Lego Storage Ideas For Kids Legos

Jess-Miller-Sunglasses
Published by 
Jess Miller
Last updated: 
April 13, 2023

Lego has been popular for decades, and while video games and mobile phones are taking over the planet, this essential kids toy is still flying off the shelves. With more advanced sets and branded toys based on favorite movies and games, Lego has taken massive steps to remain an integral part of a Western childhood, with sales remaining steady each year.

But anyone who has ever stepped on a Lego brick knows that these little guys can be dangerous! Plus, they hide in plain sight and can get lost behind even the smallest of household objects. Storing them and keeping your home free of deadly foot assassins is a difficult task without proper storage solutions which are well thought out.

With the collective brainpower of millions of parents worldwide, there are a variety of innovative and simple tactics that you can use to keep your feet safe. Many of them are affordable, some might even involve tools and containers that you already have in your home, but all of them will help you and your kids to keep the home tidier and safer than ever before.

Why Do You Need to Store Legos?

Why Do You Need to Store Legos

From your point of view as a parent, keeping the house tidy and beautiful is critical. You didn’t work hard every day to pay the mortgage or rent, only to let it become dirty and unenjoyable. You want to be able to bring friends and family over without being embarrassed, which is why storage is vital. It’s the first step to ensuring that your home is clean and safe.

As the child playing with the bricks, losing a key piece of a set can ruin the entire toy. In recent years, Lego products have become increasingly complex, with smaller parts that are necessary for the whole design. Without them, the set is incomplete and disappointing. To keep them safe and easily accessible efficient container organization is critical.

Storage Tactics: Communal vs. Specific

Storage Tactics Communal vs. Specific

There are two thoughts of school when it comes to storage, the communal container or the specific solution. The first is what many of us had growing up, which was a large box, a pot or bag where you throw everything into, all together. The advantages of this solution are:

  • Quick to clean up and store parts
  • Takes up less space
  • Keeps everything in one place

The latter is an alternative solution which demands the categorization of products. You see this approach in a mechanics office, where different screws and bolts are organized by size and shape into alternate containers. The same can be for Lego, by color, set, shape, size, and design. This approach is:

  • Complicated to create
  • Takes time to maintain
  • Offers greater access to specific parts
  • Helps to prevent upset children who can’t find a piece
  • Appeals to organized children

Neither solution is perfect, but one is probably better for your child than the other. You need to think very carefully about which is going to be best for your kids and then stick to it. If your child is messy and thrives in chaos, the large bag is going to be ideal. Whereas children who are precise, meticulous and thrive in order will prefer categorization.

It might seem weird or silly to think so much about the method that you’re going to use, but it’s critical. Picking the right way will ensure that it’s easy going forward, and will help your family to keep the home clean. Notably, even the messiest kids can be convinced to clean up when all they need to do is grab pieces and throw them all into a single box.

Bag Your Lego Up

Bag Your Lego Up

In our opinion, for most families, the bagging method is going to be the most efficient and successful. Boxes are great, but they are also heavy and won’t fit into every area or shelf. On the flip side, bags are malleable and can be forced under tables or into any shelf. In the worst case, you can even put the bag into a prettier box that goes onto your shelves.

When we talk about bags, we’re not talking shopping bags that you get for free from the grocery store, although that would work. We’re referring to high-quality, thick, durable and attractive containers that come with tight draw-strings or zips so that nothing can escape or is lost. These bags aren’t expensive and will make your life a million times easy.

These bags will only run you a few bucks and are specifically created for storing toys. These Lego storage ideas have led to the creation of the bag mat by Lay N Go. This bag folds out into a mat, giving your children a safe and smooth playing area which helps to minimize lost pieces.

With a pull of the drawstring, the large mat will tighten up into a large carry bag which will keep all of the pieces safe. It can then be taken to a friends house, to school or stored away in the corner. The bag itself is useful, enormous and convenient. For most children, it’s one of the best Lego storage ideas.

The reason why it’s so superior is that when it folds out into a mat, you can see all of the pieces. The issue with boxes and containers with all the pieces in is that you don't know what’s at the bottom, which is frustrating. This mat product fixes this while giving you unparalleled convenience and ease. For most, it’s the best option.

Storage Trays and Desk

For the most orderly of children, a desk and storage tray is the perfect combination. It fixes two problems simultaneously by giving your kids a clean area to play at, as well as a range of bins to store the different pieces. While not as extensive as a complete categorization method using trays or toolboxes, it’s more specific than a large tub or bag.

Likewise, by putting the toys up into trays and on a desk, it prevents anyone from stepping on those deadly bricks and injuring themselves. Similarly, it’s much harder to lose pieces on a raised and limited space, when compared to the floor, where objects can easily slide under the couch or a table.

IKEA and other homeware stores have these large shelving units which you can put trays into in a variety of sizes. Typically, they look like small bedside cabinets, which are open-faced and allow you to insert bins rather than closed-off drawers. If one isn’t large enough, you can combine multiple to create a large table surface at the top for playing.

When compared to Lego storage ideas that use bags, this isn’t as portable or convenient. However, it’s prettier and prevents bricks from laying around or having your kids play on the floor. Depending on your family, the child in question and the size of your home, one option is likely to stand out to you.

Large Lego Storage Box

A box is arguably the most simple and cheapest option. Many of us had this option growing up, and nobody ever complained. It’s not perfect, but neither are kids, and sometimes the most straightforward option is the best. If your kid has a massive amount of bricks and sets, categorizing them might not be realistic in the space that you have in your home.If this is the case, giving your kid a box that it theirs is the right choice. The vast majority of the time they will use the same bricks, which will end up on the top of the pile. Therefore, the all-in-one box isn’t as bad as it might seem and can cause kids to play for longer, which is a huge benefit, as every parent knows.The box that you choose can be as pretty or ugly as you want. If it’s hidden away under the bed or in a closet, it doesn’t matter. But if the box is going onto a shelving unit which your television sits on, appearances might be worth more. In which case, you can buy decorative and beautiful canvas containers which have handles for easy carrying.If you have multiple children, each of whom has their toys, getting a box for each can be great. You might also stamp the names of each onto the boxes, which can be a pretty DIY trick that adds extra charm to your home.

Flip-Out Drawers

These cute little containers might be small, but they allow for a much higher level of precision. With flip-out drawers, you can use them for tiny parts. These drawers are often used by mechanics to store small screws and nuts because the top-opening mechanism makes it harder for them to drop to the floor and become lost.The main issue with this solution is that unless you have a huge wall of drawers, you can store much. One option would be to combine this with an alternative. Perhaps, a large tub of bricks and flip-out drawers for smaller parts which can quickly become lost among larger pieces in a box. Plus, you can place the drawer on top of a table for easy access.

Toolbox Storage

If you’re a DIY fanatic, the chances are that you already have a vast number of toolboxes in your home. But even if you don’t, you’ve probably seen one before. They typically have a selection of different sized pockets and boxes, which have a clear plastic cover on, preventing anything from falling out.Rather than putting tools, screws or nuts into the toolbox, you can store a variety of different Lego pieces. The easiest way is to arrange each piece by purpose or color. If you have a larger collection, doing it by color will be quicker, but by use or style can make it easier for your children when they are playing.The great thing about toolboxes is that they can readily stack atop each other. With a range of labels, your children will be able to find the pieces they need quickly. However, toolboxes aren’t cheap, and they are not attractive or beautiful, which can make storing them in your home more challenging.

Small Tubs

Another great alternative is to use small tubs. The best thing about these is that they are easier to obtain and most likely you already have a few in your home. Worst case, you can make them by washing out old ice cream containers. These containers are fantastic for categorization of bricks because you can hold a huge number of pieces in a single tub.If you have a Lego collection, tubs are the second best method behind large boxes. An avid collector could have hundreds of red bricks, and the same number of blue, which is why being able to categorize into tubs is critical. When combined with a desk drawer, you can keep big pieces in the tubs and smaller parts in the drawer. These tubs can vary significantly in size, which is good because it allows you to choose the correct dimensions for your collection. Likewise, for younger children who don’t have much Lego, a small tub or two might suffice for their entire selection.

Takeout Trays

Our final option is the cheapest and arguably the best for many people. The reason why people don’t consider it is because it’s not attractive and for those with stylish homes, that can make it tough to store them in a prominent location. To counter this, you might suggest putting all of these small containers inside of a much larger box. Takeout containers are the obvious solution because you can either reuse the ones you get from your local restaurants or buy them from Amazon. Due to their dimensions, you can store bricks in highly categorized sections, which is ideal for very particular children who prefer order.This method is very cheap and practically free for many of us. The most realistic way to make this work is to take all of your child's bricks and segment them by color first, then into type or style. From there, you can stack relevant containers on top of one another and into a large box or a shelving unit that it’s your home.

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