The Ultimate Guide to LEGO Organization
Hi friends! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but as I tried to write down my thoughts about LEGO organization, I realized I really needed it to be long-form… because LEGOs are not a simple thing to organize! So we’re back, and today we’re talking about one of the hardest toy categories a parent has to face: LEGOs!
My kids are LEGO super-fans. We even had a LEGO-themed birthday party last year! (And let me tell you, that just invited even more LEGOs to be gifted into our home…) Between that and a plethora of overly generous grandparents, we have A LOT of LEGOs. And I’ve gone through various iterations of keeping them organized. Here’s what I’ve learned: the containers are not as important as the system.
So today we will be focusing on the system that I use much more than the actual products. Especially because the products you choose should fit your space, and everybody’s space is different! That being said, I’ll definitely link everything. But please don’t miss the main point, which is this: your system and daily habits with your LEGOs will be the key factor in keeping them organized, much more than any beatiful container or product will be.
Types of LEGOs
First of all, you’ll need to distinguish which type of LEGOs you intend to organize. Are you working with DUPLO LEGOs or original LEGOs? My boys are 4 & 5 right now, so we’ve been through a phase with each kind, and I’ve found it easiest to distinguish between the two types completely. We also have a baby on the way, and often invite friends over who have smaller children, which means we need to consider baby-proofing. Therefore we keep each type in completely different rooms: DUPLOs are downstairs, and originals are upstairs.
Simply put, I don’t think combining is a good idea. Each type serves a different purpose, and it’s best to solve for one at a time.
DUPLO LEGO Organization
When organizing DUPLOs, you want to keep in mind their purpose and how they will be played with. One phrase I say a lot is, “If it takes you 15 minutes to put it away and it takes them 15 seconds to dump it all out, it’s not a good system.” These LEGOs are for small children. And small children usually do not care about following instructions, sorting by color, or keeping sets together. Small children like to dump.
So for DUPLO LEGOs, I recommend the simplest system you can muster. Your primary goal should be making clean-up as fast as possible. My first choice would be one single bin where all LEGO DUPLOs go, not sorted in any way. And regular decluttering to keep that bin manageable.
If your small child is extra dialed into LEGOs even at a young age, you could consider sorting by set or by color. But even with my LEGO-loving firstborn, we never really ended up re-building the same DUPLO set more than once. We built it first-time out-of-the-box, and then after the set was disassembled, it became “free play” and went to the big pile. Hence why the big bin approach is my primary recommendation for DUPLOs.
We are currently using the IKEA TROFAST system to hold our LEGO DUPLOs, but to be honest, I would not recommend it. For one, it’s over-organized. These LEGOs don’t need to be sorted by color like they are. And secondly, I have not been impressed with the IKEA TROFAST system. The bins get stuck or jammed a lot. I prefer this Humble Crew Toy Organizer, which we have elsewhere in our house, because the bins hold more, are easier to handle, and you can see the contents of each bin, which leads to more engaged playing and easier clean-up.
Original LEGO Organization
Now, once your kid enters the world of “little LEGOs”, everything gets a bit more complicated. So let me start by advising you to HOLD OUT longer than you might think… Yes, they recommend original LEGOs for kids ages 4 and up, but you don’t have to move to little LEGOs at age 4 if DUPLOs are still keeping your child entertained. I’ve spoken with many parents who feel like their kid was more ready for little LEGOs around age 5. But, like I said, we have a couple of mega-LEGO-lovers in our home, so we did lose the battle closer to age 4. You know your kid… trust yourself!
Original LEGOs are complicated for a few reasons:
- They are little, which makes them harder to clean up.
- They are little, which makes them easier to lose.
- As kids get older and more invested in their LEGO sets, they start to care more about following the instructions and keeping specific sets together.
- As kids get older, they become more particular about what they’re building, so even in free-play, they want to be able to find specific pieces more easily.
These reasons put a little bit more pressure on the organizational system. But I do think I’ve found a somewhat helpful system that solves for these problems. I like to think about it in terms of the lifecycle of LEGOs. Let me explain…
The LEGO Lifecycle
1. A New Box
The first stage of the LEGO Lifecycle is a brand-new LEGO box or set. Oftentimes, a kid might rip into this immediately. If so—great! But sometimes (like at a birthday party), your kid might get a lot of LEGO sets all at once, or receive LEGO sets that are above his or her level. In these cases, you might have a good reason to store these brand-new boxes as an independent category.
2. Build-In-Progress
Once the box is opened, the LEGO build has officially begun. As your kid gets older and starts engaging with more and more complex builds, this stage of the lifecycle will likely lengthen. So you need to make sure to have a designated space where builds are allowed to be in progress.
Because original LEGOs are little and get lost easily, I like to give my boys a tray for ongoing LEGO projects. This can just be a cookie sheet from the kitchen, or you can have designated LEGO “trays” if you wish. (Which I’ve added in my latest system—see links below!)
3. Display
When the LEGO set is fully built, it’s time to put it on display! Unless you want to fight a battle with your kid who just worked so hard to build something they’re proud of… you need to account for the finished product. This is usually going to be a shelf of some sort.
4. Play
Some kids don’t just want to display their finished products; they also want to play with them! As an adult, this phase usually stresses me out because it feels like the set starts getting destroyed… But I’ve come to accept it—because isn’t that the point? This is a TOY, after all!
It’s been very helpful for me to remind myself that this is an expected phase of the LEGO Lifecycle. And to have a clear plan about what to do afterwards. Here’s my process:
- If the set stays intact after playtime, it goes back to “Display”.
- If the set stays partially intact but needs to be rebuilt, it goes back to “Build-In-Progress”.
- If the set gets really destroyed, it goes to the next phase: “Free Build”.
5. Free Build
This is actually what you usually see on Pinterest: the beautiful, color-coded bins of LEGOs! It’s all of the LEGOs once they are disassembled. And it’s great to have good storage for these LEGOs (and, yes, I love to sort mine by color), but this is only one phase of the LEGO Lifecycle.
The free, disassembled LEGOs are great for free play and creative building. My kids love to make their own creations just as much as they love to build a structured set. There should be space for both! I just think most LEGO organization systems are falling short because they only accommodate for this phase of the process.
Anyways, when it comes to organizing “Free Build” LEGOs, I do like to sort to an extent. I sort by color, plus I have extra sections for people and wheels. This helps kids find what they’re looking for when they’re creating from scratch, and it also empowers the next phase, the potential “Re-build”…
6. Re-Build
This phase is optional. But if you and your kid are big fans of structured sets and following instructions, you may want to allow for re-building old LEGO sets. To accomplish this, you simply need to:
- Keep the old instruction packets
- Keep the “Free Build” pile somewhat sorted/organized
You can always look up LEGO instructions online, so you don’t have to keep the old instruction packets—you can just determine how important that would be to you!
(Note: My firstborn is a huge rule-follower and fan of following instructions, and he still rarely rebuilds. I question myself if it’s even worth it to keep the instructions!)
The Ultimate LEGO Organization System
The 5 Components of Comprehensive LEGO Organization
So, to simplify & summarize, I recommend a LEGO organization system that contains all of the following components:
- A space for unbuilt sets
- A space for builds-in-progress
- A space for finished products
- A space for disassembled LEGOs (often this is the “big pile” that you might want to sort by color)
- A space for old instruction manuals
Now, here’s the secret, especially for small homes without a designated playroom: these spaces DO NOT have to be all together.
For example, you could keep the big pile and builds-in-progress in a play area on the main floor, but maybe finished builds that your kid wants to display go on his or her dresser, or a shelf in their room. Maybe unbuilt sets go in the basement until your kid is old enough, or you need a brand new toy for a rainy day. Maybe old instruction manuals go in the filing cabinet… or, dare I say, the trash (?!) because your kid doesn’t care about rebuilds or you’re planning to look them up online.
Bottom line is this: the system matters more than the products. 🙂 As long as you have defined which stage of the LEGO lifecycle each item is in, and you have a defined place for each stage of that lifecycle, you can identify the proper home for that LEGO item.
A Note on Coaching Your Kids
Just because you know the system and have a defined home for each type of LEGO item doesn’t mean that those LEGO items are all going to get there easily and automatically. Because, obviously, we’re dealing with kids here. And even the best, most responsible kids are always making messes of things—especially LEGOs! So, much like with any aspect of parenting, this will require some teaching and training of your little ones (and perhaps your spouse…) to learn the system as well.
And we cannot expect the system to be followed perfectly. It will take time for them to learn, and even once they learn, nobody is perfect. And your home will never be either!
But what I have found so helpful for my mental clarity is simply knowing the system. I used to look at LEGOs scattered on the ground somewhere and just get overwhelmed by the decision fatigue of asking myself, “Where does this go?”. Understanding the LEGO lifecycle and being able to quickly identify the proper home for a random LEGO piece has helped immensely. And over time, with continual coaching, your kids are sure to catch on as well!
Side note: My favorite hack for teaching kids to put things away is to personify the items and call their designated place their “home”. Like, “Oh, this little red LEGO is missing his family and wants to go home—where do the little red LEGOs live?” It’s truly like a magic trick with kids catching on! It also gamifies cleaning up. Just a little idea 😉
Our LEGO Organization Systems
While the specific products you use don’t matter, I wanted to share mine with you, in case you’re looking for a little inspiration…
Iteration 1: The First Years
The very first iteration of our LEGO organization system looked like this: one box and three bags. Simple disposable bags with labels for the first few sets we owned. Your LEGO organization system doesn’t need to be perfect to start out—it should evolve with you!
Iteration 2: Starting Small with Original LEGOs
This under-bed LEGO organizer was a great solution for our original LEGOs for multiple years. We ended up outgrowing it for capacity reasons, but I would still highly recommend it if under-the-bed is a good storage spot for your LEGOs. We used the color sections for “Free Build” LEGOs, and the sides for sets-in-progress or LEGOs-to-be-sorted.
Iteration 3: A Long-Term LEGO Storage Solution
Our latest iteration has grown to accommodate many, many LEGOs! This is the IKEA KALLAX with two door inserts. Now let’s break-down how we accommodate each phase of the LEGO Lifecycle:
1. Unbuilt Sets
Originally, I planned to just keep the unopened boxes in this cabinet. These quickly got ripped open, but not fully started, so I ended up decanting new/unbuilt sets into these zipper storage pouches. I will also sometimes put a played-with-but-not-fully-destroyed set back into one of these bags along with its instructions so that it can be easily rebuilt again.
2. Builds-In-Progress
We use these all-purpose trays by Target’s Brightroom line for “Builds-In-Progress”. I cannot recommend enough! We started with the compatible 3-tray organizers for smaller color groups, and then we realized the trays are the perfect size for (1) spreading out LEGOs to find the specific piece you’re looking for, and (2) containing all of the little pieces so that they don’t go flying all over the place. Once I realized how useful they would be, I purchased as many as I could fit in this shelf! They fit perfectly on top of each of the Brightroom organizers we’re using for the main LEGO organization.
3. Finished Products
Right now, we just keep the finished products on top of this shelf. We may add some floating shelves above this unit to accommodate more finished builds over time. But for now, this works—and so that’s all we need! We will let the system grow when it needs to.
4. Disassembled LEGOs / Organizing the “Big Pile”
Within the storage shelves, we have these clear bins, also from Target’s Brightroom line. We’ve sorted by color with the primary colors in the big bins, and smaller color categories in the 3-tray bins.
5. Old Instruction Manuals
We are keeping the old instruction manuals in large 3-ring binders with binder sleeves. I’ve further categorized these because we have so many sets. You certainly don’t have to go that far… but keep in mind that the instruction manuals can get thick as they build up over time! So if you’re committed to keeping them, you’ll need true space. I like these big binders because the kids can flip through and see what they might want to build. But I think a filing cabinet or a box could work just as well.
LEGO Organization in Real Life
I think it’s important to end with this story…
Shortly after implementing this entire LEGO organization system, I walked into the room only to find this:
AHHHH, are you KIDDING me?!
At first I was incredibly frustrated. Why organize LEGOs when they’re just going to get rapidly dumped and destroyed? Because the system provides direction, not perfection.
The system eliminates the mental load of trying to figure out, “Where does this go?” The system will not keep your house perfectly clean all of the time. But when it does get messy, you’ll know how to handle it and where everything needs to go.
And guess what? This mess actually only took about 5 minutes for one adult and one kid to clean up together! So don’t lose hope. Stick to the system, and you’ll get back to baseline before you know it. 🙂
Let me know in the comments if this system works for you! Or any other LEGO organization ideas you have!
Be sure to check out this post for more on toy organization!
