Storage of Lego instructions

[irish_trip_mom]

My son has tons of Legos, K'nex, marble runs, etc. etc. etc. We have everything in separate bins, and just discovered that he cannot find the instructions to some K'nex motorized marble thingie. So I searched the basement with him and found tons of other instruction manuals and decided that maybe we need to contain this mess of instructions! He loves to be creative and come up with new ideas, but sometimes wants to go back to the old standby instructions. My thinking was maybe a binder with drop in clear pockets for the instructions. But I thought there are a lot of BTDT parents here who might have another brilliant idea for us.

Oh, did I also mention that we are renovating our basement so all of his bins are stacked in a corner right now?! And he has the itch to build!

Thanks!!

 

[iluvdiscruises]

I like the cd holders that are meant for a car...they fit the instructions nicely, and the one I got has a nice zipper around the whole thing...

Or, you could do a small Rubbermaid container...

 

[sksjasams]

We use big accordian folders to store Lego instructions.

 

[bumbershoot]

A drawer.

 

[Kat77]

We use a large shoebox Fancy, huh?!

 

[mommy2princesses0309]

we use a gallon size zip lock bag Same for barbie shoes, polly pockets, and lps accessories

 

[RangerPooh]

We use an old padded mailer for instructions (in general). We've also used an old folder to keep them in one place. If you have the sets in rubbermade totes you could always duct tape a clear pocket protector to the inside lid and slip them there so that they are with the specific set; legos, kinex, etc.

 

[labdogs42]

Oooh, I need these ideas. And the other question is how do you store the legos themselves? Do you sort them somehow? By sets? By size? By color? What kind of bins? I'd love to hear your ideas. My DS is just getting into the regular size Legos and I need a system! I think I'll go with an accordian file for the instructions for now. Good one!

 

[BurnsideMommy]

I SO struggle with Lego & instructions storage.

Older DS tried to put his sets in ziplock bags - younger DS dumped & mixed them. At the moment we just have them in tupperwares and instructions in ziplock bags. Drives me insane. I want something better looking, better organized.

The boys are each getting like 4 Lego sets for Cmas - I hate to think of just dumping them in the existing Tupper.

 

[labdogs42]

I think these look pretty cool, but I wonder how well they work?
http://www.box4blox.com/

 

[squirrel]

That storage container looks neat.

My dad built us one when we were little-It seemed huge to me at the time but I think it was only about 3'x3'. He had made a bunch of sections for us. When we outgrew Legos, he gave it to my cousin. They told my dad they wouldn't be returning it to my dad as they added more pieces and robotic Lego's to it.

 

[mamalle]

we have a wooden little tikes table with drawers that sits the TV, wii, etc. ds has all of his lego instructions in 2 of the drawers below.

 

[dizneechic]

Depending on the types of sets you buy your instruction needs will differ. If you buy the large sets ($100+ range) the books are much larger then the ones for under $100 sets. That said we use a really fat 12x12 scrapbook binder with top loading inserts. We have some smaller inserts in there too, but a lot of those end up tossed, but the instructions for the larger sets we keep in a big binder.

As for storage we modified our train table. We lifted it with bed risers (10 bucks at Target) so it was a more age appropriate height, we use the 6 storage bins under for large lego pieces (ship, some castle, a little duplo for my dd and an airplane) and our binder, and then we have rolling under bed storage units under those 6 bins (hence the benefit of lifting the table more). Granted ours are not sorted pretty at ALL, they are all dumped, but my kids free build and ask for sets for specific pieces that are unique, build the set once, and rip it apart to free build their own little worlds. We've tried walls of rubbermaid draws, labeling them by style, function, or color but inevitably it all ended up back in the big under bed bins, and so it is what it is. As long as they are off the floor an dI am not stepping on them I am a happy camper!

 

[preschoolmom]

We put this in my son's room:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S89842470

Instead of three big bins, we're using like 9 or 12 little bins (the unit is built with the slides, so you can mix and match the different size storage bins).

His is almost completely filled with Lego. We failed on the instructions - didn't do a good job of saving them at all - but you can look up the sets online and get the directions again if you get the urge.

 

[rubato]

I really like to be organized. So, every time my son gets a new lego set, we designate one drawer out of his drawer organizers to that specific set. We cut out the picture from the box and tape it to the drawer. If that pic is too big, we cut it out of the front of the instructions. Once the set is broken apart, all the pieces go in that drawer, so we don't mix them up. This system lasted until this year (he's 10 now). He decided he didn't want to make the sets anymore and dumped all the legos into 2 huge plastic tubs.

Then, he has a portable lego case that is soft sided and has a handle. We turned that into the instruction holder. It looks like a little briefcase.

 

[uk_wildcat]

My son has a rolling bin with drawers in it that we keep his instruction books in. As for the bricks, I bought bins at IKEA that we keep them in.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/57192396

We started out separating them by color and he still has many of them like that. As he has gotten more and more sets, it got harder to separate them. So, many of his bricks are just in those bins all together.
I also bought some little containers at IKEA that he keeps his minifigures and their accessories, wheels, windows, etc. in.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10073345
and
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80098583

The shelving in his room is from both Target and IKEA. They are like this:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80071357

The bins fit perfectly on the shelves. I also made labels for the bigger bins that show what color is in each. Now if he would only keep the Legos off the floor and in the bins!

 

[jessica52877]

We do ziploc bags in a drawer. A ziploc for city, star wars, creator, bionicle, etc. I store the legos by color if they are torn apart. Makes it much easier to know where to look. I also have a little lego storage thing. This is it.

http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-851917-L...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1261541623&sr=8-2

I more or less bought it to amuse myself but I do keep accessories in one bin, people in another, wheels, etc. Instructions can slide right in the bottom but not too many. I tend to have mainly city ones in it because they get torn apart the most and put back together the most.

I don't like torn up legos! The cities set out all the time. Bionicles are in a basket and then batman, indy, star wars, etc all have their own rubbermaids I try to put them back in when DS is done playing with them. I think the Star wars are going to have to find a new home though since I can't keep stacking ship on top of ship and he is getting the Battle of Endor for Christmas!

I keep all the boxes (but that is just for me), tossed up in the attic.

 

[NotUrsula]

Looseleaf binders with topload plastic sheet protectors.

The lego pieces are in an apartment-sized cherry server dresser in his room. I couldn't stand the plastic bins, so I bought an antique to old them, LOL. It has a pull-out shelf for building on.

 

[HaleyB]

Not a storage idea, but I had not seen any one mention this so I thought I would; If you know which set you have you can download a copy of the instructions from Lego.com (on a side note, if you have a lot of one type, you can get instructions for sets you don't have and see if you have all the pieces you need for it).

 

[buzz5985]

Not a storage idea, but I had not seen any one mention this so I thought I would; If you know which set you have you can download a copy of the instructions from Lego.com (on a side note, if you have a lot of one type, you can get instructions for sets you don't have and see if you have all the pieces you need for it).

That's what I was going to suggest - all neat on a CD or DVD. Would work great for me - DH would roll his eyes.

Can everyone come organize my DH. He calls me anal. All I wanted was the legos in one tub. I was told that is stifling the creative juices. In other words, DH and DS are unorganized messes. But they really are creative - whereas - I color in the lines - they color outside the lines.