ROM Minecraft

Building Museum Learning Block-by-Block

Minecraft: Education Edition is a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment.
A Minecraft screenshot of a path leading across a rural landscape toward a large volcano with lava pouring down the side.

About

A Minecraft screenshot of items in frames including a custom-built trilobite

ROM is currently the only museum in the world to have multiple worlds curated into the Minecraft Education in-game library, filled with custom-built blocks, characters, and museum objects to bring museum learning to interactive and engaging life.

ROM Minecraft worlds are designed to leverage the power of this amazing learning tool to create immersive, engaging, and memorable learning experiences covering Earth Sciences, Climate Change & Sustainability, Math, Coding, Visual Arts, Music, and more.

Learn more about Minecraft Education.

Why Minecraft Education?

We use Minecraft as a tool for learning a little differently from the way students might play at home for fun.  Read the summary of peer-reviewed research outlining the benefits of learning with Minecraft.

Read Now

Uses the intrinsic motivation built into the Minecraft platform to increase student engagement.

Captures all the pedagogical benefits of using models or dioramas to reflect student learning, but without the limitations of desk space or budgets (and no mess to clean up after).

Includes built-in tools for assessment, literacy differentiation, translation, and student security.

Cultivates STEAM skills including spatial mathematics, cartesian coordinates, engineering, circuit logics, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Develops critical 21st century skills including communication, collaboration, creativity, and social-emotional skills.

Minecraft Activities

For detailed activities and supporting materials for each Minecraft world, click on the image cards in the Learn More section below.

A Minecraft screenshot of a dinosaur dig site with exposed dinosaur fossil, tents, truck with crates, and a holographic recreation of an ankylosaur.

Museum Minecraft: Rocks and Minerals

Students will begin their journey in the Royal Ontario Museum’s research centre in the fictional world of Rocklandia. From there, they will travel to three different research sites to help ROM scientists with their studies of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Along the way, students will encounter challenges blocking their path that they will need to code their way through with the assistance of Indigenous scientists and the Minecraft agent. 

After visiting all three research sites, students will return to the research centre and build their own museum to share their learning about rocks and minerals.

 

A Minecraft screenshot of a sunken cargo ship with fish swimming around crane arms and broken cargo containers

Museum Minecraft: Sustainable Style: A Climate Change Resource

Inspired by Noelle Hamlyn: Lifers, this resource includes several optional activities covering Science, Art, Music, and Climate Change topics for Junior, Intermediate, and Senior grades. 

Students begin their journey on a sunken cargo ship, and must use clues from the Virtual Lifers exhibition to unlock doors and find their way to the ship's bridge. From there, students are transported to their hometown and become the town’s new Urban Planners, remaking the town to be more sustainable.

 

Development of ROM Minecraft Worlds was generously supported by Barrick.

 

A Minecraft screenshot of a scientist standing in front of tables covered in rocks and minerals.

The Science of Minecraft (with ASL)

In this video with ASL interpretation, we dig into Minecraft with a casual, informative, and fun look at some of the science behind the game. We explore real rocks from the ROM’s collections, compare them to their Minecraft counterparts, and even break them down to see what they’re really made of! 

Learn More

A Minecraft screenshot of a dinosaur dig site with exposed dinosaur fossil, tents, truck with crates, and a holographic recreation of an ankylosaur.
Resource

Project: Museum Minecraft: Rocks & Minerals

Help ROM scientists investigate the nature and properties of Rocks and Minerals, and display that learning in your very own museum.
A Minecraft screenshot of a sunken cargo ship with fish swimming around crane arms and broken cargo containers
Resource

Project: Museum Minecraft: Sustainable Style

Use the power of Minecraft to transform a community into a more sustainable place to live.
A Minecraft screenshot of a scientist standing in front of tables covered in rocks and minerals.
Resource

The Science of Minecraft

Minecraft is an immersive game in which players can dig deep down into a world made of rocks and minerals. But have you ever wondered how those rocks and minerals compare to their real-world counterparts?

Language Support

While we work on the official translations for the Museum Minecraft worlds, you can use this video to learn how to change the Game Language and Coding Language, as well as how to auto-translate any in-game dialogue, boards, or books using the Immersive Reader. 

Watch on YouTube
A language selection screen set to Canadian French

Minecraft Education Support - Immersive Reader and Game Language

4m 39s

 

Teacher Training

A Minecraft screenshot of a partially-constructed town

Minecraft 101 for Teachers

Follow along in this play-along session designed to familiarize teachers with the functions and controls in Minecraft Education.
A Minecraft screenshot of an in-game guide standing next to the coding agent. Chalkboards in the background outline steps to creating a code to summon the agent, and indicate that the viewer is facing west.

Teacher Coding Camp

Play along in a simplified world aligned with the coding skills needed for Museum Minecraft: Rocks and Minerals or Museum Minecraft: Sustainable Style to learn the basics of Minecraft MakeCode.

More Hands-on STEAM Programs

A hand touches an ipad displaying 3D models of Egyptian objects
Program
ROM Makerspace
A teacher in a plaid shirt engages with four students seated around a table in a classroom.
Program
Hack the ROM

Other Programs

View All
Royal Ontario Museum Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Bloor Street Entrance.
Program
Summer Club: Session 3
ROM Member Registration Opens: February 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM General Public Registration Opens: February 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM Set your kids up for a summer of fun times and creative learning. Summer Club is back – celebrating its 84th year – with immersive, in-person camp programs unlike anything else in the city. Engaging, energetic, and full of activities, our summer programs feature in-gallery and classroom learning, bringing kids face to face with the stories held within the vast art, culture, and nature collections at ROM. Summer Club groups welcome kids ages 5-16 with a variety of themed
Docent Ksanti in the China Gallery. © Roya Adeli.
Program
Museum Tours
Free with general admission, ROM offers daily public tours led by trained Museum Docents and Guides du ROM. Each engaging tour provides insights into the collections, from highlights of the Museum to focused gallery adventures. No reservations are required—just check the daily schedule when you arrive at the Museum and join the tour of your choice, covering museum highlights or focused gallery adventures. It’s an easy way to discover the stories behind the objects. Important Schedule Note Tour schedules may vary. We recommend confirming the day’s listings at the Museum.
Group of people on a ROMWalks Plus tour led by a guide.
Program
ROMWalks Plus
ROMWalks Plus are guided walking tours of Toronto organized by the Royal Ontario Museum’s Department of Museum Volunteers to provide support for the Museum. The tours started in 1980 as an outreach program for the ROM when it was closed for renovations. ROMWalks encompass the diverse aspects of Toronto's vibrant neighbourhoods including history, architecture, arts of all varieties, education , and more. ROMWalks Plus walks allow guests to experience new walks that have not yet been released to the general public, in small groups led by our most experienced guides. They are a ticketed
Royal Ontario Museum Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Bloor Street Entrance.
Program
Summer Club: Session 3
ROM Member Registration Opens: February 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM General Public Registration Opens: February 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM Set your kids up for a summer of fun times and creative learning. Summer Club is back – celebrating its 84th year – with immersive, in-person camp programs unlike anything else in the city. Engaging, energetic, and full of activities, our summer programs feature in-gallery and classroom learning, bringing kids face to face with the stories held within the vast art, culture, and nature collections at ROM. Summer Club groups welcome kids ages 5-16 with a variety of themed
Docent Ksanti in the China Gallery. © Roya Adeli.
Program
Museum Tours
Free with general admission, ROM offers daily public tours led by trained Museum Docents and Guides du ROM. Each engaging tour provides insights into the collections, from highlights of the Museum to focused gallery adventures. No reservations are required—just check the daily schedule when you arrive at the Museum and join the tour of your choice, covering museum highlights or focused gallery adventures. It’s an easy way to discover the stories behind the objects. Important Schedule Note Tour schedules may vary. We recommend confirming the day’s listings at the Museum.
Group of people on a ROMWalks Plus tour led by a guide.
Program
ROMWalks Plus
ROMWalks Plus are guided walking tours of Toronto organized by the Royal Ontario Museum’s Department of Museum Volunteers to provide support for the Museum. The tours started in 1980 as an outreach program for the ROM when it was closed for renovations. ROMWalks encompass the diverse aspects of Toronto's vibrant neighbourhoods including history, architecture, arts of all varieties, education , and more. ROMWalks Plus walks allow guests to experience new walks that have not yet been released to the general public, in small groups led by our most experienced guides. They are a ticketed

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