Your team is registered, the season kit is on order, and your first practice session is on the calendar — now what? First-time coaches often over-plan the robot side and under-plan the actual session. Here's a simple structure that works well for a first meeting, whatever the team's age or experience level.

A simple first-session agenda

You don't need a polished lesson plan for session one. A loose 90-minute structure like this gives kids enough freedom to explore while keeping the session from turning into chaos:

Names, why they joined, one thing they're excited about this season.

Introduce this year's story and challenge at a high level — save the deep dive for later sessions.

A quick icebreaker built around FLL's Core Values — teamwork, discovery, and "gracious professionalism."

Unbox the robotics set and let teams start on a simple driving base — see tip #1 in our SPIKE™ Prime guide.

Recap what happened, and start floating team roles (builder, programmer, project lead) — no need to lock them in yet.

Set expectations early, not just rules

New teams do best when the coach explains not just what will happen, but why the program is structured the way it is: FLL isn't only about building a fast robot, it's equally about the innovation project, teamwork, and how the team carries itself with judges and other teams. Saying this out loud in session one avoids a lot of confusion in month two.

"The best first sessions we've seen aren't the ones with the most impressive robot demo — they're the ones where every kid leaves excited to come back next week."

Things to avoid in week one

  • Don't dive into mission scoring rules yet. It's overwhelming before teams have even driven a robot in a straight line. Save the detailed rulebook walkthrough for session two or three.
  • Don't assign permanent roles on day one. Let kids try a bit of everything for the first few sessions before settling into builder/programmer/project roles.
  • Don't skip the Core Values conversation. Teams that treat this as a "nice to have" tend to struggle more with judging later — it's a real, scored part of the program.

Most importantly: the first session sets the tone for the whole season. A relaxed, curious, low-pressure first meeting almost always pays off later, when the pressure naturally increases closer to qualifiers.

Need hardware guidance for your first build session? Our program page covers exactly what your team needs.

See hardware requirements →