to ask for your help to deal with this (a light one, LEGO!)

[VacantExpression]

I need to learn to deal with lego packs not being kept separate. That the chima might end up with the Ninjango, with possibly a city police car (in pieces, obviously) for company.

That this really is ok, and nothing to worry about and my trek to ikea for 50 small storage boxes on which to stick the picture from the box and store instructions was a waste

I need to deal with this, before Christmas as I fear the worst and that things are going to get worse long before they get better.

Can anyone help me? Or suggest easy child-friendly ways that lego can be sorted and stored so everyone can have inner calm and when it comes to toy storage?

xpost with BrieandChilli

you either have a child like itsfab or you don't.

id you are like itsfab and can sort but your child is put it all n one box and stir with a stick then you are in for a lot of stress or lots of time wasted sorting for it to be unsorted at a later date.

I would love to have enough divided boxes to sort lego. can't afford to.

I gave up a long time ago.

it now just in a very big box.

You need to let it go, you really do. I'm sorry it has to come to this, but you have to accept that mixing is going to happen and adjust your thinking accordingly.

Have some to help you through. Or & in case you don't drink alcohol. Or all of the above, as it seems to be something that you feel rather strongly about.

My boys keep all their lego sets in the boxes that they came in. Non-set lego is all kept in 1 big storage tub.

omg life is tooo short to sort lego...

My DSIS tried to keep sets together, drove me mad. Didn't she realise that kitchen tiles were important for pieces of machinery to slide on!

In those days, only certain room sets with big figures came with smooth tiles, they caused many arguments as all other Lego was neatly sorted by colour and brick type in a beautiful wooden suitcase grandpa made.

I feel your pain.

Now my Sons are both at school, they have decided I must get bored at home so hey set me challenges- "I want to play with my castle set". Three days it took me to find all the pieces...!!!

10 minutes it took them to loose pieces. We still can't find the king's gold sword.

Best bit about lego is collecting loads and letting the imagination run free. Don't stick to sets and formal instructions - although they are great for giving ideas - go wild, go crazy and have fun.
We used to sort by type rather than colour but we've given up on that and just shove it in boxes. We have clear plastic boxes with lids. We chose the size to fit on existing shelves. We clear it all up and start again roughly once a month. But don't break up creations in use!
It can be great fun to sort out all the minifigures once in a while .

All our Lego is mixed in a huge box, so it is ready to build into anything at any time.

But all the instructions are kept in a lever arch file in those clear plastic wallets.

I haven't got to Lego stage yet but I had the same issue with the mixing of play Doh colours into brown mush. I am not looking toward to this.

My daughter's Lego is all mixed together in a large plastic box in her bedroom. The instruction leaflets are in a folder.

Mine however are still in the original boxes, in ziplock bags and the instructions are filed into two lever arch files. I've also entered all the code numbers into brickset.com, which tells me I have 135 sets and Minifigs. When the man came to read the meter today he very kindly helped me to move half of it so he could see the meter

Hello, I'm Hemlock Starglimmer, I'm 53 and I'm a Lego addict

I always wanted play doh but my mother would never allow it. When I was dating dh he bought me the play doh barbers. I married him soon after :)

When we are rich I shall own the lego Death Star. And I shall glue it together.

We also have a large Sylvanian families collection (my mother considered it a waste of money so this was another toy I coveted). I play with it more than dd ever has.

I'm a five year old trapped in a 41 year old body hehe

Which reminds me - I must put the two new ones I got for my birthday on Saturday into brickset.com!

OddFobb - joyless? All the pieces are in their own sets. Doesn't mean the kids can't mix them if they want too .

When it was all in one box as I had had enough they didn't play with it. I have never mixed sets as they like to build sets but for all those sneering, my children still manage to use the spare stuff to make their own things as we have loads of it.

DS that's the Milienium Falcon on his Santa list.

That's 1,300 pieces of GREY Lego OP. I shall be rocking in a corner by NYE.

I gave up years ago, life is far to short to worry about lego sorting! All in a huge box (so you don't stand on it at 3am) & let them mix it up while you tell yourself you are boosting their creativity. Much easier.

This is not a battle you can win

Embrace the mix

My DS is completely Lego obsessed (he has ASD).
We've got over 70 sets. I have separated them out into boxes based on the colour of the bricks. However this hasn't worked out very well. Some of the boxes (grey and white in particular) are so full that DS won't build anything because he can't find the right piece very easily.
I have just ordered a loads of large ziploc freezer bags. Each set is going to be stored in a bag so that when he wants to build something he can take out the right bag and all the pieces are there.
DS usually likes to build the 'proper' set so lumping it all in one massive box will just stress him out.
If your going to built up a huge collection then get a good system in place early but it is no fun trying to sort out 7000+ bricks!

Wow. Polarized

I'm scared to google brickset.

We have a themed christmas tree each year. This year it is lego themed. So it will be decorated in nothing but baubles made from lego.

OP I feel your pain, but think of your children as Master Builders. You don't want to be the kraggle, do you...?

We have boxes defined by brick. So, standard 4X4, 2X4, 2X6, etc, all go in that box. Then we have the non standard bricks in a box. Then the small pieces that are 2X.
Then the plates, in two boxes, for small and large.
Then the box of minifigure accessories.
Then the minifigures.
My FIL is currently constructing a wall mounted shelf so son can store his blocks even more accurately. How sad are we.

Proper managing of bricks does mean they can reconstruct sets again easily if you keep instructions ( we do, a massive file!) plus they can use the bricks creatively outside of the set. DS picks up a block and says "Oh, it's a Star wars blah blah blah block" and the uses it with Ninjago / my old 80's space sets.

Erm... DS2 has about 45 gazillion Lego sets.

Each one is put into a Tupperware* box, with the number of the set carefully cut out and put in the box too. Each Tupperware box will also have the picture (cut from the top of the original box) in it.

Each Tupperware box is then stored in one of two, three-drawer chests. All instruction manuals are kept in the largest of the original boxes (I don't know whether its Lego Tupperware Box has a picture in- it's not my place to know these things)

Random, non-set pieces are sorted into types and stored in (guess what?) Tupperware boxes and stored in a large storage box.

Occasionally, someone me who is Too Lazy to sort the random pieces into their proper boxes will throw pieces into The Random Pieces Box, and will be chastised by the Lego Box Sorter (DH)

Once every couple of months or so, the Lego Box Sorter will tip the RPB onto the sitting room floor and have loads of fun sort them all out again, accompanied by little tuts and baleful glances in the direction of The Lazy One.

*other brands are available.