LEGO Education SPIKE Essential ignites curiosity and excitement for hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) among elementary school students. This story-driven learning experience is part of the LEGO Learning System, designed to introduce students to STEAM concepts while strengthening literacy, math, and social-emotional skills.
The 449-piece set includes four unique minifigures, each with distinct personalities, who lead students through relatable, story-based challenges. Using simple hardware — such as a small intelligent Hub with two I/O ports, two motors, a color sensor, and a 3×3 light matrix — along with block-based, icon- and word-driven programming inspired by Scratch, students bring their creations to life. The set also contains a variety of age-appropriate LEGO elements, replacement parts, and a durable storage box with color-coded trays for easy organization and classroom management.
SPIKE Essential includes five curriculum units, each with eight 45-minute STEAM lessons aligned to educational standards. Every lesson provides detailed online lesson plans, extension activities in math and language arts, assessment rubrics, and teacher support videos. To help educators feel confident teaching STEAM, LEGO Education also offers a comprehensive professional development program that complements the SPIKE Essential experience.
Through playful, story-based problem-solving, students develop key skills for the future. They learn to create and modify sequences, test and debug code, and use loops while gaining an understanding of the engineering design process — defining problems, generating ideas, testing prototypes, and refining solutions. The lessons also explore scientific concepts such as energy, energy transfer, and collisions. Collaborative discussions encourage communication and teamwork, while storytelling nurtures empathy, creativity, and social-emotional learning.
SPIKE Essential empowers young learners to think critically, communicate effectively, and design innovative solutions — all while having fun building, programming, and sharing their ideas with others.
