 pages (back & front if needed) or you may use any platform to create your design but the final design must be turned in to a PDF formatted file.

Here you'll find a list of all the resources required to enter the competition:

Please take notice of your region’s due date for submissions. We cannot judge any builds after the due date. Thank you.

Entries will be judged on three criteria listed below:

  • The build must make use of natural resources within the Minecraft world.
  • An explanation of why certain blocks were chosen to construct your build (minimum of three different blocks in your explanation).
  • A design that accompanies your world drawn using a ruler and shows at least one perspective of the build. A key must be included to help explain colours or symbols used in the design.

You can use the inventory tools within Minecraft to meet these first 2 requirement but the design must be turned in as a PDF file.

  • Upon completing your build, save it as an MC file.
  • Then go to <insert link> which will give you access to a secure DropBox cloud storage area to upload your file and PDF design file.
  • Please use the following to name your file based on your region-specific buildathon. (please ensure to use the email that you registered with when naming your file):

Go Construct Minecraft Buildathon 1 (April)

Wales

  • W1_<first name_last name> 
  • example:  W1_John_Doe

Wider UK (outside of Wales)

  • B1_<first name_last name>
  • example:  B1_John_Doe

Go Construct Minecraft Buildathon 2 (May)

Wales

  • W2_<first name_last name> 
  • example:  W2_John_Doe

Wider UK (outside of Wales)

  • B2_<first name_last name>
  • example:  B2_John_Doe

Go Construct Minecraft Buildathon 3 (June)

Wales

  • W3_<first name_last name> 
  • example:  W3_John_Doe

Wider UK (outside of Wales)

  • B3_<first name_last name>
  • example:  B3_John_Doe
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