You can craft in One block at time, and you can even beat the game and ride the ender dragon, all in survival. also most mobs have a special effect while held, like magma cubes make you immune to fire and lava and pigs make you able to walk on platforms above you while held.
My 8 Yr old son wants you to create this 🙂. A snow biosphere, where "snow sheep" live in caves. When it snows on the sheep you can collect the snow, which you can use to make a "snow spear". When you stab water with the snow spear, the water turns to ice.