Overview
NYC FIRST runs three FIRST® robotics programs in New York City, plus summer camps in Brooklyn that anyone can sign up for. Year-round teams build and compete with robots. One-week summer camps run at the Downtown Brooklyn STEM Center. They also run STEM Centers across the boroughs, fabrication-rich workshop spaces with 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics tools, and more, that serve the community of teams, coaches, and mentors. Whether your child wants to commit to a team or test the waters with a week of summer camp, there's a way in.
Try It First — No Team or Membership Needed
You don't need a team or a membership to get your child started here. NYC FIRST runs Summer Adventures Camps for grades 4–8 at its Downtown Brooklyn STEM Center — one-week summer day camps across four themed weeks: Build & Fabricate, Invent & Innovate, Code & Create, and Design & Fly. Kids can sign up for one week or several, and no prior experience is required. Many kids who come through Summer Adventures end up wanting more — which is where the team programs come in.
How the Team Programs Work
The three programs are tiered by age and complexity, and many kids progress through them as they grow.
- FIRST LEGO League (Ages 8–14) · Teams design and code a LEGO robot to complete autonomous missions on a themed game field. Each year's challenge also includes an innovation project tied to a real-world scientific topic.
- FIRST Tech Challenge (Ages 12–16) · Teams build aluminum-based robots and program them in Java or block-based code to compete head-to-head in two-team alliances. The engineering gets serious here.
- FIRST Robotics Competition (Ages 14–18) · The flagship. Teams have six weeks to design and build an industrial-size robot, then compete at the New York City Regional each spring. For a high schooler, this is real engineering — with deadlines, tradeoffs, and a robot that has to actually work.
Across all three, kids do the actual work — strategy, mechanical design, coding, electronics, fabrication. Adult coaches and mentors guide, but the students drive the project.
Team membership also unlocks access to NYC FIRST's STEM Centers — well-equipped fabrication and prototyping spaces where teams can build, test, and refine their robots with support from NYC FIRST staff and mentors. For most teams, this is one of the most practical benefits of being part of the community.
You Don't Have to Wait for Your School to Offer This
Here's something a lot of parents don't realize: you do not need a school program to get your child involved. Many NYC FIRST teams are school-affiliated, but plenty are parent-started after-school clubs or community groups. If your child's school doesn't have a team, you have real options.
You can start one yourself — NYC FIRST will help you organize, find mentors, and connect with other teams. You can recruit a teacher, a friend who's an engineer, or a parent in your circle to be the adult coach. (A technical background helps but isn't required for the LEGO League or Tech Challenge.) Or your child can join an existing team in another community — NYC FIRST's Program Managers know the landscape and can help you find one.
The infrastructure to start a team is genuinely there. You just have to know to ask.
Who It's For
The kid who pulls things apart to see what's inside. The one who lines up LEGOs by color, then builds something nobody asked them to build. The one who watched a YouTube tutorial on Python last weekend and is already three projects in. These programs are built around the kind of curiosity that doesn't sit still.
It's also a meaningful fit for the child who likes the social side of building — the late-night strategizing, the shared problem-solving, the team identity. The team structure is deliberately designed around collaboration. Going through a season together changes kids.
One thing worth knowing: the team structure works for a wide range of learners. The kid who loves coding can focus on programming. The kid who loves building can focus on mechanical design. The kid who loves writing or presenting can lead the innovation project or the team's outreach work. There's a role for almost any kind of curious child.
Cost & Information
Summer Adventures Camps (Grades 4–8)
- Downtown Brooklyn STEM Center
- One-week sessions across four themes: Build & Fabricate, Invent & Innovate, Code & Create, Design & Fly
- 9am–3pm daily
- $950 per week
Team Programs (Ages 8–18, varies by program)
- Team registration fees and equipment costs are paid at the team level, not per child
- Costs vary significantly across the three programs
- Many teams fundraise, secure sponsors, or apply for grants to offset costs
- NYC FIRST works with teams to make participation accessible — reach out directly to discuss options