As a kid, I enjoyed playing the early versions of what is now known as one of the most successful video games (in terms of copies sold) in the world - Minecraft. Though most popular among younger age groups, Minecraft benefitted from the presence of a much older demographic, namely 20-35 year-old men, who spent time creating modifications and plugins that revolutionized multiplayer Minecraft servers and turned them into gold mines. Initially, these modifications (and servers themselves even more so) were difficult for those who had no prior in-depth knowledge of computers to create, install, and/or run. As many of the children who played Minecraft discovered how these things were accomplished, they unintentionally taught themselves basic computer organization. It was not long after that it was proposed that this could be an excellent way to introduce children to Computer Science.
To teach children the basics of Computer Science, instructors have found that instead of introducing them to lines of text that appear to be random and confusing to beginners (like the typical "Hello World" starter program), it is more practical to begin with something they are already acquainted with. Minecraft, being as popular as it is, provides children with a foundation of knowledge of the existing game mechanics and likely even partial knowledge of the means by which coders modify those mechanics. It comes as a convenience that Minecraft itself is fairly easy to modify, with software to teach anything from how to modify the games' basic mechanics to changing the entire appearance of the world through a more artistic perspective (LearnToMod), and even having its own language (Skript) to work with. By connecting Computer Science to something seen as exciting and very heavily visual, the students are much more likely to learn concepts as they can actively experience the results of their work, thoroughly enjoy it and want to learn more.
While the majority of instructors use various block-based high-level languages (similar to Scratch, which if you are not familiar, is also commonly used as a Computer Science teaching technique for young children), it is also possible to begin with common languages such as Python or Java. This head start in a field that is in such high job demand in our technological era will likely prove invaluable to children as a boost into a job market that is heavily dependent on workers with these skills.
Sources:
Content - http://www.learntomod.com,
https://dev.bukkit.org/bukkit-plugins/skript/,
https://www.engadget.com/2015/11/17/minecraft-hour-of-code-tutorial/,
http://fortune.com/2015/11/16/minecraft-microsoft-code/,
http://www.youthdigital.com/mod-design-1.html
Graphics - http://tinyurl.com/hr5gvbw,
http://tinyurl.com/z2f3ww5,
http://tinyurl.com/h47587r
