Class Materials
Where can I get the LEGO® materials used in your programs?
Motors, Battery Boxes, and Leads
Unfortunately, LEGO Education has discontinued manufacturing of the battery boxes that we have used in our classes and camps, and appears to be discontinuing manufacture of the motors as well. The motor may be still available through LEGO Education's website as part number W775225, although it is frequently listed as "unavailable" by LEGO Education.
These motors and battery packs have been replaced by the Power Functions line, which is available through retail sellers, including LEGO Shop at Home. We are starting to use the Power Functions Battery Box (Item 8881), which can be used with the older 9 Volt LEGO motors using an adapter cable (Item 8886). The Power Functions line includes two motors, the medium strength M motor (Item 8883) and the more powerful XL motor (Item 8882). Although the form factor on these motors differ from those currently used in our programs, most children will be able to adapt their creations to the new motors, and there are many resources available online with building instructions for the Power Functions motors, including the beautiful LEGO Technic Tora no Maki by ISOGAWA Studios.
Other Power Functions products can be found at LEGO Shop at Home and LEGO Education by searching for "Power Functions".
Other Parts
Our teaching kits contain hundreds of unique kinds of parts, and we custom build our teaching kits from parts obtained from many sources. For building projects at home, we suggest that you and your child the Tools, Resources, & Parts section of LEGO Education's website to identify parts, which can then be purchased from LEGO Education, LEGO Shop at Home, Bricklink, an online LEGO marketplace comprised of hundreds of individual sellers, or at the parts shop at Play-Well Marin.
The Education Resource Set (Product W9796480) and Technology Resource Set (Product W979649), both from LEGO Education, are economical sources for a wide variety of parts.
Play-Well Activity Centers
Play-Well Marin, in San Anselmo, California, is Play-Well TEKnologies home base of operation and also serves as the biggest Lego Drop-In Center in the country. With over a million Lego pieces, the MEC serves as Lego play land for children, allowing kids to build with every Lego piece they can possibly think of. LEGO building sets are also available for purchase, and we are in process of opening a full-service parts shop, with hundreds of different types of individual LEGO elements available for purchase. Play-Well East Bay, in Pleasanton, California, also features an extensive selection of LEGO building sets for sale, along with a drop-in center. The toy stores and parts shop are open during our drop-in hours..
-->- Please note:
We do
not always respond to email inquiries on how to find specific parts or sets- These
links are constantly changing. Please let us know if you find a link that is broken!