Teachers can reduce lesson planning time by using or adapting LEGO Education’s free, curriculum-aligned STEAM lessons. SPIKE Essential offers primary teachers 5 curriculum units for pupils in Year 1-5: Great Adventures, Amazing Amusement Park, Happy Traveller, Crazy Carnival Games and Querky Creations. Each fun unit includes lesson plans and teaching resources for 7-8, 45 minute lessons (including an open project which is 2 x 45 mins). Within each hands-on lesson, 30+ minutes of literacy, art or maths extensions are included which your pupils will love! In addition, ideas for differentiation and assessment are included, along with handy top-tips for teachers. Fantastic!

The LEGO Education SPIKE Essential STEAM lesson plans are designed to support whole-child development by purposefully and naturally integrating literacy, maths and social-emotional learning. The lessons are designed with a consistent structure and flexible built-in scaffolding to help pupils grow into independent STEAM thinkers.

In total, each curriculum unit contains a total of 6-10 hours of educational content. And it’s FREE! Simply select (and adapt if needed) the lesson plans that meet your pupils’ needs to create engaging curriculum content for everyone, year on year! Curriculum maps are available for each year group which supports long-term curriculum planning. You can expand pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding over time. Start simply and progress through primary years using stackable LEGO bricks, simple hardware and an intuitive programming progression from icons to word blocks. Why not enable deeper learning experiences by combining SPIKE Essential with other solutions, like BricQ Motion Essential and Personal Learning Kits? They will unlock additional learning opportunities that keep pupils engaged and excited about STEAM learning whether they’re in the classroom or somewhere else!

In addition to the adaptable, free lesson plans and resources, LEGO Education’s online, on-demand, self-guided professional development programme makes it easy to get started with SPIKE Essential in your classroom and builds confidence in bringing STEAM to life every day! Whether you are new to STEAM teaching or have years of classroom experience, a bespoke development programme will support you in learning, practising and mastering the skills you need to maximise student outcomes in your school. And it’s FREE! Find out more here.

SPIKE Essential is also used in the exciting, worldwide STEM programme called FIRST® LEGO® League Explore! Teams of 6-9 year olds work together, using their imagination, creativity and problem-solving skills to find solutions to a real-life challenge. This ignites their interest in real-world themes and develops key skills and confidence through fun, playful STEM-based activities. It’s perfect for pupils who love to get creative and hands-on in a team or for your budding young scientists, engineers and programmers! Every child’s achievement is celebrated in this play-based programme. Find out how to get involved in FIRST® LEGO® League Explore here.