Right, How do we store all these Lego kits?

[clumsymum]

We now have about 7 different lego kits of StarWars vehicles and the new Mars Mission stuff. DS adores them, they are really good VFM as presents, EXCEPT ....

The original boxes tear as they are opened, so are no good for keeping the pieces, The models fall apart as soon as you try to move them (or breathe near them), and they are made up of MINISCULE tiny pieces. I had to search the living room carpet with a torch before I dare vacuum this morning.

By Saturday all DS's presents must have taken up residence in his bedroom. A good storage idea please.

DH has a large collection of Lego Technic, which is even worse than normal Lego for "special" pieces. We have two highly-prized models which sit on a high shelf and never get broken up. Apart from those, he uses Stanley tool boxes from B&Q - a bit like a plastic briefcase, with lots of smaller rectangular boxes slotted inside. Different shapes go in different boxes and they can be lifted out when he wants to make something. He has about six boxes - and yes, I do mean DH, not DD ...

The DDs' Lego is all in three large crates - one for miscellaneous Duplo, one for the railway system and one for all the "big kids" Lego. To be honest, I think muddling up all the kits and encouraging them to make something original is part of the idea.

Yes, we do have too much Lego ...

lol i would need about 10 sets of box4blox!

the lego one would take all day by the looks of it.

We have a special high shelf for stuff ds has built (we also has star wars stuff and mars mission for Xmas).

Then a general box.

We have a huge round tray that ds is SUPPOSED to tip all the peices on to - usually works but lots on angst on Xmas day when he ripped it all open and then we couldn't find the green emeraldy bits for the mars mission - they were a bugger to see on the floor!

We find storage of lego is a problem. Just looking round: we have an old 70s Lego storage box with trays, but we also use tea trays to 'contain' the bits as much as possible. These then go on top of the box, fairly haphazardly. Still, neat enough for now.

Aha, topical - sorted out ds's (weeny) room yesterday (and keep going in to sigh happily before groaning back to sorting out dd's (much bigger, it doubles as the playroom) shocking pit)

We have one of those huge drawers that go under the bed for ds's lego - it used to be all-in-together, but after some hours this weekend grabbling for miniscule Star Wars pieces - "it's grey, Mum, a four-er, flat and it should have a sticker of a grill on top" - I decided to have a rough sort by colour - and have found a fantastic new use for those cardboard bottle carriers that one's delivery of Ocado wine comes in . Life just seems too desperately short to sort by kit - and colour seems to be the salient thing.

There was a side benefit to the grabbling - as I worked through the heaps I told ds Tamum's famous (to me) description of gene-analysis: "It's like looking through a box of lego for a particular piece - but not a piece that is there - a piece that should be there and isn't".

Did you know that if you've lost the instructions for something you can down load from the lego website? We have done this with a couple of exoforce.

Bink I was boss eyed at Christmas after helping ds put his star wars thingy together. Teeny tiny bits.

I had a feeling I wasn't the only mother with this problem.

I received an email from Lidl's last night, featuring these, so I predict me dashing in on thursday to procure a couple of sets.

Sorting them isn't yet ds's thing, he's only 8, but I can forsee him becoming a bit anal about the pieces when he's older.