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Alright, parents out there…I have called upon one of my very smart and very crafty friends for yet another guest post today. As you know, I have some of the most amazing women in my life and I love to share their talents with all of you! Thank goodness they are willing to oblige!

Clever Lego Storage and Organization

I went to high school with Maria and her husband, Chris. Just like me, Maria and Chris are busy raising three very active (and adorable) little boys. Maria’s three boys are just slightly older than mine, so she is a great resource when it comes to sharing family-friendly recipes (remember her Ranch Chicken Kabobs? they’re still a favorite around here!), activities and tips for entertaining the little guys, and now…Lego Storage and Organization!

My boys (especially my oldest), have become obsessed with Legos over the past year. It’s all Gibbs talks about, thinks about, and wants. He’s currently asking to “do jobs” on a regular basis so that he can save up $9 to buy a little Lego police motorcycle at Target. And like Maria’s boys, it’s not the large Duplos that he enjoys. It’s the regular Legos with all of the tiny pieces that wind up scattered throughout my house. It makes me especially nervous with a baby roaming around who loves to put everything in his mouth.

Looking for a way to corral all of these toys, I asked Maria for her advice and she showed me her amazing “system.” I instantly knew that it had to be a blog post! I couldn’t keep this to myself! And now I know what we’ll be doing for Gibbs this coming holiday season. Since he wants Santa to bring him more Legos this year, Mommy’s going to give him somewhere to put them all!

Maria Guest Post Family Photo

 Maria, Chris, and The Boys

My oldest has been Lego crazed since he was 3. Unfortunately never the Duplos, it was the real deal from the get go! The tiny things that if left on the floor, you know immediately under your foot. Coming up with a solution to organize and contain them was an immediate issue. I’m naturally a very organized person, so not only was this ‘fun’ for me, it was a real challenge. We needed to find a balance between functional and easily accessible, so they could be enjoyed.

First let me say we have hundreds of kits. It would be impossible for me to display them all in our home. For the kits that are not played with as much anymore, those have a home in a large tupperware bin, each labeled, in gallon sized bags, with the instructions included.

Maria Guest Post Shelf

Maria Gues Post Shelf 2

My son likes to build the kits with the instructions and leave them built. Not all children do this. Some like to use the pieces and build their own creations. I have a system for this too! We have various shelves all over his room with his larger builds, including the Death Star which is quite heavy and very large.

Maria Guest Post Shelf 3

Maria Guest Post Shelf 4

A great solution to keeping the mini figures intact and easily reached is a typesetter tray. I found 2 different trays in a local antique shop and snapped them up immediately. My son had a great time organizing his figures by type in the spaces for the type letters. This way, when he brings down a kit, he can locate all the people that belong with that particular set.

Maria Guest Post Tray

Maria Guest Post Tray 2

Because my son is 8, he loves the Star Wars kits most of all. Those are the most loved in our home. He decided he wanted to set a scene with them to be able to play with them all together. We went to Home Depot and made him a table about 2 feet off the ground where he can play with everything at once. All the boys in our house enjoy this set up.

Maria Guest Post Star Wars on Table

And finally… what do you do with all those kits that build several different things? Those 3-in-1 sets? That’s where plastic bin drawers came in handy. At Target we bought 3 medium size bins, each with 3 drawers. I printed labels and split each drawer in 2 using a cardboard divider that I made to make the most of each drawer.

Maria Guest Post Bins

We also purchased 1 larger size bin with 3 drawers and separated all his pieces by color for free building. This is great when we find we’ve misplaced a piece from a kit (believe it or not, this still happens!).

Maria Guest Post Bins 2

I love Legos as much as he does and when they’re organized, they’re an amazing toy to invest in! Happy building!

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

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Comments

  1. I wish my son was that organized with his massive lego collection. He’s the type that likes to take things apart to build his own creations and there are legos everywhere. I tried to get him to keep the sets together, but he enjoys building new things and that’s what legos are for…so I just gave up trying to keep them organized…lol.

    1. That’s my son, Erlene — loves to deconstruct and try to recreate other “creative” designs on his own. Unfortunately, I’m finding Legos everywhere!

  2. I have 3 kids and they all played with lego very differently. My oldest, a girl, made scenes, with buildings, figures etc like stills from a film set. Middle one, a boy, made things according to the instructions then left them on a shelf like a piece of sculpture! Youngest sat in the corner with mostly figures acting out every star wars film word for word, swapping heads etc when he didn’t have the right characters, even whipping of the hands when the character met a nasty accident! Oldest now studying to be a photographer, middle one studying maths, youngest wants to be an actor – lego is the best toy EVER!
    My best hint is to always wear shoes or slippers !

  3. I did the same thing last year with the old letter press drawer. I found it on the side of the road and it really helps keeping all the Lego guys up and off the floor. Your readers will love this tip! Thanks for linking with Show Me Saturday!