Lego Organisation and Storage

This post is going to describe our love / hate relationship with Lego, and the journey we have been on regarding its storage solutions.  If you don't like lego, you might want to click away now......

So, I hare three boys, ergo, we have lots of Lego.  We are fortunate enough to have a house large enough to separate our toys.

Initially we had the lego organized in colors in this Ikea unit in the learning room

We initially purchased these lego tables and storage boxes from Toys'r'Us, as when we first moved here we thought the lego could go in Oliver's room, as Sebastian was so small

Obviously that didn't last long.  Here is Oliver playing with the Lego last year.  

After our trip back to England at Christmas 2013, the boys lego collection grew somewhat.  This was because I decided that it would be easier for us to transport Lego back on airplanes. i was darn right too!!!!

But this did fill up the boxes to the point of explosion.  It was near on impossibly to build anything from the instructions, and very frustrating for a then 5 and 7 year old.  So we decided to do something  about it.....

BEHOLD!

The ultimate lego storage system.  In the Amazon Black Friday deals last year (2014), we picked up these storage boxes.  Yes, the inspiration came from the Lego film, among other places 

These hold all the little fiddly bricks.  We moved the large blocks and flat pieces into the Ikea unit

Paul laminated the labels to go on the draws, and stuck them on using velcro tape, so they are easily interchangeable if necessary (we have had to change some already, the system has been in place since January)

They are arranged in 'types', like all the one block specials together, all the flats together, all the smooth bricks together etc, etc, 

The boys still have to hunt for bits, but just not through so many bricks.  Ok ,we may have made it slightly easy for them, but it was a pure nightmare before.  Even Paul and I couldn't find bricks most of the time.  Isaac had lost all his confidence in Lego building, and Oliver was getting very frustrated. Now they knock things up in no time, and have great fun playing with their creations.

Our boys love looking at the Lego instructions.  So they were starting to get a little beat up.  Paul had the idea, and we had seen on Pinterest, about putting them into folders.  We divided them into types, then Paul set about making spines for the folders. 

This whole Lego organization has been a labor of love for him.  He has done most of the work, while I dipped in and out.

Inside the instructions are in sleeves.  The folders are kept of a high shelf, mainly out of Sebastian's grip, as he is still a little rough with them. 

The boys have had great fun with their legos. This system has made everything so much easier for them.  We quite often spend time just building.  They are even fairly good at putting away, now they know where all the draws are......

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This is the link to my Lego board on Pinterest