A group of students have harnessed the power of one of the world's most popular video games, Minecraft, to help introduce primary school children to the world of molecular chemistry.

Most teachers would probably want to make sure that their pupils' attention is diverted away from the virtual world of video games when it comes to trying to teach them new things, but engagement through an educational game could apparently be the way forward. 

Minecraft is a game played by tens of millions of children the world over, where players are able to use their imagination to build a virtual dream world. The students from Hull University used the construction capabilities to build molecular structures in game that kids could explore and discover. 

As well as this, the pupils could also find a range of other delights and surprises as they ventured through the virtual world and read about molecules and their make up. 

Their aim was to engage the primary school pupils in a fun and interactive way that gave them a new way to learn through puzzles, quizzes and treasure chests dotted around the landscape. 

The students developed the project with the help of the university's Minecraft expert, Joel Mills, and senior lecturer in biological chemistry, Dr Mark Lorch.

Dr Lorch said: "Minecraft is a fabulous tool for exploring structures of buildings, landscapes and even anatomy. 

"So why not molecules? We showed it to a class of children the other day and there were lots of wows and gasps. 

"This just really grabs their attention. It is a really novel way of engaging them and delivering information to them."

Dr Lorch added that the real benefit of the game was that it was a challenge to kids, and for those who worked their way through all of the tricky levels created by the students, they would have learned a whole lot about molecular chemistry along the way.

As well as being able to promote basic science in primary aged pupils, the next stage for MolCraft, as it has become known, is a trial in secondary schools across England, where it can be used to give a deeper insight into the world of molecular chemistry.