How does FIRST LEGO League Explore Work?


Register your Team

FIRST® LEGO® League Explore is for young people aged 7 - 12 years (2nd - 6th Class), working in teams of up to 4 students with a supporting adult coach.  We have teams taking part from schools (in class and after school), volunteer groups, youth clubs and more.  


Complete the Challenge

Each year FIRST® LEGO® League releases a new challenge for the teams. The challenge involves teams designing and building a robotic LEGO Model using LEGO Education SPIKE™ Essential or WeDo 2.0 and the FIRST LEGO League Explore Set along with creating a poster display.


Attend a Showcase Event

Present your robotic model and poster to your peers and adults at showcase events hosted by your school or youth organisation.  We have lots of support to help you along your journey.

What do FIRST LEGO League Explore teams do?


Research the Challenge

Each year a theme related to a real word topic poses a challenge to teams. Teams will need to research the topic in order to progress through the challenge.




Develop an Innovative Solution

 Teams must develop an innovative solution and present their findings (in imaginative ways!) to a team of reviewers and their peers.




Design and Build

Teams prototype their solution using the Explore Set and LEGO Education SPIKE Essential or WeDo 2.0 sets. They code and engineer moving components into their models.



Show your findings

Children showcase their learning journey at the end of the programme with a Celebration Event, which involves showcasing their project and innovative solution.


What do we need to take part in FIRST LEGO League Explore?


LEGO Education Kits

Each team will require a LEGO Education SPIKE Essential or WeDo 2.0 set, along with a device (tablet/laptop) to code on. SPIKE Essential and WeDo 2.0 bring STEM to life and are excellent resources for your classroom outside of FIRST LEGO League.  


Register for this season

When you register your class for FIRST LEGO League Explore you will receive an Explore Set for each team of four children.  Each Explore Set includes over 700 bricks and pieces along with a Team Meeting Guide containing 12 lesson plans and an Engineering Notebook for each participant.  Full details can be found on our registration page.


The Explore Registration kit

Upon registering for FIRST LEGO League Explore you will receive an Explore Set for each team, an Engineering Notebook for each student and a comprehensive Teacher's Guide.  This guide will assist you with your FIRST LEGO League Explore journey and can be referenced as much or as little as you like.

What supports are available?

Funding Supports

Through our fantastic partners, Science Foundation Ireland and the IET, you can apply for funding to participate in FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge.


These packages have been made available through the generous support of the SFI Discover Program, and the IET and their sponsors and donors.


All applications are vetted and assessed on a case-by-case basis.


Online Resources

As part of your registration you will have access to our online resources, including our E-learning platform. Here you will receive support to get you up and running with SPIKE Essential, lesson plans and technical know-how.


Ready to register?