Students from most Forsyth County elementary and middle schools will test their problem-solving and creative-thinking skills Saturday during the FIRST LEGO League Forsyth Robotics Regional Qualifier.

Doors open at 9 a.m. and the FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, LEGO competition will run until 4 p.m. at South Forsyth High School.

Using LEGO blocks, children 9 to 14 years old will work alongside adult mentors to design, build and program robots to solve problems.

Robotics coach Joni Owens said students are "getting very excited" about the upcoming event, for which they have spent two months preparing.

The competition will be judged in five areas: research and presentation; robot performance; technical mechanics of the robots construction; teamwork; and gracious professionalism.

"It's just amazing to see," said robotics mentor Rick Folea. "Little kids getting excited about technology and science and math."

The event is one of seven robotics events in the county, including the VEX competition, in which robots play capture the flag.

Robotics club the Forsyth Alliance and local business Automation Direct are major sponsors of scholastic robotics teams in the county.