Programming SPIKE Prime robots in Word blocks: Beginner Course

Step-by-step, 45–60-minute robotics lessons take students from coding motors and loops to sensor-based problem solving — for schools and homeschoolers.

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Course overview

Kick-start robotics with our Beginner course for LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime in Word Blocks. Students follow a clear path: start with motors and simple event programs, draw polygons with counted loops, then explore sensors – distance, color, tilt, and force – by building and coding robots. Classic robotics challenges like sorting, line following, and maze navigation lead to simple autonomy using variables and if/else logic.

Designed for children ages 8 and up, this course fits 45–60-minute classes and supports hands-on STEAM goals for teachers and principals who want a coherent, classroom-ready robotics curriculum.

COURSE IN DEVELOPMENT. Some of the contents are still a work in progress. Once complete, your access will be updated to include new lessons.

Is this course right for you?

45-minute lessons

Designed for 45–60-minute blocks, all lessons work well within a standard 45-minute class. Short, focused sessions keep momentum high and make it easy to slot robotics alongside other subjects.

Teachers & facilitators

Who want a ready-made robotics program without writing their own materials. No specialist coding background required – our platform walks you through every step.

Students aged 8-12

Best for beginners. Younger students learn well with step-by-step builds and visual coding, older ones appreciate calibrating sensors and tackling simple robotic challenges.

Classrooms, clubs and camps

One SPIKE Prime set comfortably serves a team of 2-3 learners, so you can scale the course to your group size. All students get controlled access to the platform.

Programming SPIKE Prime robots: Beginner course includes:

Full-year curriculum, ready to teach

15 multimedia lesson plans (more to come) Progress from basic motor control to loops and sensor-based decisions in 45–60-minute sessions. Each lesson pairs a short STEAM intro with a detailed LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime build guide and an interactive Word Blocks coding walkthrough.

Signature robot projects Projects like the Polygon tracer, Safe box, Top spinner, or Scale keep students motivated while introducing new sensors, mechanical components, and programming blocks.

Teacher-focused resources

On-demand teacher webinar Led by RoboCamp experts. Learn everything you need to know when teaching with the SPIKE Prime set. Replay the training anytime during your subscription.

Teacher licence with unlimited student logins Share a secure link, or create unique logins. Every learner can open the lesson on their own device at no extra cost.

Direct expert supportGet support by email or schedule a call whenever you need help with course setup, implementation, or classroom flow.

Interactive e-learning platform

Browser-basedNo additional software or plugins required. Teach from virtually any internet-connected device.

Controlled student accessEasily manage which lessons your students can access and for how long. Assign different projects to groups or make a single lesson available to the entire class.

How it works

Get access
Choose your access plan, then log in to the e-learning platform.

Pick a lesson
Launch any of available lesson projects with a few clicks.

Teach & enjoy
Focus on guiding students while the platform delivers instructions.

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Lesson plans in this course

3 out of dozens engaging lessons that you can teach in your classroom. Get a quote to browse the full curriculum.

Safe Box

Lesson time: 60 min

Student age: 8+

Students build a secure storage box controlled by a color sensor. To open the lock, users must input the correct color combination – just like a smart lock. This simple but exciting mechanism teaches students how to use sensors to control access and automate responses to input.

Conditionals and sensor-triggered actionsKey programming concepts support NGSS standards related to system design, reinforce ISTE skills through interactive problem-solving, and begin building CSTA competencies in event-based programming and basic sensor integration.

Color-based lock mechanismThis lesson introduces a smart lock system built with a color sensor—turning the robot into a customizable security device. It’s a creative and hands-on way to teach input validation and conditional logic, showing students how real-world access control can be modeled with simple code.

Manipulator SHORTS

Lesson time: 45 min

Student age: 8+

Students create a robotic manipulator to lift and carry colorful objects to a second platform. The challenge is simple yet open-ended, encouraging creative problem-solving. The model uses a distance sensor to detect objects and triggers motor movements based on proximity.

Assembly line automation and robotic armsReal-world STEM applications align with NGSS engineering practices through iterative design and testing, build ISTE skills in automation and logic sequencing, and introduce CSTA programming concepts like sensor-driven events and motor control.

Sensor-triggered autonomous movementStudents create a mini autonomous robot that uses a distance sensor to detect when an object is near and responds automatically. This real-time sensing and reaction setup mirrors industrial automation and provides an early, tangible experience with robotics as problem-solvers.

Music Box SHORTS

Lesson time: 45 min

Student age: 8+

Students build a programmable music box and use it to compose and play their own tunes. By combining building, sequencing, and sound blocks, they learn how to create interactive and expressive programs – perfect for cross-curricular integration with art and music.

Broadcasting and event handling These core programming structures directly support ISTE creativity goals and CSTA early programming standards. With its strong STEAM emphasis, the lesson also encourages exploration of rhythm, timing, and mechanical automation, in alignment with NGSS concepts of wave patterns and sound.

Music creation using broadcast blocksThis lesson transforms robotics into a musical and artistic experience by allowing students to compose and program melodies. It introduces event-driven programming through broadcast blocks in a playful, expressive way.

Course curriculum includes...

School-ready curriculum with multimedia lesson plans. 15 ready-to-use lesson plans (5 more in development) for 45–60 minute periods, each introducing a specific command or concept through original SPIKE™ Prime builds and clear Word Blocks visuals. Every lesson starts with a short STEAM hook, then guides you and your students through building, coding, and testing.

Difficulty that grows at a steady pace. Complete beginners first learn about motors and simple event programs, then use counted loops to control motion and draw shapes with precision. Next they discover sensors, if/else decisions, and variables to tackle classic beginner challenges: line following, color sorting, or the Mazebot challenge.

Step-by-step instructions for teacher and students. For the teacher and for their students, throughout all the lesson stages. Each step is explained in text and accompanied by easy-to-understand multimedia.

Programming in SPIKE Word blocks (Scratch-style). Learners code with a visual language closely based on Scratch, building practical fluency with the blocks used most in beginner robotics.

Made for ages 8+ with strong STEAM links. Every build connects coding with mechanics and physics—geometry, gear trains, rack-and-pinion, friction, measurement—so ideas stick and transfer to other subjects.

Get a quote to receive full curriculum

Discover our online platform

Take a peek inside RoboCamp education platform and see what it can add to your lessons

Free access for students

Included with the price All of your students can access the instructions and multimedia for the lesson at no extra cost.

Flexible number of accounts Got a new student added to your class? Reach out to our support to expand the number of student accounts available to you.

Easy to use

User-friendly interface Simply log in and pick the lesson for today. Browse everything available, or select from your favorites.

Intuitive lesson flow Each lesson is composed of introduction, building, checking the mechanism, programming it and testing.

For individual and group work

Designed for teaching and learning Teacher can control student access to instructions and multimedia, to suit their teaching style.

Different projects for different groups Assign different tasks within your classroom by sharing different lesson projects with your students.

Teacher training

Prepare for teaching robotics and programming at school with our help. Everything you need to know is explained and easily accessible.

Get ready for working with SPIKE Prime

How to begin working with the LEGO Education SPIKE Prime set, how to make the SPIKE app classroom-ready, and other practical knowledge for teachers – everything you need to know from the start.

Learn practical knowledge from experts

Webinars conducted by specialists in educational robotics, who focus on hands-on, tested knowledge that you will need during the lesson.

Watch anytime, anywhere

Webinar is conveniently available online for the entire year of your access period. You can also rewatch the webinar whenever you need to freshen up your memory.

How to start? Robotics at school with LEGO Education SPIKE Prime

SPIKE Prime in your classroom. An in-depth primer on what’s in the kit, how to set up your space, lesson timing, and how to get students building safely from day one with LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime.

The devil’s in the details. See how the choice of building parts and electronic elements – even how you organize the box – shapes learning outcomes and keeps your lesson going.

SPIKE app. Which version to use, how to connect the SPIKE hub to a computer or tablet (USB/Bluetooth), and what sensor and motor data you can read right in the app.

Programming options. An overview of languages for SPIKE Prime – Icon Blocks for beginners, Word Blocks (Scratch-style) for intermediate students and Python – with tips on choosing what fits your students.

Model lesson walkthrough. Teach an exemplary robotics and programming lesson step by step: consider the context, create the robot, code in the SPIKE app, check and celebrate – see what classroom robotics really looks like.

Watch webinar preview

Find out what you will learn during the webinar, as explained by RoboCamp team.

Frequently asked questions

This course is still in development. What does it mean?

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A few lessons are still being polished, but everything published is classroom-ready, so you can start teaching today. As new lessons go live, your access updates automatically – no extra steps or costs. After logging into the platform, you’ll clearly see what’s new and what’s changed.

Do I need a SPIKE Prime kit for every student?

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Not at all! One kit is more than enough for a small team of 2–3 students. It’s an ideal setup for collaborative, project-based learning — and it keeps things budget-friendly, especially for larger groups or full classes.

I’m new to coding – can I still teach this?

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Absolutely! This course is built with beginners in mind. You’ll find clear, step-by-step instructions for building and coding, so you don’t need any prior experience. Plus, our webinar walks you through everything you need to know before your first lesson. You’ll feel confident and prepared from the start.

What’s included with my subscription?

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You get access to the course in development: 15 ready-to-use interactive lesson plans (as more will be added, you will get access to them too), yearly access for both teachers and students, and support from our team of experts whenever you need it. We’ve taken care of the logistics so you can focus on teaching and guiding your students.

Does the course align with curriculum standards?

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Yes. The Programming SPIKE™ Prime: Beginner course matches NGSS, ISTE, CCSS Math, and CSTA K-12. Lessons connect coding with real science (pendulums, ultrasound, friction, gear ratios) and measurement, so students read sensor data and improve their code, which fits NGSS practices. Math comes in through geometry and measurement as students draw polygons with counted loops and use angles and distances. CSTA is addressed as students move from events and loops to if/else and variables, used in tasks like line following, sorting, and maze navigation. Students also build ISTE skills by breaking down problems and refining programs (e.g. the Cleaner robot or a calibrated line follower).
Reach out to us if you need more information.

What is the difference between the SPIKE Prime Programming Course, and the Teacher Plan?

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If your school primarily uses SPIKE Prime sets, this standalone course is a perfect option for you! However, if you have multiple different LEGO Education sets and need a more cost-effective solution, our RoboCamp Teacher Plan might be a better fit. Compare purchase options here.

Course pricing

SPIKE Prime Programming: Beginner Course

Access for 1 teacher

On-demand teacher training webinar

15 lesson plans (more in development)
with step-by-step instructions

Access for students

299

1 year access

COURSE IN DEVELOPMENT. Some of the contents are still a work in progress. Once complete, your access will be updated to include new lessons.