LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential is the cross-curricular STEAM solution for primary education.
SPIKE Essential engages pupils in hands-on investigation of STEAM concepts while contributing to literacy, math, and social-emotional development.
Curriculum-aligned learning units use everyday themes, relatable Minifigures with different personalities and familiar LEGO building elements to solve problems through storytelling.
SPIKE Essential consists of a main classroom brick set with a wide variety of LEGO elements and intelligent hardware, along with the intuitive SPIKE App, all of which is accompanied by a selection of unit plans and comprehensive online and in-app support.
SPIKE Essential excites pupils and delivers strong STEAM learning outcomes, developing their STEAM knowledge and practices, and 21st-century skills.
Part of the LEGO Learning System
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential is part of the LEGO Learning System, and ensures a progression of learning year after year, starting in the lower grades and progressing to the upper primary grades.
The consistent unit structure builds a strong foundation for easy progression into secondary education and more advanced learning opportunities with SPIKE Prime.
The LEGO Learning System is an intuitive, inclusive, and highly adaptable hands-on learning system. It future-proofs pupils’ skills, and makes them confident life-long learners by giving them unlimited possibilities for hands-on, playful STEAM learning.
Interconnected Solutions that work Seamlessly Together
The easy-to-adopt LEGO Learning System offers solutions that work with or without technology. Implement the full system at once or introduce individual solutions over time.
Explore the LEGO learning system.
It’s time to rethink learning
It’s time to rethink how we empower pupils to take ownership of their learning. The pedagogical approaches that are part of learning through play are proven to drive improved learning outcomes.
The fact that they also generate enthusiasm, motivation and a lifelong love of learning means that we owe it to our children to embed them in our approach to learning.
We know that hands-on learning through play is one of the best ways to boost confidence, and that is why LEGO Education SPIKE™ Essential was designed specifically with that idea in mind. Read more about learning through play in our position paper below.
Download the LEGO position paper.
Intuitive, inclusive and adaptable learning solution
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential combines aligned curriculum units, colourful LEGO elements, a simple coding progression, and intelligent hardware.
With the STEAM learning units pupils of all levels are fully engaged as everything is easily adaptable to any learning environment, making it fast and simple for you and your pupils to get started and begin learning.
Minifigures with individual identities and characteristics
Pupils use everyday themes, relatable minifigures with their own personalities, and storytelling to solve problems in an engaging and meaningful way.
Familiar stackable LEGO bricks
Building and hands on learning is made easy and accessible for all ages with simple stackable LEGO Bricks. The Bridge Pin connects creative system-brick builds to hardware and LEGO Technic elements.
Intelligent hardware to build smart creations with immediate response
Create engaging, interactive models by connecting the Intelligent Hub, motors, a Light Matrix, and a Colour Sensor – to bring STEAM concepts to life.
Curriculum-aligned lesson plans
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential curriculum units are designed around playful narrative-based problem-solving with relatable themes that can develop young pupils into independent STEAM thinkers.
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential includes 5 units that focus on national standards for both lower and upper primary grades.
Each unit is comprised of seven to eight 45-minute lessons, plus language arts and math extensions for each lesson. This is 50 hours of classroom content in total!
During each lesson, pupils brainstorm and develop creative solutions through trial and error while collaborating with their peers.
Here’s an example
In the Spinning Ferris Wheel, the team of minifigures wants to ride the Ferris Wheel together. How can your pupils help them?
In this lesson your pupils will:
- Modify an existing solution to make it work properly
- Practice helping a story character
- Describe key ideas or details from a text
LEGO’s favourite lessons
Check out these other curriculum-aligned LEGO Education SPIKE Essential lessons for inspiration on how to boost STEAM skills in your classroom:
Unit plans
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential comes with 5 different unit plans, each with a unique learning promise, summarising what your pupils will learn over the course of the unit.
- Great Adventures: Creating Interactive Stories
- Amazing Amusement Park: Engineering a Fun Day Out
- Happy Traveller: Programming Your Way Around Town
- Crazy Carnival Games: Playing with Energy Transfer and Collision
- Quirky Creations: Engineering Cool School Hacks
Essential Combined Combine LEGO Education SPIKE Essential and LEGO Education BricQ Motion Essential to challenge your pupils’ STEAM knowledge and push their creativity to new heights!
Teacher resources
Get Started After you purchase your solution, getting started is easy! This is where you will be guided on how to start using your solution in the classroom.
Professional Development LEGO Education courses provide teachers the opportunity to experience lessons from a student’s perspective, master classroom management, and explore best practices in classroom implementation. Courses support ongoing teacher training and development needs.
Resources We have FAQs, teacher guides, software and videos that will provide what you need to get the most out of our solutions for your pupils.
Consumer Service If you need help with anything else, contact our Consumer Service. They are here to help you make the most of your product.
Intuitive coding experience
Using the LEGO Education SPIKE App pupils will experience intuitive coding. With LEGO Education SPIKE Essential, pupils can progress all the way from lower to upper primary following a progression of block-based coding from icon blocks to word blocks based on Scratch.
This provides age and skill appropriate tools for developing their coding proficiency.
Ready for STEAM competitions
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential extends its creative spirit beyond the classroom to robotics clubs, coding programs, and maker spaces.
STEAM programs are a highly motivating and engaging way for pupils to develop and demonstrate their science and technology skills.
These programs help pupils learn the cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork skills they’ll need to excel in a changing workforce.
Explore with competitions
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential will empower you and your pupils to take on the world of STEAM competitions.
Robotics competitions like FIRST LEGO League and World Robot Olympiad offer fun hands-on challenges that get pupils excited, build confidence, and develop the kind of skills needed for real world success.
SPIKE Essential’s Explore unit allows teams of pupils to practice teamwork and collaboration in the FIRST LEGO League Explore Division, where they’ll be introduced to STEM, coding, and robotics design as they complete fun real-world challenges.
FIRST LEGO League
FIRST LEGO League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16 through fun, exciting hands-on learning.
Participants gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s pupils and teachers build a better future together.
Our three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.
LEGO Education professional development
LEGO Education SPIKE Essential is fully supported with online self-guided or facilitated professional development training program, enabling teachers to learn, practice, and master the competencies necessary to achieve the complete SPIKE Essential learning outcome.
Teachers actively engage in this experiential, personalised professional learning program designed to produce a strong set of transferrable instructional skills and strategies that foster pupil success, and facilitate hands-on, playful STEAM learning.
Want to Learn More?
Contact the LEGO distributors today and begin building STEAM confidence in your school.
