abreakfromlife Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 HOW do you do this??????? I'm about ready to throw them all away!!!! For the legos they are basically in a couple of bins. But then the boys dump it all out to find the pieces they want. and then the pieces stay all over the playroom floor. Sigh. For playmobil, I went and got bins and sorted them all to pieces. Guys went in one labeled bin, weapons and stuff in another, big castle pieces all went in one bin, miscellaneous in another bin. The big bin with the castle/building pieces always gets dumped out, b/c they say it hurts their hands to dig through the bins to find what they want. So then they get stuff out from all the different bins, play with it, and then when they put it away, they dont' want to spend an hour sorting as they put it away :tongue_smilie: so they just throw it all in big bins to put it away. Then next time they want to play, they have to dump it all out to find what they want, b/c it hurts their hands to dig through the bins. I have no idea what the answer is or how to store it all. We have a lot of playmobil - mostly castle/pirate stuff, and a bunch of legos, some regular and some star wars, but they mix it all together. So at the end of the day, there are legos and playmobils all over the floor, half of them set up, and half of them just remnants from being dumped out. And then everyone is overwhelmed when it comes to cleaning up, and I don't blame them. I don't know how to organize it so they can find what they need to play, and yet clean up in a reasonable time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather R Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I feel your pain! We actually have a ROOM devoted to Playmobil, and it gets to be such a disaster. I bought a couple organizers at the hardware store, the kind intended for organizing nuts and bolts in the garage. DON'T! The compartments are way too tiny, and NO ONE likes to micro-organize when it's clean up time. (Not even me, though I do like looking at all the neat compartments when it's actually done! lol) If I was starting from scratch, I'd do large shallow containers, like the under the bed type, for the small stuff. And then only fill them one layer deep. That way it should be fairly easy to find what they need, without dumping. And open shelves for the buildings, ships, vehicles, etc. Who knows if that would help, though! I'll be listening in for other ideas... Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We don't have Legos but we do have Playmobil. My solution? Giant rubbermaid container and just dump everything in. That's how the kids prefer it. They play with the circus people, jungle animals, zoo fencing, pirate ship....all together. So there's no need for me to even bother separating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyJ Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We just have one large tub for our legos and 2 smaller containers. One small container has people, animals, and people stuff like clothing and weapons. The second small tub has the current set they want to build (Like an actual boxed set). The large tub has everything else. :) They do dump the large tub when they freestyle play but since it all goes back in the same tub it is not too bad. They don't get the people tub out unless they have something built to play in and have put the rest of the legos back away. Then they get people and play whatever they want for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea1 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Well, my two sons are almost six and are now old enough and serious enough about their building that they want their Legos sorted by color...enough so that they make an effort to keep them that way. This helps a lot because we can put them in smaller tubs. We found some that stack, if they are not too full, so the colors we have less of go on the bottom. We stack them two high and put them in a large, deep drawer that pulls out from under their work table. It works out nicely but they are still dumped on the floor a lot of the time because they are always in the middle of building something...but I'm ok with it, for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Ds is 11 and obsessed with Legos. Which is great. I love Legos. No batteries, requires imagination, all that. Dh made him a board with a half inch lip on it. The board is about 3 X 3. He can set up Legos and keep everything contained and the board slips easily under the sofa out of site. It is really cool. However, he still has a ton of Legos in his very small bedroom and we go 'round and 'round about them. If I step on a Lego watch out. I think we need a dedicated Lego room. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 My ds used a large sheet on the floor for many years so we could easily scoop up all the Legos and empty the sheet into the bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parias1126 Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We don't have that many legos, but what we do have is in our IKEA trofast all in one big blue bin. I have a friend that told me she gets te bins from Target and organizes then all by color. Not sure how she keeps it that way, nut ahe has just one child and he is very serious about his Legos. Seeing what he has built, it looks as thought he looks for specific blocks at a time. My kids would have them all mixed up after a day. Our Playmobil is also in a big blue Trofast bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 For Playmobil (we have the doll house), we don't get out all the stuff at the same time. We have a large piece of plywood and everything has to stay on that. We also don't have it out all the time. It comes and goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occasionally Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We have a couple of these "craft carts." Each drawer comes out of the unit completely and has its own lid. I don't think they're made anymore :( I wish I had a few more already. For smaller Lego sets, I ask that the kids use their cookie sheet craft trays to keep things contained while they build (otherwise the baby would be getting into it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 LEGO- We have two small bins of specialized pieces, people, and ongoing projects. We also have a large, wheeled storage bin that is meant to go under a bed for all the loose pieces. It has worked really well because the kids can find their pieces without dumping the box. PLAYMOBILE- We have two medium plastic containers that I rotate, but, after typing this out, I am thinking about buying a second long, flat bin like the Lego stuff is in. Hmmm....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) We use those plastic drawer systems on wheels that some use for work boxes. Each drawer is a different color, people have a drawer, and random pieces have a drawer too. It currently takes 3 of those units, but we will need another one after ds's birthday. :001_huh: It is not hard to keep up with the colors, but we have the kids clean up the playroom every evening which makes it easier to keep things orderly. We did the sterilte tub method for a while, but after the legos got dumped out there was a great deal of whining to pick them back up. They had trouble finding what they were looking for too. Edited August 22, 2011 by dwkilburn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 This is what I recommend - First - don't expect your kids to organize and sort pieces - they just won't and you'll be frustrated. When they are old enough and want to organize - they will. Second - I'd try to keep the legos and playmobils in separate rooms - so at least when its time to put away, they don't get Legos in the playmobil or vice versa. If that's not possible, try to lay down the law that one needs to be picked up before the other is played with. Third - If possible - keep the larger playmobil structures put together and on a shelf or table (or lined up against the wall even). Just keep the smaller pieces in the bins when its time to clean up. I know - they take the structures apart as well! As long as they can resemble something - I usually don't worry if they aren't perfectly put back together. Fourth - low, flat bins work well for Legos. Like under bed boxes. if the box is too deep, then the kids can't find the right pieces and have to dump them out. The sheet idea is great also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom4god Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We us one of those under the bed container like this(This link is for 4, we just bought one @ walmart) that rolls under the bed. It works well for us since it can be stored under the bed and it is long and not too deep so the pieces can been seen easily and not lost on the bottom. Since we have bought this it has cut down on their needing to dump them out. They did learned the hard way that IF they must dump to dump them on a blanket or they will have to spend half the day picking them up. Of course, we still find Lego's all over the house.:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 We used to have a giant lego box and separate playmobil box. It became overwhelming for the boys. Now we have playmobil sorted: people, weapons, animals, misc. Legos are sorted by color. Really big pieces that don't easily come apart are kept in larger bins still. Sorry about the lego pic on it's side. Not sure what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 OP, you just described the saga at our house! We've resorted to Rubbermaid bins, and everything is dumped into them. Legos are separated from Playmobil, and the castle has its own bin since it's so large, but men and all their gear is mixed together no matter what line it's from. Our big rule is Legos and Playmobil cannot be out at the same time; it's one or the other. They are finally starting to follow it, and they are less frustrated now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 augh, the whole this frustrating. I have some things to think about at least. The boys don't have an under the bed. They have a triple bunk bed, and the bottom 'bunk' is the mattress right on the floor. We have a playroom upstairs, and that's where all their toys and games are, so I'm not up there all the time to monitor what they have out. But I'm thinking about buying some new storage or having dh build something, to get ready for school b/c there is a lot of wasted space up there. It makes it hard too b/c the 3 and 5 yo play with the lego/playmobil, and so it isn't always the 8 yo's fault that it's a mess or the organizing gets messed up. I do like the shallow bin idea for the legos. I'm thinking about having dh build some shelving or cubbies, so maybe we could slide under the bed bins into that or something..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom4god Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Oh, and I DO NOT sort them by color or size. When they get older I could see them wanting to do that but for now I just want them cleaned up fast when need be. The Lego's are in their room and the rest of their toys are in their playroom. Those are sorted loosely by theme men, knights, animals, etc. and stored in container and placed on racks (we have several sets of these built together. We just have playmobil knights so we just put them in the knights bin but if we got more I would make a bin just for playmobil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 We store the Lego bins under the train table. The kids love to use the top of the train table for building Lego creations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Already Gone Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I don't know how well this would work on other flooring, but my six year-old plays with his Lego/K'nex mash-ups on a hard floor and I gave him a dustpan to help him put them back in the box. He's more or less responsible for putting them away himself (and if he ever want them sorted, I'm afraid he's totally on his own). Every three days or so I make that one of his chores. Also, echoing the under-bed container suggestion: you don't have to keep it under the bed--ours is just out on the floor. Now, I do keep Legos in a separate room (actually on a separate floor) from the other toys. Can you mark off a space in your playroom with a mat or similar (or my favorite, painter's tape)? Admittedly, even with a clearly demarcated space in a separate room on a separate floor, we have constant Lego creep, but it's minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 , I'd do large shallow containers, like the under the bed type, for the small stuff... That way it should be fairly easy to find what they need, without dumping. And open shelves for the buildings, ships, vehicles, etc. :iagree: This is what we do for the Legos here. The large, shallow box with a lid is easier to search through. All Legos in one box, no micro-sorting. I encourage the dc to use the lid to hold the discarded items if they must dig through and find a specific piece. After I showed them how to do this, they don't mind it. It's easy, the dumping is fun and it makes a great noise. Because the box slides under the bed, it's easy for the dc to get out and put away. All the big things go on a bookshelf. Books on one, toys on the other. We have Star Wars here, not Playmobile but the principle is the same. We use bookcases for the big things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RahRah Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Lego table with bucket center insert and angled shelf unit with baskets to hold the tons of legos. I don't have a pic of ours - but these are the ones we have from the websites: The top shelf is nice because DS can display what he's made - the table sides are great since he can leave in progress things where they are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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