FIRST® LEGO League - Explore logo

FIRST® LEGO League - Explore

Lead a hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programme in your school or community for 6–10 year olds

5 step guide

Read the guide to start your own FIRST® LEGO League - Explore

  1. 1
    Register with FIRST
  2. 2
    Order your season materials and robotics kits
  3. 3
    Review the Season Resources
  4. 4
    Receive Season Materials
  5. 5
    Run your first session!
1

Register with FIRST

  • 5 x LEGO® Explore Sets
  • 2 x Team Meeting Guides
  • 1 x How to run Class Pack guide
  • 30 x Engineering notebooks
  • 30 x LEGO Medals
  • 30 x Certificates

FIRST® Class Pack provides the framework for facilitators to guide their students through 12 sessions where they’ll use their Engineering Notebooks to explore the fundamentals of engineering through a real-world problem, learn to design and code, and create unique solutions made with LEGO® bricks and powered by LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential.

Resources available to facilitators include scope and sequence options, which feature variations to customize activities to extend learning beyond the 12 sessions using FIRST and LEGO Education supporting materials.

Class Pack includes:

  • Class Pack Guide: This digital guide provides guidance, management tips, and best practices for how to implement FIRST LEGO League Explore in the classroom and instructions on how to run the festival event in your classroom or school.
  • Team Meeting Guide:  This comprehensive guide is printed and available digitally through the FIRST Learning Management System - Thinkscape and provides facilitators with guidance and lesson plans on how to run 12 sessions and prepare for a culminating celebration. It includes student outcomes, tips, guiding questions, sharing guidance, and clean up pointers.
  • Engineering Notebooks:  These student workbooks are used to record ideas, notes, and sketches - printed versions of the books are included with Class Pack, and are available digitally through the FIRST Thinkscape Portal. It provides a guided 12-session experience, including an introduction activity, session tasks, and concluding with the team sharing what they learned and accomplished. Additional Engineering Notebooks can be purchased in bundles of 10, up to three bundles per Class Pack. For the best experience, if more than three bundles are needed, please order an additional FIRST LEGO League Explore Class Pack.
  • Session Slides: A session-by-session series of slides that contain real-world connections such as videos, images, and helpful questions to guide students through each session.
  • Explore Sets:  Includes 700+ LEGO® elements that will help them bring their model to life with the LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential.

Create your account with FIRST to get started.

2

Order your season materials and robotics kits

  • Purchase your season materials by following the instructions at this link.
  • If in Canada, purchase your LEGO SPIKE Essential sets from one of the following vendors:

You will also need access to compatible devices to download the programming software.

3

Review the Season Resources

If you're based in Quebec, Canada, you can browse those specific resources here.

 

4

Receive Season Materials

Once you receive your Explore Sets and Guidebooks, you’ll be almost ready to go. Review your Team Meeting Guide and plan your first session by having a look through your guides and the online resources.

5

Run your first session!

Now you're ready to go! Keep working through all of the resources in the guidebooks and on the website.

FIRST LEGO League Explore Resources Explore and download the season resources here.


About FIRST® LEGO League - Explore

"“These programmes have been an amazing resource for both the children and families in our community. As a volunteer for 20 years, I’ve gotten to see countless students come through the programmes, learning and growing in ways that continue to amaze me. It’s so much more than just the robots. The creativity, problem solving and teamwork skills that these programmes foster will stay with these students throughout their lives and have already enabled them to impact their communities for the better. It’s been an honour to be a part of that process for all these years.”"


Karen Berger, Key Volunteer
Karen Berger, Key Volunteer

Great for

  • Typically run by school teacher or community members
  • Looking for ways to engage kids in STEM
  • Working with 6-10 year olds

Time

This can be done during curriculum time in 1 lesson per week.

Resource checklist

  • Registered with FIRST
  • Watched the welcome video & training video
  • Your Class Pack and Robot Sets