Legos!! Help!!!

[NicaG]

My ds is 6, and his current obsession is Star Wars Lego sets.  Between Christmas and a recent birthday....he has a lot of sets.  They are taking over his bedroom.  I can't seem to figure out a good way to tame these sets.  Here are the problems:

-what to do with sets in-progress? Right now we keep a half-assembled set on a tray that can be carried downstairs to work on.  This works ok, but it's becoming a dusty mess because ds has loses interest halfway through assembly.

-what to do with assembled sets that are now breaking apart? Ds has a number of spaceships etc that are losing pieces or whole parts.  When this starts happening, do you save pieces for each set in a separate box, to be reassembled later?  Or do you just accept that the set will never be whole again?

-what do you do with assembly booklets?  do you keep them so the sets can be reassembled later?

-what do you do with stray Lego pieces you find around the house?  Do you have a general Lego bin or something similar?

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

[macandcheese]

All of our Legos are in giant Rubbermaid-type storage bins. We save instruction books and catalogs in a separate box in case we want to reassemble any specific sets. We usually keep new sets together for only a little while before they are broken apart and added to the bins with all the other pieces. Sorting through the buckets for a particular piece is half the fun!

Unless you have a giant, dust-free area with lots of shelving, I don't think it would be practical to keep sets together indefinitely. Depending on your kid, though, it might take some convincing to get him to combine sets. My brother was always resistant to breaking up his sets, but eventually he realized that it's more fun to play with a huge stash of bricks than a few assembled sets.

[ursusarctos]

Originally Posted by macandcheese 

All of our Legos are in giant Rubbermaid-type storage bins. We save instruction books and catalogs in a separate box in case we want to reassemble any specific sets. We usually keep new sets together for only a little while before they are broken apart and added to the bins with all the other pieces. Sorting through the buckets for a particular piece is half the fun!

Unless you have a giant, dust-free area with lots of shelving, I don't think it would be practical to keep sets together indefinitely. Depending on your kid, though, it might take some convincing to get him to combine sets. My brother was always resistant to breaking up his sets, but eventually he realized that it's more fun to play with a huge stash of bricks than a few assembled sets.

[taubel]

I have three boys who are obsessed with legos. We have our sets, and then we have our "miscellaneous" legos, which consist of random pieces I bought in bulk (used) on eBay. So they can either build a set with instructions or create their own pieces from the random bin. 

Our sets, however, are stored somewhat imperfectly. When one is disassembled, I keep most of the pieces in a ziplock bag with the instructions. This way, we only have to search the "random" bins for a few missing pieces.

We also bought a lego sorter for separating the pieces by size when needed. That really helps.

We also keep a small container of just "guy" parts and accessories. They mostly play with the "guys," anyway.

My kids play with the random legos (freestyle building) 95% of the time and rarely want to rebuild the sets I've so carefully stored away!

Best of luck and please post back with any tips you discover!

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by taubel 

I have three boys who are obsessed with legos. We have our sets, and then we have our "miscellaneous" legos, which consist of random pieces I bought in bulk (used) on eBay. So they can either build a set with instructions or create their own pieces from the random bin. 

Our sets, however, are stored somewhat imperfectly. When one is disassembled, I keep most of the pieces in a ziplock bag with the instructions. This way, we only have to search the "random" bins for a few missing pieces.

We also bought a lego sorter for separating the pieces by size when needed. That really helps.

We also keep a small container of just "guy" parts and accessories. They mostly play with the "guys," anyway.

My kids play with the random legos (freestyle building) 95% of the time and rarely want to rebuild the sets I've so carefully stored away!

Best of luck and please post back with any tips you discover!

Hehe  what IS it about lego 'guys'????  It's the same here!     Once a lego set comes apart, it all goes in one of the 3 or 4 trofast bins of lego's (yep, with 3 boys there ARE that many lol) and if they want to put it back together we keep the booklets... but they never do.  My 7yo just uses whatever parts are left to slowly transform it into something very cool and unique :)
 

[*LoveBugMama*]

My son had A LOT of lego. (we have sold everything now, cause he wasn`t in to it anymore.) We live in a tiiiiny apartment (350 sq. feet), so finding room for all of the legos and sets where a huge job. We did what people in this thread has done, put everything in big Ikea-bins when sets are falling apart etc. But I know of families who are storing the sets separately, to show them of. They used this:

It looked really cool. 

[Katico]

Check this out:

http://aliedwards.com/2010/11/for-the-love-of-lego.html

[emmaegbert]

omg this is my life too, DS is 6.5. I am starting another thread about playmobil... He's pretty cool about mixing the legos (since they are mostly hand-me-downs and were pre-mixed)

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by Katico 

Check this out:

http://aliedwards.com/2010/11/for-the-love-of-lego.html

our set up is similar to this.

[Savoir Faire]

We don't do Lego sets. I personally can't stand them-- the whole fun of Legos is to be able to use them again and again. Instead, Lego has figured out a way so that people buy their blocks and it becomes a one time thing.

I'd say throw all the extra pieces into a box for free play or use.

[Eman'smom]

We have turned our sons closet into what we call the "Lego Cave".   The closet is about 6x6, one wall is all shelving, the other two sides we build an L shaped table out of concrete block and laminate countertops.  He also has several of the plastic storage drawer things under the tables.  He stores completed pieces he wanted to keep on the shelves and can work and build on the tables.

[Jenni1894]

My son is 7 and I have a sorter toybox type thing in his closet.   You know the wooden shelves w/the plastic shoeboxes.    There are 2 big bins on the top that hold completed projects.   and the bases.   Then the next row of 4 are filled with other legos.   I keep all the instructions in a plastic shoe box next to the toy sorter. 

[Twocoolboys]

Originally Posted by NicaG 

-what do you do with assembly booklets?  do you keep them so the sets can be reassembled later?

We don't save any of the booklets since we discovered that you can find pretty much all the directions on-line. Here's a good site:

 http://www.brickfactory.info/ 

My kids build the kits once, then they gradually fall apart. When they do, the pieces are put in with all the Lego pieces. We have so much, however, that we keep a lot of them in boxes in the basement. The kids still have plenty to play with, but if they want more, they can get another box out, with the condition that it gets picked up and put away as soon as they are done with it.

[Momsteader]

We also don't save the booklets and just look online as they maybe only 5% or less of the time want to rebuild something. Usually, it's they want to rebuilt PART and combine with something else, so looking online is much more efficient.

For storage, I have various rubbermaid drawers and they might keep a new thing they've built out and on top of the dresser, but once that's full, it's time to rotate or you can't add more.

Mine also play extensively with the 'guys' :) 

[khkelsey]

Originally Posted by Twocoolboys 

My kids build the kits once, then they gradually fall apart. When they do, the pieces are put in with all the Lego pieces. We have so much, however, that we keep a lot of them in boxes in the basement. The kids still have plenty to play with, but if they want more, they can get another box out, with the condition that it gets picked up and put away as soon as they are done with it.

This is my boys! After they've built it once, they want to take it apart and make their own creations. I bought small plastic boxes with flip top lids and we have one for each color. Makes it easier when they're trying to find a specific piece. Now if they would just put them away when they're done we'd be all set. Especially since the cat chews them up when he get a hold of them!

[NikonMama]

My son builds the kit once, and then never again and just free builds with his millions of collected legos.  We found this short (only about 4", maybe 6" from the floor to the lid) but long (about 4' long) Rubbermaid bins that have wheels on the bottom and the lids hinge in the middle so he can open it but the lid stays on, if that makes sense.  He has two of them full to the brim, and we keep them under his bed so they are out of the way.  When he wants to play with legos he just rolls them out and sits on his floor, then when he's done he puts it back.  Much better than trying to find somewhere to put 50 different boxes.  :)

[4evermom]

We save the books in a file folder in our file cabinet.  We didn't save a few from his earlier sets and he regretted it down the line.  People will buy them so if you really want to get rid of them consider ebaying them or something.  Legos are huge collector's items so if you take good care of them, you can usually resell them for more than the original price.  We keep the boxes on the top shelf of ds's closet, as well. 

We have bins of loose legos so ds can create.  But he also likes keeping the sets together.  I scored a big ikea display case from freecycle that is in ds's room with his favorite discontinued theme.  And I also found a very nice china cabinet from craigslist for only $50 that is in our living room.  Finished pieces are behind glass doors on the top.  Large base plates are in the drawers.  And the bins store in the cabinets on the bottom.  It is the ultimate!  In addition, we have a small set of drawers from the hardware store (meant for screws and such) that we keep small or precious pieces.

Here's the freecycle Ikea cabinet in his room:

Edited by 4evermom - 7/18/11 at 8:50am

[Sandra78]

Download LEGO instructions and catalogs from the 1950's to the present time. Search by theme, year or number. Here's another good site:

http://www.worldbricks.com

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by Savoir Faire 

We don't do Lego sets. I personally can't stand them-- the whole fun of Legos is to be able to use them again and again. Instead, Lego has figured out a way so that people buy their blocks and it becomes a one time thing.

I'd say throw all the extra pieces into a box for free play or use.

Ha!  I am so with you. 

Growing up, we were creative with our Legos.  Not my DS, he cannot grasp the idea that Legos can be anything more than what is shown on the box.  So once it is assembled, he wants to actually play with that airplane, truck, etc. and dissolves into tears when the "toy" breaks apart.  No amount of education will change his thinking.  And he won't let me glue the creations together.  I can't tell you how crazy Legos make me!  My dad got him a GIANT set that contained an aircraft carrier and multiple jets.  It drove me to tears.

My current management method is let DS put whatever the kit is together, wipe tears for about an hour, then put it back in the box and hide it in the attic.  If and when the day comes he can "deal" with Legos on his own, I will bring them down.  (except the giant aircraft carrier/jet set, that was thrown out in the interest of family sanity)

[PepperD]

The best we have found for keeping legos is in the long, flat plastic bins that slide under the bed. This way all pieces can be seen a bit easier and they do not have to all be dumped out on the floor to find the desired piece. Bonus...the adults do not have to experience the pain that comes with stepping on them. :-)