My son is 8 and LOVES playing with Lego. His collection has grown quite large. I thought I’d show you how to organize Lego- from sorting the individual pieces, mini figures, the instruction manuals, sets that are currently being played with, and broken down sets. I’ll also create a new system in this post. Let’s get started!
how to organize Lego
Let’s begin with a video walkthrough of the systems that I suggest and tutorial for the new set-up so you get a good overview. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:
If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. It’d mean so much if you’d watch the video! I’m trying to get better at my video skills so I can grow my YouTube channel. If you have a few minutes to watch this and/or subscribe, I’d so appreciate it.
Individual Lego
The biggest portion of our Lego collection is individual pieces. These are from sets that are no longer being played with and blocks from buying bins of assorted Lego pieces.
For these, I like to sort by color. I use these affordable bins to hold each color. This method is great for kids because they don’t need to know how to read to be able to put them away. I did add a label I made on my Cricut for each bin, but this is not a necessary step.
A few of the bins have a category item instead of a color- tires and bases. I find these are best on their own. For the Lego colors with so many bricks (for us those are white, light grey, black, and dark grey) they need two bins, I put the larger bricks in one bin and the smaller bricks in the second.
I also have an empty bin for sorting the pieces. This is helpful to have when looking for very specific pieces so you have an empty bin to put the bricks you’re sorting through. It can also work as a bin to hold Lego that have been played with that need to be sorted back into their color coordinated bins.
Sorting Lego by color is a little tedious, but easy. Plus it does make it much faster when looking for pieces to build sets. We’ve spent WAY more time playing Lego now that they are organized in a quickly accessible way.
Before moving to this system (when we had much less Lego), I kept the tires in a wooden cutlery tray. I prefer the plastic bins because they’re more affordable to purchase and can be stacked and transported easily.
Another option is using acrylic storage holders. This is also a good option for a smaller collection. It can be kept on a play table or desk and looks really nice. Since the sides are see through, it’s easy to find the piece you need.
For a stackable option for a small Lego collection, sorting the pieces by color or type works nicely in tea boxes. They aren’t clear all the way around and can be a tiny bit annoying to dig through to find an exact piece, but they are beautiful.
The bins are shallow, so for small hands, it works nicely to sort through.
Minifigures
We organize our Minifigures in two ways. First, we use a bead organizer to sort more generic mini figures by part- head, hair, hat, shirt, pants, food, tools, etc.
The pieces are relatively easy to find this way and it’s fun to put it out on a table and create different characters.
For the more specific mini figures, those are displayed on a shelf. Each mini figure stands on a base so it doesn’t fall over. And they work for decor for the room. They’re easy to grab and play this way too.
I found my shelves at the thrift store and painted them. These shelves would work really nicely too.
When our collection was smaller, I used a cutlery tray for the mini figures as well. The wood is beautiful. But I prefer having more slots in the bead organizer.
how to organize Lego- instruction manuals
For sorting the Lego instruction manuals, the best method I found was using an inexpensive file sorter. There are tabs so each section can have a different category of booklet. They can be organized by cars, houses, Lego City, Jurassic World, Harry Potter- whatever you have. This makes it very easy to find each instruction book.
When one file sorter is filled, a second one can be purchased to continue to grow with.
I’ve also stacked them by category in a closet shelf. It’s easier to make a mess of and harder to find items, but it’s an ok option.
sets we’re playing with
For Lego sets that are built and can be easily played with, we have a shelf where they can sit.
Recently, we added a Lego table to my son’s room. On the top, there’s bases glued to a piece of wood. So the top can be moved to the floor for playtime (and the table isn’t damaged).
This option works really well for setting elaborate scenes up and playing with the different sets. It’s a large surface area so lots of sets and mini figures can be out at once. Plus, it gets the Lego off the floor, which is nice for cleaning.
I love that this is a full sized table option so it will grow with my son. Though it is sad to move on from the kid’s table!
how to organize Lego- sets to build again
My current issue is the bags I have of Lego sets we want to build again someday. When my son was younger, we’d completely break down sets and sort them by color. But if we wanted to play them again, it took hours to find each piece. Instead of that, if I think we’ll want to play with a set (especially if it’s big), I put it in a zip lock bag.
This works, but is so ugly. So this is the new system we’re creating today!
SUPPLIES
- Box for Lego Sets
- Paint Colors- Shy Smile, Ballet Rose, Priceless Coral, Charismatic, Corn Stalk, Green Aqua, Mirador, Early September, Blue Chalk (all by Behr)
- Dollhouse Bookcase
- Gold Label Holders
Last week, we built an IKEA BILLY Bookcase and jazzed it up to look like a house. That will house our sets we want to build again. I found the PERFECT sized boxes to fit the shelves.
9 boxes fit on the shelf. Each box holds a large Lego set. A few of the sets I’m storing are medium and so two fit in a few boxes. This is all of the Lego sets plus their instruction manuals I wanted to store so I’m really happy about that!
To begin this process, I find the sets and their coordinating instruction manuals.
My husband added a second Gold Label Holder onto the long side of the box since this is the side that shows on the shelf. This way, the Lego sets can be switched out and all that needs to change is the moveable label.
Later, I decided to paint just the face of the boxes to add a stripe of color. This is a quick way to add some personality while still keeping the functionality of the box.
I added rainbow colors, of course! Note, I should have added the label holder on after I painted. But it was a last minute change so we just took them off and put them back on after the box received a second coat of paint.
Next, I made labels with my Cricut Joy Xtra on white card stock. I love using my Cricut to make labels because it’ll write them and then cut them. It makes it really easy to get professional looking labels quickly.
Last, I just put the labels in the label holders and put the boxes on the shelves. Ready to see the reveal?!
after
And there you go! Now I have a really nice system for organizing the Lego complete sets we have!
I think it looks really cute in the corner. And it’s so much prettier than plastic bags in a drawer!
It’s a little crowded in this corner, but now we have a whole area for building Lego and I love how easy it is to build a variety of items!
Ok, so there are my best tips on how to organize Lego. I hope showing how our collection and how we store it has changes as my son has grown. Do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
Love it? Pin it!