Need Advice on How to Keep Legos Organized

I love this question and reading all of the responses! I know I am late here, but I just got back from vacation, was sorting through messages and saw this one. I could have written it except that my son is 9. I have struggled with whether we should try to keep kits separate or not and thought maybe it was best not to be paranoid about it because it is more creative for him to mix the kits. My husband would like to try to keep them all separate. At this point they have overtaken a room and it would probably be impossible to keep them all separate. After reading these responses it is nice to know we are not alone and I think I will let the kits get mixed up, but might try to sort them into bins by theme (Bionicles, Star Wars, Castle, etc.). Thanks for the question!

Unfortuantely not, we have the same problem.

One of the tasks I give my son every so often is to make up the sets so all the pieces go together, they get put in a bag with a resealable seal and boxed away.

It doesnt last long but keeps my sanity a bit ...

I will be watching this thread to see if there are any answers :) A very good question :)

www.a-little-wish.co.uk

If there are different sets of legos, I would keep them in different rooms altogether. Keep one set in his room, and keep another set in the playroom or another room where he can do those another time. Would that work?

My son has a Lego table that was quite pricey, but a good investment for us. At 2 he started building with the regular size Legos and my husband and I knew his brain was built for building, creating and math-related activities...and now at 4.5, he's still at it and LOVING Legos so we haven't regretted the $300 purchase...especially with two younger Lego-loving children as well.

The top of our table is a Lego base and then there is a HUGE drawer that he stores his Legos in...although it's in the brink of overflowing. I'd at least purchase some large tubs top keep the Legos in...and hopefully your son will keep them in there instead of on the floor (which isn't my son's strong suit which is why they're in his room).

Legos are such a great activity for children! Best of luck!

http://www.amazon.com/Lego-Dacta-Table-Green-Education/dp...

Seems the majority are with me - don't be OCD about the "sets" - just put them in one big plastic tub - they have them in all different colors in Walmart. It is too much to have to separate every set every time you play and put away. If there is one set he has put together or is in -process, use a gallon ziploc bag to keep it separated, but within the same big box. Definitely designate on area to play with them, so they are not all over the whole house! Finished projects could be displayed on a shelf for a certain amount of time?

Good Luck.

Hi M.. We had the same problem. I have to big plastic bins; one has the Duplo size blocks, and the other, the Legos. For a few years the legos would stay in their own Ziploc containers, baggies, or boxes (inside this container). I loved it this way. Then like you said, they eventually get played with all together, or dumped. I let my son just dump everything together in the big box. At times, he will be frustrated at not being able to find pieces. Usually, the project becomes more creative. I don't know if this is the best way, just a way that is working. Good Luck.

We bought a clear bin that slides under our son's bed to put all the legos in. I didn't like combining all the different sets, so I got a 3-ring notebook and put all the "instruction" booklets into clear plastic pages. Now, if he wants to build that grey dinosaur or pirate boat, he just has to find the instructions in the notebook to know which pieces he needs. I think he likes looking for the pieces as much as actually building the toys! One cool thing that has come from this is how he'll combine the pieces from several sets to make something else. Recently, he had a huge ship going...very creative...with all sorts of parts from all sorts of projects! Good luck organizing!

Purchase a few small tool boxes and place a picture of the legos on each box. This way he can keep them organized and he might think it is cool to have a tool box like Dad. Tool boxes also allow him to take his legos to different locations with out spilling all over.

Amen to this question sister!!! I see you have already tried the seperate the pieces idea. That is what we are in the process of doing. My son is putting all of his legos together then we are taking the completed project and putting it in a zip lock bag with the directions for that project. Maybe the incentive for our son is that we have said that Santa will not deliver any other legos without cleanup of the others. this works for us because he is five (not sure when the Santa gig is up) and then he gets one on one time with his Dad to help find the pieces and put them together. Good Luck!

M.,
sorry to say this but you gotta put your foot down.
my rule is that you have to pick up your stuff,
and i have to pick it up its gone, then i will throw it/them away.
i know it may seem mean but the first time your son realizes he has no legos to play with trust me he will get it.
and i also have a rule if i step on it, it goes in the garbage right then. legos hurt like all get out to step on you shouldn't have to worry about that big mess.

as a mom of 4 kids who dont want to listen to me,
i have to put my foot down more often to get stuff through to my kids.
T.

We keep all the instructions so the kids can refer to them at a later date, but we definitely don't keep the sets together after they have been built and inevitably disassembled. Each color of lego (all sizes) has its own bin. This has worked out really well for us- and bonus, they can put them away very easily and the younger kids actually LIKE the putting away part because it's a sorting game! They sit on the floor in front of the bin shelf and know exactly where to find what they're looking for. It makes for much longer and self sufficient building!

What about pencil boxes--the ones that are about the size of cigar boxes? You can get plastic ones and I've found them (at Wal-Mart, I think) for around a dollar a piece. They are small enough to contain the individual sets without wasting a huge amount of space on the shelf. Maybe you could have your son put each set together, take a picture and tape it to the top of the pencil box. This way, he knows which set is in which box. Hope this helps!

Hi M.,
I had to laugh when i saw your post:) I read it to my husband and he said "There's a way to keep them organized?!" Our son will be 7 next week and i find lego's all over the place. He has really started to get hooked on them over the past year. We have the large Duplo's in a rubbermade tote or 2. The small lego's are in another tote. My MIL bought a big set last Christmas that doesn't have a set theme which was nice. I try to keep the instructions for the kits in the tote so he can refer to them if need be but after he puts it together once he seems to remember for next time. If he wants to save something he has built he can put it up on his dresser for a week.
Good luck with the lego situation.
P.S. I like the rubbermade totes for all of the Thomas the Tank Engine things too.

My son is now 31 yrs old with a 2 yr old. They both play with the Legos that my son had. He keeps all the Legos in plastic Rubbermaid tubs and when they build things that they don't want destroyed, he puts them in a plastic container that you can slide under the bed. They stack very nice as well. As you can imagine, he has collected enough Legos to fill 3 18 gallon tubs. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with them anymore.
J. R.

Hi M. -- Ah, Legos... I know that 20 or so years ago Lego sold a storage thing that was very helpful. No idea what it was called, but you could call Lego (they must have an 800 number) and see if they still make them -- or you could make one yourself! The "thing" was a round piece of denim, about 30 inches across. It was hemmed and grommets were inserted in the hem about every 6 inches. Then the circle was laid out flat and a cord was run through the grommets with the two ends tied together. This gave my son a reasonably large area to play in and when it was time to put the Legos away he just gathered up the cord in several different places and pulled the denim together like a hobo bag with all the Legos inside. The bag could then be hung on a reachable hook, ready for next time. He's 36 and still uses it!

Best wishes -- L.

we use to have that problem---my 6 year old isn't allowed to have his legos anywhere in the house but only in his room(he is an only child)-and i bought him a large square bin for just his legos-he also likes to have all the sets dumped together. and in his room i have a lego corner set up with a small table. that seems to control having legos all over the house and stepping on them!!

I would agree with the bin idea. My son is into legos, and one big bin was much easier than all the separate containers that they came in. If my son continues the lego interest, I myself may invest in a lego table. He plays with his on our dining room table. Many times he has had a city and doesn't want to break it... but we need a place to eat! ;)

Good luck with your organizing,
SR

Hi M.
I would number the set with the same number and assing each set a diffrent number. Then you can buy one of the containers
that has smaller drawers and then number each drawer the same as the set and your son can put them away when he is done. hope this helps T.

My 7 year old has tons of legos and bionicles that were all over his room. What we did was buy stackable cube drawers (plastic) from walmart. We got 9 and now he has a drawer for his favorite legos, batman legos, and how ever else his mind organizes them. Now he can pull down a cube and play with what all is in that cube and put it back easy. Also since they are plastic we bought stickers and he got to decorate them. (When he decides he doesn't like a drawer's stickers a little goo gone takes them off)

I'm so glad I'm not the only mom who has this problem! Does anything hurt more than stepping on a Lego in the middle of the night??? LoL We've got a plastic tub under the bunk beds that we put all the Legos in. It's just a matter of getting the Legos OFF the floor and INTO the tub!

Don't know what to tell you, except that I love this question!! I can't wait to read the responses, I have 3 boys, and live in a LEGO warehouse (haha).

M., ah legos, they have their story, ahaahhaha i started out like you , i loved legos, they are agreat tool for kids, they help in all stages, but i did like the legos in their own sets, if you want to keep them this way, put them in their own sets, build the set, and put it on a high shelf and dont let them play with them, ahahha this is the only way to keep all legos in the same set, your best bet, is to let the child play with legos, and have them pick them up tto the best of their ability according to age, but get one bucket, put them all in it, and let them dump out a huge pile when they play with them and you sit and play too and build what you want, as well, this should allow enough legos for all who want to build, any way, my kids are now 20,16,14 and we just moved, and i still found legos on the floor, ahhahaahah this is alife long commitment to legos, ahahha they are such a wonderful toy even the older ones buy them and get them, just know when they loose interest its ok to get rid of them, but even today i miss our big bucket of legos, ahahahah just have fun, enjoy life, and be committed to your legos, and pick them all up and let the legos live happily together, D. s ,

I don't know where you'd find this, but someone once told me about a lego organizer with several stacked bins or drawers. Each one had openings on the bottom that got smaller with each level down. The idea was to put all the legos (or a bunch) in the top, and only the largest size would stay up there while the rest fell through. Then the next level down,the same thing would happen, until you have only those tiny little one- and two-dot pieces on the very bottom. I've never seen it, but it sounded interesting.

We designated a spot for lego building. so you don't have to pick up the legos all the time. We use the bin and have spent hours looking for the right piece. We have shelves for the sets and other things that are built and want to be saved. also boxes can keep other things that are built that you don't want to get dusty. Lego's are great. my 18 year old still likes to build huge creations. Great imagination toy.

I would use a plastic container to hold them and put them all together. Let him be creative about what to make with all the peices.

If your son does not mind mixing all the legos together then put them all in one BIG plasitc bin (whatever size suits the area you want to store them in... or will fit all the legos). My hubby still has/plays with legoes and he keeps them in a plastic tool box which works really well for carrying.

As I said before if you son does not mind all the lego in one bin that would be the easiest for you... you can get one big enough for him to keep the sets built but put away till he wants to take them apart. Lego is ment for building various things not just one thing so it is great that he is using the parts for various ideas instead of just keeping it just for that set.