Can you believe summer break is just a few short weeks away?
In my own home, I am tackling organizing projects in the areas we will be spending the most time in over these next few months. The garage, kitchen, my girls’ bedrooms and their playroom are at the top of my list. And do you know, the one thing I find in each of these rooms, heck, in every room of our home, is legos.
Actual photographic evidence of Legos taking over my home.
My girls play with legos more than any other toy we own. They will build little “villages” and spread them all over the house. Surveying the lego chaos that surrounds us, got me thinking about the best possible way to organize them for my daughters, and how what works for us will not necessarily work for others.
The key here is to find a way to organize them that coincides with the way your children play with legos and will encourage easy clean-up and maintenance when they are finished playing.
I believe at some point in all parents of lego-loving children’s lives, we ask ourselves two questions: why do we continue to add to their collection? And why haven’t we come up with a way that they will stick to in order to keep them organized?
The first question is a lot easier to answer. The second? So much harder because this is not a “one size fits all” kind of solution. My hope with this blog is to share with you a variety of ideas for organizing your child’s lego collection and for you to find at least one you have not tried before that may just be your answer.
In order to have the most lasting success with this organizing project, I think the best way to begin is to identify what type of lego child you have. I have come up with 3 categories that I believe best describe lego enthusiasts: the toddler, the inventor or the collector.
If your child is a toddler, they are just at the beginning of their lego journey. Finding a system that is easy to clean up when finished playing and easy for you to help them maintain is key.
If you have a table set up with a net bag to “push” the legos into when finished playing, you can make a game out of clean-up. (Most) toddlers will love the crashing sounds made by the legos as they are pushed into the net.
Another option for your toddler would be a lego mat or blanket that can be spread out on the floor and the legos dumped out on top of it. You would encourage the play to happen sitting on top of this mat and when play is all over the corners can be gathered and you could either syphon them into a container or leave in the center of this bundle until the next time.
Organizing for the Toddler:
Lego Table with net bag to scoop into
If your child is a lego inventor, they enjoy building the sets, taking them apart and building again and again in a variety of ways. The set itself is not so important to the child, but more that they will pour over the books and build their own versions of sets they see pictures of or create from their imagination.
These organizing caddies came from Micheals. The divided tray sits on top of the open bottom. For this particular collection, we used 2 total caddies. One bottom holds built pieces, and the other holds assorted loose pieces.
The lego inventor often scatters their legos throughout the home or in their room, taking up available surface area to build and play. They will search for specific pieces to make new sets. This often means the collection of loose legos is being dumped on the floor in order to find what they are looking for.
Set your lego inventor up for hours of play, and make it easier to locate what they need without dumping everything out onto the floor. Help them to create a system to sort the “fun legos” (people, animals, accessories and all of the tiny pieces that get lost in one large pile). Determine if your child prefers to have the legos sorted by color or by type/shape and use this as your starting point for organizing.
My daughters’ collection of lego booklets are corralled in a linen magazine file from Target. It’s on a bookshelf in our sunroom for easy access.
Organizing for the Inventor:
Organizing Caddy
Lego Bookshelf Using IKEA Trofast
Magazine File for Books
If your child is a lego collector, they enjoy keeping their sets in tact and on display. Some collectors will play with their completed sets, while others will enjoy the process of building but once it is assembled want only to display as art.
Check out this underbed storage idea from kirstycolquhoun.blogspot.co.nz
The lego collector will need a surface available to them to build the sets and then once built, a designated place for the sets to be displayed. They will also benefit from having a file to hold the lego books in the event something breaks and they will need to rebuild, and they will need a small container or a lego wall near their building area to hold the extra pieces that come with each set.
Organizing for the Collector:
Underbed Roll-out
Cube Storage Shelves/Bookshelves/Floating Shelves
Lego Wall
Legos are, in my opinion, one of the best toys out there to grow with your child and to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. I can’t promise that every time I step on one of my daughters’ legos I remind myself of this. However, it does help to know that while they are using their imagination and creating villages, I have created an organizational system that is tailored to their play. It’s a win-win: I am not only helping them develop their minds but I am also encouraging good organizing habits.
I look forward to hearing which system(s) you are excited to try out in your home! Please leave me comments below to ask any questions you have or feedback on your lego organizing experiences!
Happy lego organizing! Until next time...
