Since the boys are no longer using their train table, I decided to convert it to the main Lego storage area. We purchased this from Costco about 6 years ago and have definitely gotten our money’s worth out of it {Note: I have seen something very similar more recently at Target}. It is still in great condition and I love the bins underneath for storage. I flipped the top of the train table over and spray painted it with chalk paint. It now serves as a play surface and display area for some of their assembled ships.
I purchased some bins to fit inside of the larger storage bins to “loosely” sort their Lego out. The smaller bins easily come out and can be transported around to wherever they are playing {although I do try to confine this as much as possible to Connor’s room!} The Legos are roughly sorted into Star Wars sets and Lego City sets as I know any further sorting would be futile!
Now… the boys’ favorite thing about Lego is building and playing with all of the Lego Mini-Figures. They literally spend hours each day with these guys. Connor has this Star Wars case that he keeps a lot of his figures in. We have been keeping all of the unassembled parts in a muffin tin.
Surprisingly, this has worked amazingly well. The boys think it is just like the figure building station at the Lego store and have been doing really well with keeping everything sorted. We might have to get another muffin tin if we end up with too many more figures!
And then there are all of those little bitty tiny bits that always get lost in the bottom of the bins. I had purchased this Rotavision storage system at Costco a couple of months ago for Dave to use in the workshop. Since he still hadn’t gotten around to using it, I snagged it back to use for all of the smaller Lego parts.
The kids can get into all of the parts easily and the whole unit is light enough for them to move around the room. I added a couple of Lego stickers just to make it look a little more “kid friendly”. I don’t have ALL of the little parts in here but it makes it much simpler if you are actually trying to re-build a set.
As our collection grows, I’m sure we will be replacing the Duplo bins in Connor’s Expedit with the regular Lego. We still have some room left in a couple of the drawers as well so hopefully this will provide us with enough storage in the years to come.
Everything is close at hand and easily can easily be moved around the room as lots of the Lego play actually takes place in our Reading Nook. And I must say, the boys have actually been pretty good about cleaning it up too!
When we head out to appointments, the Lego often comes with us. I ended up purchasing one of these Lay N Go bags to make it easier to tote it along with us. They are a little pricey but it is getting well used. The lunch box often comes along too!
It spreads out flat so it is easy to see all of the pieces and then cinches up into a little bag. It actually fits more Lego than you would think.
Here are a few other Lego storage ideas in case these ones don’t work for you!
I have seen these Lego block storage and Lego head containers at The Container Store as well as Chapters-Indigo. And on a non-storage note, The Container Store even has these adorable Lego water bottles {because you know your little Lego creators need to stay hydrated!}
Well, hopefully that gives you some fun Lego storage ideas! If you have any other ways that you have been organizing your Legos, I would love to hear from you! I definitely think that the storage will have to evolve as the kids get older and their needs change.
Just remember it is all about the CREATING!!!
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What great storage ideas! There are a lot of lego loving kids in our family, so I’m going to have to share these ideas. 🙂 Megan
love it Jenn!! We have legos everywhere!!
I NEED ONE!! That is so cool! I have seen these before..and I can’t agree more with how awesome this would be! Don’t you just love it when you step on a darn lego head? hurts like a son of a gun! 🙂 We are Chin Deep in legos over here! Awesome Post Jenn!
I have an 8 year old and legos on every flat surface in my home – lol. Another one that I use (especially good for legos-on-the-go) is the clear plastic jewelry making storage cases you can get at Michaels or Hobby Lobby on sale or with coupons. They are great for mini figures and small pieces (for our road trip and vacation they were a life saver). They are also a great way to organize the small accessories that come with mini figures – otherise those go right to the bottom of every bin.
Happy Legos!
Those are great ideas for Lego pieces. I have a son who is a Lego fanatic and storage of the pieces and display of the sets is always an issue. I have also bought those tool boxes with all of the little drawers for the smaller pieces and hung it on the wall in his closet. That way he only takes out the drawer he needs. Thanks for all the great ideas.
Great ideas Jenn! There are always Lego pieces floating around my son’s room & I’ve been looking for some storage solutions. Thanks for sharing!
My boys are older and are now into legos too, but when my baby girl watched Thomas, they still sneak down and watch with her!
I gotta get me one of those Rota-Vision things. Perfect Lego solution! my 5 year old recently got it with the Lego bug, and they area all over the house! Thanks for the tips, I’ll be coming back to look at this again and again!
http://feathersandsunshine.blogspot.com
This a a SUPER idea Jenn! We own the exact same train table. Santa brought it 6 years ago!:) I have been wanting to put the trains in the attic and buy the lego squares and attach them to the tale but I really like your idea. I am bookmarking this!
LOVE the rotary holder, and I would love it if you would come share these great ideas at I Freakin Did It Friday.
http://www.missinformationblog.com/2012/08/i-freakin-did-it-friday-2-and-features.html
These are great ideas for lego storage. As always, the biggest challenge is to actually get them to put things away. I’ve yet to figure that part out but I love the way you have all of the little bits sorted and the labels so he knows which projects are completed or still in progress.
My son is also color blind. I have been looking at different ideas about organizing all his Legos but I had not decided how I would sort them. Right now the different sets are in ziplock bags in his closet. I think I will keep them sorted by the different sets.
My son is also color blind but his sisters helped sort all his Legos by colors. His oldest sister and I are very OCD. It seems to be working but he has limited space and needs a way to display his finished projects.
HI! COULD YOU LET ME KNOW HOW THE IKEA HACK TABLE WAS BUILT? I ATTEMPTED TO LOOK THROUGH THE IKEA WEBSITE AND YOUR SOURCE BUT COULDN’T FIND THE INFORMATION/DETAILS FOR DUPLICATING. THANKS!!!I
All of the parts for the table were just purchased from Ikea – just a mix and match from all of their parts! I just purchased the long table top with the Brogfinn legs (which I stained) and Alex drawer unit. http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/categories/departments/workspaces/11845/
Oops! I thought you were talking about something else! The IKEA hack table is not mine but it looks like it is just Trofast units stacked together with a big sheet of plywood on top. Good luck with your design! 🙂