Placemats are one-page, double-sided student-facing activity sheets first developed by Dr. Sara Willner-Giwerc during her doctoral research at Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach. Unlike traditional step-by-step instructions, placemats introduce an engineering challenge on the front and provide targeted building and coding support on the back. This format helps students work independently, collaborate with peers, and create diverse solutions that reflect real-world engineering practices.
This collection of placemats for LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential was adapted from our most popular SPIKE Prime activities, reimagined for younger students. The challenges are perfect for beginners, but open-ended enough to inspire more experienced students.
Build a robot that moves forward without using wheels!
Build a sturdy car using as few LEGO pieces as possible.
Build a robot that looks and moves like a bug!
Build a robot to clean up LEGO pieces from the floor!
Design and build a robot to move a ball as far as possible! What will you build?
Build a robot that says hello! It can wave, give a high five, fist bump, or some other fun greeting!
Create a percussion instrument for a band. It could be any instrument you can hit or shake to make a sound!
Create a puppet that moves!
