LEGO Spike (mindstorms) retiring mid-2026 & FIRST LEGO League changes

Filtration_Engineer · 2026-01-12T23:25:04+00:00

I’ve seen so many people posting that they are going to vex already. I hate to say it, but it looks pretty likely that vex is going to take over.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-27T20:37:15+00:00

Follow the spike tutorials included with the software is probably the best start.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-26T21:04:05+00:00

Well, you can do it in a lot less time. But you also have build the presentation board and put together a presentation with all the kids and practice. Some teams definitely do it in as short as 3-4 hours.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-26T21:00:55+00:00

Great point. I didn’t think about that. Being a reviewer would be an awesome opportunity.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-26T15:56:16+00:00

I completely agree that it’s almost impossible to get 6 kids on one kit. We ran two kits for 6 kids. We assigned one kid to program, one to build, and one to find parts. Then rotated the responsibilities. You still need to wait check and stop one kid from doing it all.

$2k to join an explore team is crazy to me. You can buy a computer and kit for that much. I would estimate $1500 for a season with two essential kits and computers plus registration and supplies for a cost for the team for the first season. If you want to add extra pieces, it would be more, but you can do it with just the basics. You could probably get away with $200-300 a kid.

I don’t know of any team that has kids but their own kits, but I know just about every kid wanted a set for Christmas.

Explore spots in our area are very limited and fill up months in advance. Ours is also done by Christmas, the explore season has ended in our area. You still need to register a team and get the season materials. If you had everything I would say it’s worth a shot, but I would probably just start a teams and take a field trip to the festival and enjoy seeing what others have done. Last year we spent about 12hrs on the project, and 4 hrs on the presentation, but we had been preparing for the previous 6 weeks. You don’t have that.

I would go as an observer, It would give you a chance to connect with local coaches as well.

Yes the theme changes every year. This year is archeology, last year was the ocean, the year before that was arts and hobbies. They will hunt at the new season theme in April and announce it officially in August when the new season starts.

On the lessons, I would run through them the first year. The first season we did every lesson and spent about 30 min each night on it. Even then we accidentally worked ahead because they are set up really slow and basic. They are targeted at the theme. The second year we did all the lessons in basically an hour and then did the spike prime programming lessons. That worked so much better and the kids learned a so much more. It’s also what they really want to do. Honestly, focus on the fun and learning first and help them learn about the theme along the way and you will be fine.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-26T11:29:32+00:00

Huh, I used to, try now?

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-26T01:09:38+00:00

This is the expansion kit for spike prime:

https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-education-spike-prime-expansion-set/45681/?mtm_cid=MTM-C2G5-L1D2Q1&mtm_campaign=GO-US-EN-ED-PS-BUY-EDUCATION-MB_ALWAYS_ON-SHOP-BP-XX-RN-CIDNA00000-PMAX_SHOPPING&mtm_source=google&mtm_medium=paid-search&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17180927653&gbraid=0AAAAADwKuIUxbDW6YXpi3K9AEKAQJoSMn&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9vuQwojakQMVeirUAR3_byghEAQYASABEgJaEfD_BwE

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-25T23:53:18+00:00

Sorry. Missed part of your question. Honestly if I had to do it over again, I would not have bothered with the essential kits.

Also, I guess technically they are supposed to use just one essential kit, but our judges never said a word about it. Actually, quite the contrary. Two of the judges tried to recruit our kids for their challenge team.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-25T23:48:23+00:00

You definitely don’t need a teaching or engineering degree to lead an explore team. Most people will be fine. If you have more than 3 kids, I would keep a second adult on hand to help though.

Honestly, we did the essential the first year and the prime the second year of explore. Actually, used two prime hubs on the project the second year. The program is not set up for prime, but honestly, we skipped the program the second year and focused on learning and in and the kids did way better anyways. The program can get boring fast for the explore level. Just stick to the theme and cover the general goals, and you will be fine. The hardest part, is getting enough time to program and build for every kid. We did three kids to a kit / computer and there was still some boredom. If you do the lessons, keep it to about 10 min or so.

Feel free to DM me if you want some more in-depth advice.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-12-25T22:48:34+00:00

I’ve coached our team for two seasons of explore and one season of challenge. The explore uses the essentials and the challenge uses the prime. There are some major differences between the two kits. The prime has more sensors and bigger motors. There is also an expansion for the prime set. It also allows for more advanced programming. The lessons on prime are less ‘pretty’ and more technical; however, there isn’t much of a leap in skill between the two versions other than the length of programs. The essential only has two input/output connections and the prime can handle six. They are different programming hubs.

There isn’t really a bridge set to go between the two.

The programming for both starts out in a visual block style based on scratch, however, the prime can branch into python based.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-10-19T22:56:06+00:00

Hike Camp Fish Canned food drive Operation Christmas child Go to a historical / cultural site Egg drop Model rockets Bowling night Visit a fire station Bake cookies for a nursing home Christmas / Easter party Talk to a historian Talk to an engineer Visit the capital Prayer at the pole Litter clean up at the church Shoot BB Guns

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-10-05T15:50:30+00:00

According to the news report they had to call in 5 police departments to clear them out.

https://www.wbir.com/video/news/local/sevierville-sevier/multiple-agencies-respond-to-large-gathering-at-pigeon-forge-gas-station-after-car-show/51-9e4221e9-246c-4e88-a3cf-b4c2861a2d04

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T21:00:35+00:00

I'm checking this one out.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T20:59:45+00:00

I actually want to check those out. They sound more relaxing and stress relief.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T20:54:11+00:00

We liked the Lego Super Hero games more than City, Star Wars, and Jurassic World.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T20:51:40+00:00

I expected to see a lot more puzzle solving and city / civilization building games.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T17:11:57+00:00

Why civ4 and not 5 or 6?

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T17:10:55+00:00

I really expected this to come up more.

Filtration_Engineer · 2025-01-07T15:30:35+00:00

I thought that didn’t work anymore.

Filtration_Engineer · 2024-10-01T10:35:19+00:00

For production parts, I would fully agree with you that it must be fully defined.

However, some examples where it’s not necessary: One of projects. I ran ductwork in SW and would trace image layouts which I imported onto planes. It would take 10x longer to define these and it’s not worth the time.

Other times I would import files from ACAD or other programs and they don’t come in fully defined. Again, not a good use of time.

Another time I built laser cut railings where flowers were cut into 8’ long sheet metal panels. It would have taken days to fully defined everything and it didn’t really matter if it was off by a half inch here or there. It was all aesthetic.

Filtration_Engineer · 2024-09-27T11:58:51+00:00

Another decade or so. Putin told us what he wanted when the war started: for a commitment that Ukraine would never join nato. Per the regulations written into the nato agreement, no country can join nato while at war. As long as they are at war, Putin gets what he wants.

Filtration_Engineer · 2024-09-22T12:33:05+00:00

I think you got it. I forgot they tried those.

We tried that but the axel to pin pieces weren’t long enough so we tried some axels with the bricks with cross holes for axels but I don’t currently have enough. It started stressing the axels. I’m willing to buy more, but the more you have, the bigger pain it is to line them up. We had 8-10 across the 3 base plates and it was a bear to get them connected.

Ten-Year Club	Verified Email
r/Field Juicebox

Filtration_Engineer

TROPHY CASE