Chapter 3: LEGO Storage for Small Collections
Cloth Drawstring Bag
One of the best storage solutions for a small collection is the cloth drawstring bag. This is perfect for children who like to build LEGO creations on the floor. The idea is simple, it’s a huge fabric bag with a lip to keep the bricks inside while building. It’s a great way to ensure that LEGO bricks don’t get lost, and it’s easy to pick up when you are done — just pull on the strings and the whole thing collapses into a pouch.
Swoop Bags. Made right here in Seattle, USA.
- Swoop Original Bag / Swoop Super Bag – Both models have a 44″ diameter when opened. The Super Bag has a deeper 6″ lip, making it easier to keep bricks inside the bag while building something awesome.
- Swoop Mini Bag – The smaller version is perfect for a very small LEGO collection of between 600 and 1000 bricks. (Even if you have a larger collection, it’s a good way to assemble a small LEGO set without worrying about losing the pieces, or you can use it while sorting bricks.)
- Bow-tiger Bag – This is a lower-cost option that is well reviewed. That said, it doesn’t look quite as well made as the Swoop, and I’m concerned that the mesh pouches on the inside of the bag would get in the way.
- Lay-N-Go Cinch – While it doesn’t completely eliminate my concern of LEGO bricks getting lost when the bag is turned upside down, this is the only option I could find that includes backpack straps for easy transportation. As long as you put the backpack on correctly, the opening will be pointed upwards reducing the risk of losing pieces.
Under-bed storage
When your LEGO collection is not sorted by category or part, the best way to find the piece your are looking for is to spread them out. That’s why under-bed storage solutions are great — because they are only a few inches deep and very wide, you don’t have to dig through a deep pile of LEGO bricks to find what you are looking for. Clean-up is also a breeze – slide the storage back under the bed and you’re done.
Iris 40 Quart Underbed Storage
Capacity – 5,000 bricks This is one of the best storage solution for a young kid with a really large LEGO collection. If you pack a really large underbed storage unit to the brim, you might be able to store around 10,000 bricks — but it would become really hard to find the parts you are looking for, and parts would spill over the edge while digging for the perfect piece.
Portability – Not portable Being so large, this solution is not very portable. If you need to add portability, you could put shallow plastic bins inside the under-bed storage unit.
This might also be a good storage solution if you decide to move from no organization to organizing the LEGO bricks by category (more info in Chapter 4: LEGO Storage for Medium Collections).
- Ikea Under Bed Storage Boxes – Ikea offers several under bed storage options, including the Hemnes product which includes one large wooden box and one smaller wooden box.
- Iris 40 quart Underbed Storage – A larger underbed storage option with low-friction disks to slide more easily.
- Sterilite Underbed Storage Box – Since they are only 16 inches wide, you could fit several of these under one bed.
- Do-it-yourself – It’s easy to build a custom under-bed storage solution if you are handy with basic tools or know someone that can help. The simplest versions are made with a large piece of plywood, short walls to keep the bricks inside, and four casters attached to the bottom. (Make sure it fits between the legs of your bed.)
LEGO Activity Table
Another option that some parents choose is a dedicated LEGO-compatible table. Most versions have a tabletop with LEGO studs, so kids can build models right on top. Some models have a hole in the middle so kids can slide unused bricks into an integrated storage bag or plastic tub when it’s time to clean up.
This Melissa & Doug Playtable has a nice storage drawer.
To be very clear, these products are designed for very young children. Most of them have very little storage space, and some options are outright badly designed. For example, with this KidKraft 2-in-1 Activity Table, you can’t access the storage when the tabletop is in place. (not to mention the risk of pinched fingers, ouch!)
Capacity – varies, but generally under 3,000 bricks While most LEGO-compatible tables have some storage space, they can’t hold that many bricks and the storage solutions aren’t very well designed. There are some clever DIY solutions which can store a lot more LEGO.
Portability – Not portable If you want to keep all the LEGO in one place, keeping it in a storage solution which is not portable could be an advantage.
- Melissa & Doug Wooden Multi-Activity Play Table – While it doesn’t come with a LEGO-compatible building surface, this is one of the best options I can find, with a large drawer for storing LEGO bricks when they are not in use. you can always put LEGO-compatible adhesive baseplates on one side of the reversible table top if needed.
- LEGO Education Three Seat Playtable – This official LEGO product is meant for classrooms, but might work in your home as well. It has many of the same problems as other units, including a small storage container.
- Do-it-yourself – Attach these well-reviewed LEGO-compatible adhesive baseplates to the top of a table that’s the right size for your needs. (LEGO Baseplates are 10″x10″, so plan accordingly.)
Large Plastic Container with Lid
Large plastic containers are the cheapest option on this list, making them a popular choice for LEGO collections of all sizes. A large plastic container can hold a ton of LEGO bricks. I recommend clear containers because you can lift it up in the air to find the smaller parts that always fall to the bottom of the bin. While a deep container can store even more LEGO bricks, a wide and shallow box is best suited to LEGO storage since you can dig through a shallow container to find the right piece more easily.
Really Useful 8.1 Liter Box
Most plastic storage containers indicate the number of Liters they can store. At about 250 bricks per liter, a 20-liter container could store as much as 5,000 bricks when it is completely full. As with most LEGO storage solutions, it’s easier to find the part you need when the container is not completely full.
Capacity – Up to 5,000 bricks You can get even bigger containers, but they become really hard to carry, and it’s hard to find specific parts if the container is too deep.
Portability – very portable. The best options come with a tight-fitting lid, making them a great choice for travel. (For extra security, choose versions with a latching lid.)
- Really Useful Boxes – These are a premium Plastic Storage bin which is readily available in both the United States and Europe. It’s both durable, and has a lid with latches on either side that can be snapped shut, making it a great portable solution. (The 8.1 Liter box would be perfect for around 1,500 bricks, or the 17 Liter box would be great for up to 3,000 bricks
- Iris 41 quart Storage Box – This is a really large box that would be great for more than 5,000 bricks. The larger 46 or 62 quart versions would hold more LEGO bricks, but it would be frustrating to find specific LEGO bricks as it is too deep.
Stackable LEGO Storage Bricks
LEGO is happy to sell you hundreds of dollars worth of LEGO bricks, and they are also happy to sell you licensed LEGO storage. At first glance, this seems like a really great product — why wouldn’t I want to store my LEGO bricks in even bigger storage bricks that stack like real LEGO.
Official LEGO Storage Bricks are expensive and poorly designed.
Unfortunately, it is a deeply flawed product — small LEGO parts get stuck in the grooves (such as 1×1, Minifigure accessories, and Cheese Slopes).
Beyond this critical issue: they are really expensive, have square corners on this inside (making it harder to get small parts out of the box), the bright colors exactly match official LEGO colors (making it harder to find parts in that color), are not wide enough to spread parts around to find what you are looking for, and while the lids are hard to remove they don’t latch closed for travel.
I can’t deny that these giant LEGO bricks are fun to play with, but they fail at the most important goal of storing your LEGO bricks. If you can’t resist these giant LEGO bricks, use them to store something besides your LEGO collection, such as LEGO instruction manuals, Duplo, electronics, office supplies, or candy.
- LEGO Storage Brick, 8-studs — The largest version of the official LEGO Storage brick.
Also comes in smaller 4-stud, 2-stud, 1-stud, and round sizes.
- LEGO Storage Brick, multi-pack — Kit containing one 4-stud, one 2-stud, one 1-stud, and one round LEGO Storage Brick..
Drawstring bag/etc…
Having felt for this meme, thanks to a kid with zero inclination to keep parts organized after play, I can tell you it’s the worst idea ever, that will turn into a nightmare where you’ll spend literal hours looking for specific parts, without any guarantee you’ll find them (while knowing you have them), then you’ll spend some more to find next part and so on and on…
So do yourself a favor and avoid it like the plague; it may work for larger lego duplo, but avoid it at all cost for regular size legos, unless you have just a basic parts collection with limited variety of styles and no tiny parts (which WILL get stuck inside other parts, as well).
I only recommend drawstring bags for small collections, which addresses many of your concerns. It’s great for roadtrips where we only bring a small amount of LEGO or DUPLO and need to be able to pick it up quickly.
Yes, for larger Duplos, it’s probably ok. My collection isn’t so large, but I can guarantee you that already with the number of parts you see in the bag pic atop the page it’ll already be a nightmare to find less common/small parts.
There’s also another problem with bags in general: parts will rub against each other which is bad specially for transparent parts, and parts with stickers/printed. Also fragile parts will be at much higher risk of breaking. So I definitely wouldn’t recommend them in general.
Cheers!
MC, I think that the building experience with a drawstring bag depends a lot on the age and expectations of the builder. I recommend them most for younger builders building their own custom creations.
In my experience, kids are rarely looking for a specific part. Rather, they dig around and ‘serendipitously discover’ cool parts to add to their creations. It’s less about planful construction, and more about telling a story using whatever they can find in the pile.
While breaking or scratching printed or transparent parts is a real concern for adult builders, most kids don’t really care about this. Many classrooms have 20+ year old bricks that see heavy play wear, and the kids really don’t seem to care at all.
Sincerely,
—Tom
You are right, younger kids, specially, will use whatever they’ll get their hands on; older kids, though, will start having higher expectations, specially when they task you with building something for them, but that’s another option available, which is always a good thing, and if it works, it works; it just didn’t work for me.
As for lasting parts, well, the oldest ones I have come from the early/mid 60s, so… But they were stored on those old stackable four-way lego trays.
Cheers!
For my children who are actively playing with their Lego routinely, I have loved these toy organizers. They provide the ability to see and access all the categories at once without needing to remove drawers. Plus you can quickly grab a bin as needed. They can categorize the pieces into fairly specific groups without getting hyper-specific. It works well for us. Amazon Basics Kids Toy Storage Organizer with 12 Plastic Bins – Grey Wood with Blue Bins https://a.co/d/1oZyVms
I would like to recommend the Nilo play tables to be included in the play table section. They are pricey, but are very well constructed. I have it for my three kids with the two sided LEGO/DUPLO mats, plus it is good for other toys(wooden trains, puzzle, Rokenbok, etc)
A second vote for Nilo (specifically the base plates) for families that start with Duplo. The base plates have the larger Duplo studs on one side and standard size studs on the other. Because they are large, they are easily vacuumed with a brush wand or hosed off in the bath tub.
The tables themselves are well constructed and have the option of swapping the legs for taller ones as the child grows. The holes are meant for their custom cantilevered train supports, which we never bought. If I were to do it again, I’d buy the base plates and build a table to my specifications.
Can’t say enough positive things about the plates, though.
I used a sheet of 2mm self adhesive black foam to cover the bottom of the stackable storage Lego bricks in order to prevent small parts to fall into groves and after a while switched to 9L A4 and the tiny 16box sorter Really Useful Boxes. The stackable Lego bricks still hold my big 2×2, 2×4 bricks in the color the storage are made of, the 2×4 storage bricks are more for show/instructions/models.
I worked out which Really Useful Boxes stack exactly on top of each other – see my blog here: http://princeofgonville.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/which-really-useful-boxes-stack.html