The Core Values Coach: Decoding the FIRST® LEGO® League Season for Mentors of Young Learners

From Discovery to Celebration: Guiding the Season Timeline, Project, and Robot Game for Elementary-Aged Teams.

By Koyuki Massey | February 27, 2026

Welcome to the world of FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL): a dynamic, inspiring, and sometimes overwhelming adventure. If you have just signed up to be a mentor, congratulations! You are about to invest your time, knowledge, and passion into shaping the next generation of innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders.

While immensely rewarding, one may find themselves lost in the structure of the first season. This guide is specifically tailored for a first time FLL mentor to break down the season into an attainable program. By understanding the core components, you can effectively plan your season, guide your team through the challenges, and help them achieve success.

Let's get building and discover what your FLL team can accomplish!

Season Ins and Outs

FIRST® LEGO® League, or FLL, is typically the entry point for students in the FIRST® Robotics world, combining robotics with a real-world scientific research project. Teams use LEGO® bricks and block-based coding to design an autonomous robot that completes missions on a themed mat. The FLL season is split into three parts: a robot game, an innovation project, and the core values.

The robot game is where teams design, build, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® Education technology to complete a set of theme-based missions on a competition table. The goal is to score as many points as possible in a 2.5-minute match by successfully completing the various missions in the field. Three key skills can be learned in the robot game aspect of the season. The first skill learned is engineering and design, where students work to create a stable, efficient, and versatile robot and design custom attachments for specific missions. Second is coding or programming, where students write code to make the robot move, using sensors (like color and gyro), and execute the missions precisely and consistently. Lastly is strategy, where students analyze the missions and determine the most effective and reliable sequence of tasks to attempt. Teams are judged on the robot’s performance in the match and their robot design process. 

The innovation project is where teams identify a real-world problem related to the season’s theme, research it, and create an innovative solution. Using creativity and persistence, students will solve the identified problem. The solution can either be an existing idea that is expanded upon or something entirely new. Teams are also encouraged to share their ideas with experts and their community for feedback. This process involves a few key skills; research, innovation, and communication.  Engagement with research is critical, as students have to gather background information to fully understand the problem. They also engage in problem-solving and innovation by brainstorming, designing, and iterating on a creative solution or invention and creating a prototype. Communication is also crucial as they present their problem, research, proposed solution, and development process to a panel of judges. Teams are judged on the quality of their research, creativity and impact of their solution, and the effectiveness of their presentation.

Ultimately, the goal is for students to demonstrate core values throughout the season and at the event, both in their interactions with each other, judges, and other teams. Students should also keep in mind Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition®, which are the FIRST® Core Values that translate across levels. 

FLL consists of these level-specific core values:

• Discovery: Exploring new skills and ideas.

• Innovation: Using creativity and persistence to solve problems.

• Impact: Applying what they learn to improve the world.

• Inclusion: Respecting each other and embracing differences.

• Teamwork: Being stronger when working together.

• Fun: Enjoying and celebrating what they do.

The core values are evaluated across the entire competition, from dedicated judging sessions to observers on the playing field.

FLL is the first game out of the three FIRST levels to be released, with their season starting in August and ending in April.

A typical FLL season is as follows:

• May: Team registration opens. 

  • Coaches/mentors can register teams and purchase the “Challenge Set.”

• Early August: Season kickoff. 

  • FIRST releases the official season videos, Robot Game Missions, and Innovation Project details.

• August - November: Build and research. 

  • Teams typically meet multiple times a week to build the mission models for the table, design and program their robot, identify a problem for their innovation project and develop a solution.

  • Most regions open registration for local qualifier tournaments in September or October.

• November - December: Regional qualifiers.

  • Most teams attend a one-day local event.

  • Teams are judged on Core Values, Innovation Project, and Robot Design, alongside the Robot Game.

• January - February: Regional Championships.

  • Top-performing teams from qualifiers advance to a state or provincial championship.

• March - April: Off-season events and invitationals.

  • Some regions host “Spring Leagues” or open invitations for teams who want to keep competing.

• Late April: FIRST® Championship.

  • The global event held in Houston, Texas, featuring top teams from around the world.

Mentorship Role

Overview:
As a first-time FLL mentor, think of yourself as a facilitator and encourager, helping students learn how to ask the right questions and think critically. Your primary role is to guide the team to find their own solutions, not providing them. If you find yourself holding the LEGO® bricks or the mouse, step back and ask a question instead: “What if we tried attaching the sensor to the other side?” or “Which part of the challenge does this project idea address?” With guiding questions, students are able to think critically and come to their own solutions. Although building the robot is important, focus more on how they collaborate and learn. The core FLL experience is about teamwork, discovery, and innovation. Celebrating a moment where the team resolved a disagreement is just as important as the robot completing a mission.

The FLL season is a balancing act between the three main components: the robot game, the innovation project, and core values. Your mentorship will help them develop crucial skills in all three areas. A common struggle is managing the team’s energy and time between building and coding the robot and researching or developing their Innovation Project. Help them create a simple schedule and teach them to allocate time effectively ensuring they make progress on both, as the competition judges both equally. 

Coding:

As FLL uses block-based coding, your goal is not to teach them professional programming, but simple logic:

• Sequencing: Running one block after another.

• Loops: Repeating a set of instructions.

• Conditionals: “If this happens, do that.”

Keep the code simple and modular, encouraging them to test each small segment before putting it all together. Sometimes, a robot's code gets too complicated, and becomes impossible to debug. If a program is not working, have them break it down and try to isolate the issue. This is an important lesson for the students in problem-solving.

FLL currently uses the SPIKE™ Prime family of parts and software. The software struggles to save periodically, so taking a physical copy of your code (screenshots or pictures) is always a good idea. Also in this program, more adept coders can switch to Python. This system is better for control and harder to understand.

Building:

For students to build an effective robot, they should focus on structural integrity by using Technic™ frames and ensuring the robot doesn't flex or lose parts during a match. Encourage a low center of gravity for stability and a modular design that allows for quick, pin-less attachment swaps to save time. Navigation should rely on physical consistency, such as using walls to square up or utilizing gears for precise torque, rather than just relying on trial-and-error timing or sensors, as they are rather inaccurate. 

Innovation Project:

The Innovation Project requires the team to research a real-world problem and propose a solution. Help the students organize their thoughts and practice speaking clearly and confidently about their work to the judges.

Even the best teams hit roadblocks. Be prepared to step in and offer perspective, especially around scope and complexity. It is common for young teams to want to solve a global problem like curing all diseases or solving world hunger. While this is a great spirit, it is a very large and difficult scope. In this case, gently guide them to simplify their goal and focus on a specific, local example of the problem. For example, instead of “ending all plastic pollution,” try “reducing plastic waste at our school cafeteria.” 

For advancement and placement, the Innovation Project is the majority of your score, being roughly 70% of your advancement. Unfortunately, many teams do not prioritize the Innovation Project, disregarding the fact that it could push teams through the first round of competition, regardless of the robot's performance.

FLL can be quite frustrating. A line of code breaks. A mission fails. The best mentorship tactic is to celebrate every small win. Positive reinforcement is your most powerful tool.

Building More Than a Robot

Ultimately, your journey as a first-time FLL mentor is defined less by points scored and more by the enduring skills you foster. You are the Core Values Coach, tasked with balancing the engineering challenge of the Robot Game with the critical thinking required for the Innovation Project.

Remember that your greatest contribution is teaching your young team how to ask effective questions, manage their scope, and collaborate with Gracious Professionalism®. Every time they debug a faulty code segment or resolve a team conflict, they are achieving a success that is far more valuable than any competition award.

The robot is simply the tool; the true product is a team of young innovators who have learned the invaluable lessons of Discovery, Innovation, and Teamwork. Step back, ask the guiding questions, celebrate the small victories, and watch as your students build not just a machine, but the foundation for their future success. The FLL season is a challenging but brilliant experience—now go have fun!