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LegoWolves Overview


FIRST LEGO League Explore is a hands on program for students in 1st-3rd grades. The program is composed of two parts: the LEGO Model and the Show Me Poster.


​Fox Valley Robotics' FLL Explore program is called LegoWolves. The LegoWolves division runs from January through March. All LegoWolves teams attend the FLL Explore Festival hosted by Fox Valley Robotics.

Current Season


Registration for the 2025-2026 season will open August 1, 2025.


Member fee for this division is $150.00


The division is capped at 60 students. Registration will close when the limit is reached or on November 30th, whichever comes first. In 2024, registration closed September 30th with 60 participants.


The weekly meeting location is at a facility on the east side of St. Charles on Main Street.


Meetings will be weekly beginning January and continuing into March with a capstone event in March. Read more by expanding the Season Schedule section below.


For challenge information on the season, visit the FIRST LEGO League webpage and scroll down and click on Explore. For information on the program in Illinois, visit FIRST Illinois Robotics Explore.

LegoWolves Structure


The LegoWolves program is designed for 1st-3rd grade students in the Fox Valley Area. Teams build a LEGO model with motorized parts per the current season's challenge and create a Show Me Poster with information on their team, model, and research.

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Fees and Payments
Fees and Payments
To join an FVR team, a student must be signed up and paid (or a payment plan in place) prior to the close of registration.

Registration fees can be made online by credit card or by mailing a check to the PO Box.
 
The registration cost includes national team registration, an Illinois Explore Festival, meeting room fees, season t-shirt, team challenge budget, parts and materials replenishment, and the robotics general funds. Misuse or abuse resulting in damaged pieces will be charged for appropriately.

The registration cost does not cover possible field trip costs. We don’t know what the challenge is going to require so we leave field trip decisions well into the season.

A limited amount of scholarships are available for those in financial need. If a child wants to participate, we will make it happen. Begin a discussion with an email to info@foxvalleyrobotics.com.
 
All payments are not refundable.
 
FVR reserves the right to refuse a person from participating in a division. Registrants will be offered a full refund if this occurs.
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Team Formation
Team Formation
FVR teams are typically between 4 and 6 students. Teams are formed based on the following priorities:
  1. Participant Requests (friends, siblings, previous teammates)
  2. Grade
  3. School
  4. Town
Additional factors taken into consideration are previous experience in LegoWolves and gender.

FVR tends to put rookie members on teams with other rookies members to allow the team members to grow in knowledge and skill together.

A wait list will be created of interested families after the close of registration.
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Season Schedule
Season Schedule
The FVR LegoWolves season begins in January. Weekly division meetings continue into March. A capstone event will take place in March.

The weekly meeting location is at Toyota Pre-Owned Showroom on the east side of St. Charles.
1845 E Main Street, St Charles, IL 60174
Park in the spots on the west side of the facility. For safety reasons, do not park in the front parking area along Main Street.

Meetings are from 1-3 pm.

Most of the weekly meetings are on Saturdays. There may be an exception or two due to older members of FVR competing at State level tournaments. On the exception weekends, the meeting will be on Sunday. The schedule below is tentative because of the Sunday dates; other organization's schedules will eventually allow us to confirm or update.

The 2026 schedule
January 17 Kickoff meeting
January 24
January 31
February 7
February 15 - Sunday
February 21
February 28
March 7
March 14 - the last weekly meeting
TBD but hopefully March 15 - Sunday Festival at the Batavia High School, an Illinois event with other teams attending

The weekly meetings are required for all teams. There are no additional meetings for the LegoWolves.
Meetings are used to cover the challenge and guide teams in creating their model and poster. A season schedule is handed out to participants at the first meeting.
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Parent Involvement
Parent Involvement
FVR parents are expected to be involved in some way. They are expected to work together to coach the team unless one or two parents decide to step-up and be coaches. Teams cannot be in attendance without at least one parent present in addition to a coach. Below are a few of the possible parent involvement scenarios:
  1. One coach with additional involved parents who offer support whether it be helping the team coordinate efforts, make decisions, stay focused, or as assistant coaches.
  2. Two coaches where one coach may be a "LEGO model" coach and guide the team to incorporate electronic parts while the other coordinates the Show Me poster. .
  3. Two coaches who share the work equally
  4. More than two coaches who share the work
All LegoWolves materials (schedule, worksheets, model guides, sample poster layouts) are provided to the parents.

FVR coaches are expected to follow these guidelines:
  1. Kids do the work.
  2. Coaches are meant to be guides: help lead students to the answers while never giving them the answer.
  3. Be fair and consistent while mediating team discussions.
  4. Help the team divide work and make sure every voice and contribution is heard.
  5. Push the team to learn new topics, grow as individuals, and grow as a team.
  6. Kids do the work.
Coaches of experienced or older teams are expected to step back and let their students manage themselves within the capabilities of the team. A great coach is one who can help students learn in a fun and engaging way while encouraging them to try new things and push the boundaries of their knowledge base. Great coaches do not have to know how to build a LEGO masterpiece or program it. Great coaches help their students break tasks into manageable pieces. Great coaches help guide their students in effective time management and communication.
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Team Responsibilities
Team Responsibilities
 FVR teams are expected to:
  1. Do the work.
  2. Take mistakes in-stride: mistakes are learning tools so learn from them.
  3. Share the work with your fellow teammates.
  4. Encourage yourself, your teammates, and fellow students.
  5. Help guide your teammates or other teams to answers if they need help.
  6. Push yourselves to learn new ideas and concepts.
  7. Live the FIRST Core Values both in robotics and in your everyday life.
FVR teams are also expected to:
  • Help fellow FVR teams.
  • Be respectful and mindful during discussions and speaker presentations, with other teams and your own team.
  • Be responsible: take initiative to clean up your own messes but help others as well, help set-up/clean-up/tear-down the meeting room as needed, and behave well.
  • Be respectful of the equipment and facility.