The Programme
FIRST® LEGO® League shows young people what it means to be an engineer and work with STEM skills and subjects, but focuses on practical, hands-on learning, so they are doing, not watching. FIRST® LEGO® League Explore is designed for 6-9 year-olds and it's an exciting, non-competitive STEM challenge that rapidly develops teamwork, design, programming, digital and communication skills.
Each year a theme relevant to the world around them is chosen as a focus for the children’s work. The teams research the topic, displaying their ideas on a team poster, build a LEGO® model and programme one part to move using LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential. Teams will then prepare to share their work and celebrate what they have discovered with a team of reviewers and other local teams at a FIRST® LEGO® League Explore Festival.
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore Class Pack is an ‘in house’ version of the globally recognised FIRST® LEGO® League Explore programme. It gives you the opportunity, resources and guidance to run and deliver the programme within your curriculum time.
What you can do
Teachers and coaches are fully supported with comprehensive resources available to download on the IET Teacher Resources webpage, training videos, digital assets and support.
You can sign up here, and if you're in a location with funding, complete the 30 Day Challenge to get grant funding to cover all the costs associated with delivering the programme in your school or community group. The team at Learnit (Ireland) or the IET (UK) will support you through the process.
The Programme
FIRST® LEGO® League shows young people what it means to be an engineer and work with STEM skills and subjects, but focuses on practical, hands-on learning, so they are doing, not watching. FIRST® LEGO® League Explore is designed for 6-9 year-olds and it's an exciting, non-competitive STEM challenge that rapidly develops teamwork, design, programming, digital and communication skills.
Each year a theme relevant to the world around them is chosen as a focus for the children’s work. The teams research the topic, displaying their ideas on a team poster, build a LEGO® model and programme one part to move using LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential. Teams will then prepare to share their work and celebrate what they have discovered with a team of reviewers and other local teams at a FIRST® LEGO® League Explore Festival.
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore Class Pack is an ‘in house’ version of the globally recognised FIRST® LEGO® League Explore programme. It gives you the opportunity, resources and guidance to run and deliver the programme within your curriculum time.
What you can do
Teachers and coaches are fully supported with comprehensive resources available to download on the IET Teacher Resources webpage, training videos, digital assets and support.
You can sign up here, and if you're in a location with funding, complete the 30 Day Challenge to get grant funding to cover all the costs associated with delivering the programme in your school or community group. The team at Learnit (Ireland) or the IET (UK) will support you through the process.
Enterprise FabLab use LEGO and other building materials as a means of prototyping and creating various projects, particularly in the areas of robotics and engineering.
FLL was particularly helpful in FabLabs as it is a versatile and widely available building material that can be used to quickly create and prototype ideas. We launch the First LEGO League as a great tool for teaching programming and coding in the schools and allows for the creation of robots that can be programmed to perform various tasks.
The impact of FLL in the schools that we partnered was significant. By providing a fun and engaging platform for learning, they increased interest in STEM subjects in their students. Additionally, the collaborative nature of FabLabs fostered a sense of community and encourage the exchange of knowledge and skills. By promoting creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration, FIRST LEGO LEAGUE and Enterprise FabLab helped to create a more innovative and connected community.
STEAM Education & outreach is fundamental to the FabLab project and seeks to invite, young and old, to explore, engage and upskill in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. By involving people as early as possible in STEAM we can inspire future generations to develop the competences needed to thrive and shape our ever-changing world and to spark excitement and enthusiasm in STEAM careers in the North East.