Learning Tools
SPIKE Essential Brings Hands-on STEAM Learning to Grades 1–5
LEGO Education has pulled the wraps off a new component in its LEGO
Learning System, Spike Essential.
According to LEGO Education: "SPIKE Essential offers playful
learning experiences in which students solve problems through
storytelling. The cross-curricular STEAM solution includes familiar
LEGO building elements, four new LEGO Minifigures with different
characteristics and personalities that are relatable to students, and
standards-aligned learning units using everyday themes. The
characters and stories not only engage students in STEAM learning,
but also foster social-emotional skills. With 50 combined hours of
educational content, SPIKE Essential combines age-appropriate icon-
and word-based block coding with simple hardware — including an
intelligent Hub, motors, a Light Matrix, and a Color Sensor — to
bring STEAM concepts to life with the LEGO Education SPIKE App."
Designed for students in grades 1–5, Spike Essential includes
449 LEGO bricks and five hardware components. On the education
side, it includes five curriculum units that each offer six to 10
hours of "educational content and 30+ minutes of language arts
and math extensions for each lesson." Each one also offers
seven or eight lessons, each one 45 minutes long.
SPIKE Essential is available for preorder now for $274.95 per set
and is expected to ship in the fall. Each set is designed for one or
two students. Further
information can be found on LEGO Education's site.
About the Author
David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 29-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.
He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEDavidNagel (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).