What is Lego Spike?

Lego Education SPIKE  comes in two forms, Spike Essential, geared towards elementary students, and Spike Prime, aimed towards middle school students. Both kits provide users with a hands on approach to learn the basics of coding and robotics. Lego SPIKE comes with hundreds of online lessons, guides, and tutorials for use in schools, home, and other learning environments.

Overview of Lego SPIKE

Components

Each SPIKE kit includes:

• A set of LEGO Technic building elements
• Multiple motors and sensors
• A rechargeable Smart Hub that connects to a computer or tablet for coding and charging. 

View the SPIKE Prime set overview

How it Works

The Lego SPIKE program features Units, premade lessons designed to teach and enhance science concepts. These Units feature multiple lessons where the user is guided through building and coding creations, and also come with lesson plans and educator support.

There are also builds available which users are able to build and freely code, creating their own machines, tools, and experiments.

Coding

Lego SPIKE can be coded in 3 ways, Icon Blocks, Word Blocks, and Python Script. Each option offers a different level of complexity, allowing users to build their coding, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills overtime.

Icon Blocks: A visual and beginner-friendly block-based coding language, Icon Blocks features inages and symbols describing what each block does instead of word descriptions. Blocks combine snap together in a sequence to code the Lego creation.

Word Blocks: Similar to Icon Blocks, Word Blocks combine together to create instructions for the Lego creation, however, these blocks have word descriptors and build on Icon Blocks in level of complexity.

Python Script: A widely used text-based coding language, Python offers greater flexibility and challenge for users ready to move beyond block coding.