New LEGO Education 'Learning from Home' sets announced
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO Education has traditionally been focused on sets intended for schools, which are usually only available online and not really marketed to children or LEGO fans of any age.
However, the four sets revealed today, part of a new range named Learning at Home, will be more widely distributed and take a different approach to the Education format.
View images of the new sets and product descriptions after the break...
45200 Moon Mission Science Kit
- 519 pieces
- £44.99, $49.99, €49.99
Ignite a love of science and lunar travel in kids aged 8 plus with this Moon Mission Science Kit (45200), part of the LEGO Education building-set collection. Target their passion for space with an educational toy they can build and play with repeatedly. Launch kids’ critical thinking skills with a spaceship toy, Earth-to-moon launchpad, habitat, greenhouses, 2 astronaut minifigures and more.
Inspire STEM learning, exploration and independent play with the included physical science experiments for kids, which encourage them to find solutions and invent new ways of achieving their goals through fun. It’s great that adults can boost kids’ learning with a cool space toy that sparks ingenuity. This STEM gift for kids is ideal for holidays, Christmas or birthdays, encouraging them to jump in and get started. Girls and boys of all ages can develop their problem-solving and other STEM skills while enjoying a set that offers fun ways to learn more about their passion.
45201 Antarctic Animals Science Kit
- 461 pieces
- £44.99, $49.99, €49.99
Spark a love of science and nature in kids aged 7 years old and over with this Antarctic Animals Science Kit (45201), part of a series of LEGO Education sets. Target their passion for animals with an educational toy they can build and play with repeatedly. Encourage kids’ critical thinking skills with an ‘icy’ slope, 2 toy penguin figures, an articulated whale figure, 2 scientist minifigures and more.
Inspire STEM learning, nature exploration and independent play with the included life science experiments, which encourage them to find solutions and invent whole new ways of achieving their goals through fun. This STEM gift for kids is ideal for holidays, Christmas or birthdays, encouraging them to jump in and get started. It’s designed so that adults can boost kids’ learning with a cool animal toy that inspires ingenuity. Girls and boys can develop their problem-solving and other STEM skills while enjoying a set that offers fun ways to explore and learn more about their passion.
45202 Mars Mission Science Kit
- 933 pieces
- £89.99, $99.99, €99.99
Ignite kids’ curiosity and love of science and space travel with this Mars Mission Science Kit (45202), part of the LEGO Education building series. Target their passion for space with an educational toy they can build and play with repeatedly. Launch kids’ critical thinking skills with a drop-tower experiment, drop pod, Mars rover, Mars base, 4 astronaut minifigures and more.
Inspire STEM learning, exploration and independent play with the 4 physical science experiments for kids, which encourage them to find solutions and invent new ways of achieving their goals through fun. This STEM gift for kids is ideal for holidays, Christmas or birthdays, encouraging them to jump in and get started. Boost kids’ learning with a cool, interplanetary space toy that sparks their creativity. Girls and boys aged 9 and over can develop problem-solving and other STEM skills while enjoying a set that offers fun ways to explore and learn more about their passion.
45203 Arctic Animals Science Kit
- 1134 pieces
- £89.99, $99.99, €99.99
Science and nature adventures await kids aged 9 years old and over with this Arctic Animals Science Kit (45203) LEGO Education set. Target their passion for animals with an educational toy they can build and play with repeatedly. Encourage critical thinking skills with a brick-built Arctic camp cabin, big and little polar bear, walrus and reindeer figures, 4 scientist minifigures and more.
Inspire STEM learning, nature exploration and independent play with the 4 life science experiments, which encourage them to find solutions and invent whole new ways of achieving their goals through fun. This animal lovers’ gift for kids is ideal for holidays, Christmas or birthdays, encouraging them to jump in and get started. It’s made so adults can boost kids’ learning with a cool animal toy that inspires ingenuity. Girls and boys can develop their problem-solving and other STEM skills while enjoying a set that offers fun ways to explore and learn more about their passion.
You may notice that those descriptions do a pretty poor job explaining what the sets actually do, so I am having a go instead. The sets are intended to present basic scientific problems that can be solved using the parts included, such as helping a penguin slide down into the water, building a hide to observe reindeer or defending a sensor array from potential asteroid impacts.
Personally, I am not sure these sets have much educational value. They feel very much like the result of a room full of adults trying their best to come up with areas of science that can actually be represented simply and convincing themselves afterwards that the range may teach children something. I am not so sure.
What do you think though? Let us know in the comments.
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75 comments on this article
Not sure how sets about Mars bases really help educationally.
Mindstorms with a Mars rover is much better.
looks very interesting, partspack-wise, but the price feels a bit too high.
There may be some education / play value hidden in there, but the designs are very lackluster. (I get I'm not the target audience, but still, seems like the ball got dropped, and not in the "tower drop experiment" kind of way.)
I like the color scheme, buts that’s about it
They have not learned from Hidden Side, that having artworks than real bricks on front of the boxes end badly?
The education kits are usually priced extremely high. But these prices seem normal at about $0.10 pp. They are priced better than most City sets (in the US). I may have to get the two space themed sets.
Without knowing what is involved with the "science experiments" associated with each set, it is difficult to gauge how worthwhile these sets will be educationally. I hope there will be future opportunities to learn more about the experiments without buying the sets.
I must admit I find this concept kind of confusing and mediocre, but maybe there’s an element I’m not grasping.
@M_longer said:
"They have not learned from Hidden Side, that having artworks than real bricks on front of the boxes end badly?"
I couldn't say if the artwork is bad marketing or not, but I will say that I like the artwork a lot! It's very colorful and evocative. And it really differentiates these sets from other "regular" Lego sets.
I really like how these sets look, and the parts included look really fun. The concept of setting up scenarios and then encouraging kids to complete them themselves is an interesting idea, one that really feels like the intent here is creativity, which is refreshing from Lego these days.
I do agree that these seem a little too expensive, but they're not absolutely terribly priced from what I'm seeing here, so I might even get a few of these over time, preferably with some kind of discount of course.
I wonder if instructions exist for a kind of "intended solution", or if it's totally up to the builder after the official models are complete.
They look cute.
Sounds kind of like a non-app-based version of the "build with story" City sets from a couple of years ago.
@Andrusi said:
"Sounds kind of like a non-app-based version of the "build with story" City sets from a couple of years ago."
Oh yeah, these are quite like that. I meant to grab a few of those but the whole app aspect did sour me a little.
Interesting concept, the largest artic set even utilizes an exclusive Education element (the 2x2 foot element with a rubber skin akin to the die element), but I'm curious of the long-term educational value. I'm assuming the goal here is edutainment and getting the kids invested by building and playing out scenarios, thus "tricking" them to learn and rewarding them afterwards with Lego elements to keep.
@M_longer said:
"They have not learned from Hidden Side, that having artworks than real bricks on front of the boxes end badly?"
They're selling to adults this time which is why I think they're trying it again.
So they are making something that is already a hard sell have a wide release but choosing to hide the set on the box? Don't get it.
I don't hate the sets just nobody is gonna know what they are.
Seems like it would be more beneficial to use Lego to teach physics (levers, pulleys, etc) than have a penguin slide down a slope.
My son is in the apparent target age range and I think he’d be bored by these and do his own play with them and ignore lessons.
This will fit right in with the other bad "science" kits you can buy at upscale toy stores in the US.
Is this just a bit of a rebrand for the Classic theme? Similar content, especially to the ‘themed’ sets from last year.
All I see is teal Futuron minifigure :-) Hope the’ll be on PaB
The Missions sets within City from 2022 were clearly a "beta test" for these. (That had no building instructions and required an app and had story/comic stuff in the app too.)
https://brickset.com/sets/subtheme-Missions
Brickset AFOLs when sets aren’t designed for them: >:( >:(
These are Educational for kids to experiment at solving problems. There’s no app involved. The instructions lay out the basic set up build, but then it’s up to the children to problem solve using the remaining bricks to achieve the goal eg. Land the rocket safely.
I'm really impressed with these! It looks like each set has a couple of different science demonstrations you can work on, using basic parts to solve problems that are analogous to real-world scientific tasks. They may not be as polished or aesthetically pleasing as typical Lego sets, but being made of Lego makes them more versatile and reusable than your typical science kit (something I enjoyed greatly growing up but which was more or less a one-and-done experience most of the time).
Some very nice-looking parts in some of these too. My favorite is the trans light blue recolor of the 8-sided ring plate (introduced last year for the Disney dress sets) for the shield around the moon base. But the fig designs look very nice as well.
These look very nice: Arctic meets Space, plus with that color scheme City Space meets Friends Space - and these are Educational sets that have a consumer-level ppp. What's not to like?
I kinda like the idea, even when I wonder about the actual educational value. But at least there seems to be a certain "figure it out yourself"-factor here, not just follow instructions. I like that. And the packaging certainly looks cool!
That said, I could see this backfire: Kids often don't like "educational" stuff, so this might be a bit too on the nose.
@myth said:
"All I see is teal Futuron minifigure :-) Hope the’ll be on PaB"
Yeah Education whatever, I’m just seeing a minifig range for people who build Teal Squadron ships!
Great color scheme, it’s space, and it has animals. That’s a winner in my book. It kinda feels like they had 41838-1 copies and nowhere for them to go. I like that they introduced some new parts in here, too. I probably won’t get any of them, but they are cool!
I feel like if you're going to have a set named "Mars Mission", it really should at least passingly evoke the 2007 theme of the same name. The target audience wouldn't get the reference, of course; but it would still be a fun little nod back in that direction if it used e.g. a similar colour scheme and minifigure designs to that theme.
I personally like the box art, especially the one of the polar bears; and as a kid I can guarantee I would have had big eyes for those little brick-built penguins in the other set in particular!
@myth said:
"All I see is teal Futuron minifigure :-) Hope the’ll be on PaB"
I didn't even notice that! I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for that.
@emQ said:"The Missions sets within City from 2022 were clearly a "beta test" for these. (That had no building instructions and required an app and had story/comic stuff in the app too.)
https://brickset.com/sets/subtheme-Missions"
I thought of those too, but there doesn't seem to be an app element to these sets.
I like the colours but that's about it. Not sure how much educational value these sets have. Aspirational maybe.
I like it, like a more thematic take on the Classic theme, and an expansion on City space, like 40715 Alien Pack and 40716 Alien Planet Habitat were.
Not gonna lie, my first response was pretty critical as well, but then again, I never understood the exact use and purpose of the educational sets in the first place. Considering that those seem to be held in very high regards among many teachers and education professionals, maybe LEGO is on to something here? They're testing their new ideas extensively with actual children, after all.
The way I'd interpret the announcement and the boxes, children are supposed to solve a set of problems based on the available parts and logical conclusions from their prior scientific knowledge. Seems a pretty natural extension of your typical play set, and definitely close to the core values LEGO claims to stand for. I'm not sure how big the replay value of the educational features is, but even then they are still pretty good regular play and/or parts sets for a fairly decent PPP.
Good for LEGO to try new stuff like this, I think!
Seems like this is the direct opposite of the Smart Brick range. I'll need to see a review where these are thoroughly play tested, but for now I generally like what I see. Just solid freestyle building with a prompt or two in a general direction, and plenty of basic parts to do it with.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"I feel like if you're going to have a set named "Mars Mission", it really should at least passingly evoke the 2007 theme of the same name. The target audience wouldn't get the reference, of course; but it would still be a fun little nod back in that direction if it used e.g. a similar colour scheme and minifigure designs to that theme.
"
10405 Mission to Mars wasn't even really a space themed set, only a small part of it. So set names aren't everything.
@PDelahanty said:
"Seems like it would be more beneficial to use Lego to teach physics (levers, pulleys, etc) than have a penguin slide down a slope."
I'm not so sure about that. LEGO can be good for teaching physics/mechanics, of course, but there are plenty of technical toys (including LEGO Technic) that are equally good at that, or even better. The strength of regular LEGO is its versatility for storytelling, which is what seems to be used here for teaching problem-solving skills and logical thinking. And physics is "just" applied logical thinking, after all ;)
As a former home ed kid I’m always a big fan of when educational stuff isn’t restricted to schools, and both the box art and colour scheme are really pretty with nice minifigs so that’s a good start. Difficult to say how engaging the experiments are just based on the boxes and description, though. I hope they’re good!
It's a bit surprising that they went with 2 "pairs" of such similar packs instead of 4 different themes. It's nice to talk about space and animals, but the difference between lunar/martian and the difference between arctic/antarctic is not very big.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @myth said:
"All I see is teal Futuron minifigure :-) Hope the’ll be on PaB"
I didn't even notice that! I'll have to remember to keep an eye out for that."
Happy to help! :-)
Are these sets exclusive to the LEGO Store, or will they also be available soon at other stores (like ~30% cheaper)?
@Phoenixio said:
"It's a bit surprising that they went with 2 "pairs" of such similar packs instead of 4 different themes. It's nice to talk about space and animals, but the difference between lunar/martian and the difference between arctic/antarctic is not very big."
The Arctic and the Antarctic have completely different ecosystems and native species. Meanwhile, Mars is a planet with water and atmosphere while the Moon is a barren rock orbiting Earth.
Quite a bit of difference there.
Some of the instruction books are going up and looks like there is a kind of narrative in the experiments, where they explain what the experiment is demonstrating, then there three phases: Build, Solve, and Invent;
Build, follow the instructions and build the model depicted in official images;
Solve, use the parts in the next bag to build a "solution" to the experiment as set up earlier;
Invent, use the parts in a third bag to expand on the original solution, for example, in the drop pod experiment, they suggest building your own pod to transport a pie.
There's some nice illustrated comic style art in the books too to convey the ideas in a neat way. Presentation was definitely well thought through, and I like the idea.
There doesn't appear to be official solutions to the experiments, but it's interesting that they are separated into their own sets of parts (initially, until the kid starts mixing the entire set together!)
"Personally, I am not sure these sets have much educational value. They feel very much like the result of a room full of adults trying their best to come up with areas of science that can actually be represented simply and convincing themselves afterwards that the range may teach children something. I am not so sure."
And I completely agree with this assessment @CapnRex101. Can't see what they'd be teaching kids that you couldn't do with a 'normal' lego set, and also feel that any learning from them would be minimal at best as they seem too simple for the target audience age.
Where exactly is the educational part in these sets? Showing what wasting money looks like?
This is nothing more than a token label. Build and play repeatedly is what Lego for kids already is, and without guidance and actually doing science it's still just build and play.
Pastel color space squad!
Also, can we just stop complaining LEGO is expensive with every single set that gets announced? We know. Everybody knows.
I do like the 50s-style box art of the rocket, but these don't feel quite fun enough to be playsets, nor quite educational enough to be educational sets. Funny enough, I find 21309 to be highly educational thanks to all the functionality even though I don't think it was intended to be educational first.
Thematically, I see this as Space Academy - astronauts training for space in cold Earth environments, with a Freestyle build philosophy.
The whole line:
3047 pcs including 12 minifigs for $299.96
Am I missing something or is the Martian drop tower just a surefire way to damage pieces? The boxart shows you adding some hinged bits to it so those can get smashed too?
We're missing these pieces in the aforementioned sets https://www.stonewars.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/LEGO-Zahnschienen-2026-1024x716.jpg
Come on LEGO, you know we want them!
Penguins. I see. So "Mission to Hell" it is.
These remind me of two things: the City Missions sets, as others have pointed out, and me as a kid trying to build boats that float with LEGO.
I really enjoyed the Missions set because they effectively prompted you into creatively solving story-based problems using bricks (and rewarded you with some videos... when the videos worked). Some children aren't inclined to go beyond the instructions, or so I've heard, so easing them into building with a given goal and the build, rebuild, free build approach is a good idea, and seemingly an effective one given that LEGO is using it again here (some Classic sets use it too).
(The Missions sets were also cool parts packs)
Now, trying to build boats out of bricks meant that I had to figure out how to prevent water from leaking in, figure out how buoyancy works, and how to make the thing balanced so that the boats do not capsizes etc, which are all real engineering problems that require an understanding of physics etc plus lots of creativity to solve, things you want kids to learn about, and I'm seeing the same principles here.
So yeah I do think these sets have value, playing is learning and these encourage you to play with various laws of nature through bricks.
However I do not think the boxes convey that value. I actually saw these in store before they were announced and had some trouble figure out what they were about. They don't show the play loop in a clear way* and they don't show the full content of the box either. I was able to piece it together because of some nearby marketing material and my prior experience with LEGO in general (and the City Missions sets in particular), but I doubt more casual buyers will really understand what they're getting here.
Anyway, I'm getting some of that SPACE stuff because SPACE.
~~~
* The promo videos on LEGO's website do a much better job here.
I love those astronauts!
I'd buy these sets just for those and the nice parts.
@M_longer said:
"They have not learned from Hidden Side, that having artworks than real bricks on front of the boxes end badly?"
Or the Vidiyo beatboxes that are still on clearance...
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"I feel like if you're going to have a set named "Mars Mission", it really should at least passingly evoke the 2007 theme of the same name. The target audience wouldn't get the reference, of course; but it would still be a fun little nod back in that direction if it used e.g. a similar colour scheme and minifigure designs to that theme."
I always preferred Life on Mars to Mars Mission, but yeah, that would have been nice.
I've learned that Lego is expensive.
Part selection in these are kind of really cool. Love the variety of teal parts, expecially in the mars mission science set
If I was a kid and I saw the whale on the package, I would be disappointed by the final build
So the brief was to do a retail educational set that wasn't in the city theme. And keep the science and structured learning very lite on that its almost not worth the effort.
@MegaBlocks said:
"Not sure how sets about Mars bases really help educationally.
Mindstorms with a Mars rover is much better."
Unfortunately Mindstorms and now Spike have been discontinued.
@ACubeInABox said:
"If I was a kid and I saw the whale on the package, I would be disappointed by the final build "
LOL. I thought the same thing!
@ACubeInABox said:
"If I was a kid and I saw the whale on the package, I would be disappointed by the final build "
Different animal, but the polar bear artwork looks enough like a stylized version of the Lego piece that I was surprised to see that the one in the set is brick-built.
Great parts packs. Some of really rare elements in trans light blue
@ACubeInABox said:
"If I was a kid and I saw the whale on the package, I would be disappointed by the final build "
Well, you just have to think like a kid. What's not exciting about having a blue whale chase down and eat penguins? Or is that a humpback whale? Whatever species it is, all that baleen will be very useful to scrape the feathers off them penguins.
I'm sold! I'm getting some jitters like I did with the master builders sets! I'm curious what learning they have buy I want them and think they'll make good gifts, too.
Space sets look like a decent value to me.
1,452 pieces
6 minifigs
$150
I like the unique colors and parts too.
As several others have mentioned, this is Missions without the app, marketed to adults that buy KiwiCo kits for their children. I think the sets have some educational potential, but also that they require adult supervision to reach it. The set descriptions are SEO to a T, but lacks in the actual description…
A Teacher doing Lego Workshops here.
These are not worth the money- WAY too limited.
I made more creative scenarios using 4 tubs of 10698 i got for 25$ each for 10 YEARS now.
HOWEVER. I do love the colors and ammount of cool pieces.
I would want a refund as the polar bear is not as shown on the box. It is very misleading.
These seem possibly too simple to gauge kids interest for long. I would be more interested in seeing some of the previous 'First Lego League' competition sets https://education.lego.com/en-gb/first-lego-league/ released to the public so schools, library clubs, scouts etc could have local unofficial competitions.
These look like something that a 5 year old made from his sisters Friends parts. Where is the science and education value in these weirdly colored parts packs?
I know the box arts get a lot of flak but these are gorgeous-looking boxes and the colors in the sets are also lovely. I might pick one up when the part lists are known.
Clever getting Steve Backshall in for the advert, very well known to kids for his adventures and deadly 60 etc
"Personally, I am not sure these sets have much educational value. They feel very much like the result of a room full of adults trying their best to come up with areas of science that can actually be represented simply and convincing themselves afterwards that the range may teach children something."
Isn't this true about the majority of "educational" toys. Even decades ago, I don't remember ever learning anything from any "educational" toy I had. However, I did learn to play the piano using the sheet music from a Fisher-Price xylophone, so there's that.
@BlackFalconBirdman:
Still want that 71047-2?
From the perspective of the “Lego is exclusively a kids toy, therefore you’re not allowed to complain about anything, because kids just like to go vroom with their toys!” crowd, these are technically some of the best sets ever made. The value of the first one seems a little better to me personally, just because it’s a little bigger and has more expandability from the parts selection.
@EtudeTheBadger said:
" @Phoenixio said:
"It's a bit surprising that they went with 2 "pairs" of such similar packs instead of 4 different themes. It's nice to talk about space and animals, but the difference between lunar/martian and the difference between arctic/antarctic is not very big."
The Arctic and the Antarctic have completely different ecosystems and native species. Meanwhile, Mars is a planet with water and atmosphere while the Moon is a barren rock orbiting Earth.
Quite a bit of difference there."
You're being unfair here. You know very well that the Arctic and Antarctic are both polar biomes that are extremely similar. You also know that both Mars and the Moon are baren rocky deserts. Would kids of the age this is aimed at make the difference without having both sets in front of them?
They could have gone with completely different topics, like deep sea exploration, life in the jungles of South America, flight technology, etc.