LEGO Building Support
Parents and new coaches are occasionally concerned about the LEGO "engineering" part of the Jr. FLL challenge. As part of the challenge teams have to build a LEGO model and it is expected to have some moving or motorized element ideally demonstrating some simple machine concept.
Don't know anything about that? Don't worry. If you buy the recommended Jr. FLL LEGO kit they typically come with building instructions for a variety of simply machine type contraptions. The instructions are easy to follow and the kids can learn how the pieces go together and incorporate that into their model.
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The recommended kit and instructions are helpful. Beyond that, here are some of our favorite resources you may find helpful, but keep in mind these are for slightly older kids so probably cover more than you need for a Jr. FLL team!
1. Building LEGO Robots for FIRST LEGO League (PDF)
- Produced by the Minnesota FLL
- A classic resource for FLL teams
- Slightly dated
- Covers way more than is needed for JFLL, but it starts with the basics.
- Section 1 and Section 2 are recommended for JFLL Coaches/Mentors
- Just click the link above to download
2. Engineering with LEGO Bricks and Robolab
- Available from LEGO Education (click link)
- Overkill for JFLL, but again the building basics are well covered
- This book will take you all the way to advanced LEGO robotics and programming. Great stuff if you aspire to working with kids on FLL as they get older