To mix up all the Lego into one big storage box?

[deathbylego]

The space sets, the police trucks, the three-in-one robot/dinosaur/sports car/propeller plane sets, the power mining underwater Atlantis space star wars stuff.

At the moment all sets live in their own clear boxes, in various stages of completeness (none really, actually complete). This means I cannot clear up the Lego, as only DS (8) knows where it should go and what piece belongs to what set, and this causes endless arguments. He has no organisational impulses whatsoever. The boxes are everywhere, and I feel my blood pressure rising as sets that should stay together become scattered. His room is a tip, boxes everywhere.

DH is horrified that I want to mix up the sets. But I am itching, ITCHING, to just dump it all in one big box and have done with it. I can feel my stress levels lowering just thinking about it. Then I could just say, 'Tidy up, DS', and he could toss it all into the Big Box. Done.

Please may I? I promise to keep all the instruction booklets.

Bugger

Op yanbu! My argument is searching for the right bit is part of playing Lego!

The ONLY sensible option is the SBS. If needs be, get a large box for anuthing square brick sized and upwards and a second smaller boz for tje really tiny peices.

File all instructions in a ring binder...rip the front off each box and file for reference for the picture.

Done.

RaveAK, my DH is like that too. Including the bits that smell and were left out in the sun in 1973 and are all warped and won't fit to anything.

We have a sorted area, and a big box too. The DCs and DH have never forgiven me for conflating all Lego boxed sets.

You take your life in your hands, OP.

I ahve some special pieces seperate and the rest in a big box.

Over the past two days they have built and entire new pirate ship from the pieces, it is quite cool. A prison too. Now they play Pirates of the Caribean with it.

I love it when they use Lego in such a creative way.

Keeping it all separate is more about colecting than playing, and IMO not as much fun.

To put it ALL in one box is a scary thought though.

We have one box with random stuff, and another with finished models.

I really hate the fact that Lego comes in small kits.
In my day- when I was young, you had Lego in boxes and not as kits. You could buy technical Lego which could be kept separate as it had small gears etc which were hard to find.

I think Lego is a very creative toy and you need to use your imagination when building stuff rather than just building from instructions.

Dump it in a box. Keep the smaller technical stuff separate and let your children use their imagination.

I really can recommend the sort and store heads. DS was getting annoyed at never being able to get at the tiny pieces because they fall to the bottom of the box.

He got a couple of the sorters for Christmas and they are great, loud though when they are being shaken, but a small price...

Haven't read all the thread but when we were children we had 3 huge boxes of lego. Most of Part of the fun was the sorting through of all the bits to find what you wanted. My mum said all you heard was scrape, scrape, scrape, then "DB do you have a blue sixer?"

Then again, we built most the models a few times then just built whatever we fancied.

Ds is only 8 months but has already inherited loads of lego - all of DH's and most of my brothers mine My dad spent a wonderful few months weeks when I was pregnant trying to build all the models and see what had survived 20-odd years and what hadn't. At the moment we have lots of bags of lego with instructions to make the model inside, and several bags just full of random bits that we couldn't work out what they went with!

DS1 is 8 so has years worth of lego plus inherited stuff. It is stored in large shallow plastic boxes upstairs under his bed and a large shallow wicker drawer/basket downstairs. Every now and again we sort out people into those small Ikea boxes with lids. He makes fantastic self builds of book characters and movie creatures and makes sure to take a photo of them before they get demolished.

We've mostly got random assorted lego anyway and keep it together (need a bigger box though!) but I carefully sort it into different types in sandwich bags. Ds and Dh then mix it all up and moan cos they can't find the right bits

I love lego though despite the fact it has become the carpet.

Noooo don't do it!

My mother did this with my lego, and when I got it down with DD, we spent a whole week with a big pile of lego in the lounge, trying to put the various sets together.

I was gutted that my mum had done this. They are all now fully separated into various quality street/roses/celebrations tins. It was a hard job eating all chocolate to get the tins but needs must

I'm with enimmead I find the sets a giant pain in the bottom

Lego should be brinks (with a few odd shapes bits) that you create any stuff with and pieces of a specific thing

The sets are HIDEOUSLY expensive and my two have no organisational skills or desires either - they have some sets still together but they eventually end up apart and mixed up - at this point they end up in SBS

I have offered over and over again that if they really want to have certain things together then we could glue them and then said spaceship/plane can crash without risk of losing a bit.

I do have all most of the instruction books but they aren't really that much help as it's very hard to find a specific piece amongst twelve billions other pieces.

Within the SBS I have two smaller boxes on is for lego figures (also have a DS who wants only this and I really do wish you could just buy a big box with figures in (that is opposed to a single unknown figure) and the other has the teeny tiny bits in - bits like the tiny coloured circley bits which can be used as 'lights' and levers etc

I wouldn't mind having them all the sets seperate but:

a) I don't have the room
b) it wouldn't happen

I keep begging asking people if they are buying lego as a present could they just get the standard not a set of something stuff, but they don't listen

B&Q sell huge flat see through boxes, that you can stack.

perfect for lego.

one lego, one box. adds to the fun.

We currently have a Lego room...I can just shut the door on it!!

DS has lots of lego, including a big box of lego from the 1970s given to him by his godmother. I have the single box for most of it, and a smaller box for specific sets (in a futile attempt to keep some of the sets together!). DH thinks that's ridiculous. His view is that the whole point of lego is to use your imagination, and build new models. Which I think is right, but seeing bits everywhere does drive me mad.

I keep the instructions in a ring binder, but DS never looks at them!

yabu . The thought of Lego all mixed up makes me twitch.

DS's Lego is colour coded in boxes and old margarine tubs, clear bits together, wheels together, people together. Since it was tidied he plays with it more as he can find all the bits he needs.

I'm so grateful that dd1 has never expressed a need for the separate sets and is content with generic lego that came in one big tub. The playmobil is the issue in our house...

Your husband is a weirdo. The whole point of lego is that you can mix and match. The only exemption I make is my Lego Christmas Toyshop, as thst counts more as Christmas decoration than toy and therefore keeping it seperate is justified.

My two DS acquired mountains of the stuff. Sometimes built it and left it to gather dust but never really loved it........years later they are both teenagers and for some reason we still have it taking up space in the house. In original boxes, plus a generic box.
Seems too good to throw away / take to charity shop and I Don't Do Ebay.

One box to rule them all.

Oh wait, wrong subject.

Yeah anyway, one huge, shallow box on wheels, under the bed. Anyone who says otherwise can become responsible for organising, tidying, hoovering etc the offending room.

It is all you lego mixers that makes old set of lego sell for silly money on ebay. Most do mix lego sets, throw away booklets and boxes hence why when you have a full set with box and booklet it sells so well.

Ah now the booklets are a whole different ball game. Ours are in a big ring binder, nice and neatly laid out in plastic sleeves.

We don't keep the Lego in sets, just by colour / style. So brown bits from Eygptian (sp?) lego still goes in with brown bits from normal Lego.

It stops all the 'lightbulb' bits getting lost at the bottom of the pile as they have special little clear boxes.

I'm late!
i didn't mean to be! sorry!

I feel it's very important for all the sets to be mixed up - otherwise, how are you going to getthe most out of the lego?
seriously, it's all about imagination!
the sets are really only here to give you a starting block.

You put al lthe instructions together in one box, make sure they're kept nice so that you can always make them again (plus the extra ideas they give you on the box), and all the lego in one big box, as you say in your OP.
Then the child has the opportunity to do what the hell he likes with his lego!

I also recommend having a "lego mat" - basically a huge piece of plastic (table cloth or something similar) and let him throw all the lego out onto it - he mustn't let his lego stray outside of the "lego mat". then, when he's finished playing, you can hold the four corners and throw the lego back into the box.
voila! no mess!

any wonderful creations he makes, take photos of them and print them out to keep with the instructions - that way he can make them again, or you can always see what he did.

My own lego, every now and then, i grab little tubs and separate all the types of lego (still inside the big box altogether), at the moment, I've got all people stuff in one box, all transport stuff in another, doors & windows, 2ers, 1ers, roof tiles, nature stuff (trees& flowers and animals), etc etc. I don't know how long that will last.....