FIRST® LEGO® League introduces science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. FIRST LEGO League participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together.

In FIRST LEGO League, students engage in hands-on STEM experiences, building confidence, growing their knowledge and developing habits of learning. FIRST LEGO League’s three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

Select an age group above to find out more about each program.

What is FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge?

FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a friendly competition where teams of students between the ages of 9 and 15 are involved in research, problem solving, programming and engineering. They build and program a LEGO® robot that performs the missions of a Robot Game. As part of the Challenge, teams will also design an innovative solution to a real-world problem relevant to the annual theme.

Excel in four components

The FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge consists of four components in which all STEM qualities of the team members are used:

Robot design & robot games

Arguably the most spectacular part of the FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge. The teams design, build and program a LEGO® robot on the competition table. The mission is to collect as many points as possible during the final. A professional jury assesses the robot design and the chosen strategy.

Innovation project

Within the annual theme, a problem is presented that scientists and engineers face today. The team dives into the books, knocks on the door of experts and thinks out-of-the-box when looking for a technological solution. During the event day, a jury will evaluate and assess the innovation project.

Core Values

Friendship, cooperation and sportsmanship are the Core Values of the FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge. These are at least as important to the jury as the technical talents.

Participate with team(s) or as a school

A school, organization, company or private person can put together a team with 2 to 10 team members. These team(s) participate in the local regional final for a chance to win one of the many Awards.

Did you know that you can also participate as a school? Thanks to a Class Pack, you can organize a competition at school level in which the winning team(s) advance to the regional finals. A Class Pack includes an extensive guide on how to organize this event. Would you like to know more about our Class Packs? Then contact us quickly.

What do you need for FIRST LEGO League Challenge?

Challenge set

The Challenge set consists of the competition mat and the LEGO mission models. It's renewed every year.

When registering, you must order at least one Challenge Set to get started. With more than 3 teams, we recommend ordering an extra Challenge Set.

LEGO® robots

Each team builds and programs a LEGO robot. The team may use LEGO robot(s) that they already own, such as the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Education.

Are you a new team or do you want to purchase the latest new generation robot? Then we recommend the following sets:

• LEGO Education SPIKE™ PRIME basic set: with this basic set you can build a simple robot to participate in the robot competitions.
• SPIKE™ PRIME Expansion Set: The Expansion Set is an addition to the base set and includes additional parts, wheels, color sensor and large motor. With this set you can build the Advanced Driving Base, a design similar to the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robot.

The robot set and expansion materials are not included in your participation. So you have to get started with your own robot(s) or purchase one or more yourself.

Software

The software to program the LEGO robots can be downloaded for free from the LEGO Education website and includes free lessons.

Competition table

The match mat is placed in a match table during the final. It is recommended that the team also build such a table, but it is not mandatory. A construction plan is made available to new teams.

Downloads

• Brochure: How it works

What is FIRST® LEGO® League Explorer?

In FIRST LEGO League Explore, teams of students ages 6 to 10 get to grips with the fundamentals of engineering as they explore real-world problems, learn how to design, program and create unique solutions using LEGO bricks, powered by the LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential.

For whom?

Every primary school (during class hours or after school) or association can participate in FIRST® LEGO® League Explore. Together with the class or team you take up the challenge and, guided by the ready-made Dutch teaching material, you go through the (maximum 12) sessions step by step.

As a school you can register an entire class, but also part of the class. A team consists of a maximum of 6 people aged 6 to 10 years. There is one adult who accompanies the team.

How to get started?

Explore set

FIRST LEGO League Explore requires an Explore set from the current season. This set contains approximately 700 LEGO parts. With this, a team builds the model for the challenge. After registration for the program, the set will be sent to the registered address.

Team Meeting Guide and Engineering Notebook

These guides are a collection of activities and support materials to help FIRST LEGO League Explore coaches guide their teams through the challenge. The guides help team members learn about science and technology, and how to apply language skills in a fun and creative way. After registration, you will automatically receive the guides by e-mail.

LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential or WeDo 2.0 set

To make the most of the support material (Team Meeting Guide and Technician Notebook), we recommend purchasing the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential set (article number 45345). This material gives depth to the program through the free educational software with lesson package.

In addition to the above sets, large LEGO building plates can be used to build the team model (article number 9286).

Note:

• You must purchase the LEGO SPIKE™ Essential yourself, it is not included in the participation fee. This set can be reused every year.
• Only genuine LEGO® parts may be used in the challenge.

Poster materials

Each team will need craft materials and a sturdy board (e.g., cardboard) to make the "SHOW ME" poster. The dimensions of the board are described in the Team Meeting Guide.

Computer, laptop or tablet

You will need a computer, laptop or tablet with bluetooth to use the software, view the challenge PDF documents, receive updates and announcements, and research the annual theme.

Downloads

• FIRST LEGO League Explorer: how it works
   

FIRST LEGO League Discover is a playful introductory STEM program for teams of children ages 4-6, that ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning. By the end of the program, children emerge more confident, better equipped to face future challenges, and discover the joy of learning. A new and exciting Challenge is presented every year, and each team of four children begins their exploration of this real-world theme with an exclusive LEGO Education Discovery Set. With this set as a starting point, they build a solution to the Challenge with LEGO^® DUPLO^® elements. Teams share their journey, ideas, models, and STEM skills at a celebration event. Throughout their experience, teams operate under the FIRST^® Core Values, celebrating discovery and teamwork, all the while having fun! Discover is not available as an individual team option and is designed for classrooms or programs that serve 8 or more students. 

• More information coming soon