LEGO sets - what do you do with them after they're built?

yale

So, we're new to this whole LEGO thing. DS got a bunch for Christmas, which is great. After building these sets, and playing with them, what do you do with them after? Do you keep the original boxes so they can be disassembled and reassembled? Do you just keep all the pieces and dump/mix them up for creative building? Do you store the assembled for later play?

74dragonfly

We store assembled. I keep instructions but throw out the box.

Chapter79

I think it depends on your kid and what they wanna do Some would wanna keep their stuff built, others not.  My DD likes to keep rebuilding, taking down, rebuilding. So we never keep everything assembled.  Or, we keep assembled until she takes apart. 

CareBear0607

DD likes to assemble them and then play with them.  We turned DS's train table into a "lego table".  All of her assembled legos are on there.  I keep the instructions in a box and a box in a rubbermaid bin in the storage area in the basement in case things have to be rebuilt for whatever reason. 

FaeryStarGazer

We also store them assembled. My daughters don't really like to tear them apart and rebuild in any way-- I just want to glue it all together and be done with it  )

ss+el

Dump them all in a bin. As soon as we're done (oh, who am I kidding, I end having to do the building lol), DS will modify it and keep it out of the bin for a week or so, but after that, it just goes in with the others. He got 8 sets of various sizes for Christmas and so far, they're separated from each other, but I don't give that much longer.

rsd12

Depends some they keep together, some they take apart and rebuild and others they just use their imagination. I keep the instructions only.

Ashtastic515

Step on them, curse them, vacuum them up, and swear you'll never buy another set!

Repeat X1000 and dream of the amazing wardrobe you could have with all the $$$ spent on Legos by now! (DS1 is 8, DS2 is 7 and we are still on the Lego repeat cycle!)

neverblushed

We have a shelf for the models.  DS has a few sets of plain bricks for creative play.  Sometimes he opts to take apart a model and mix its parts in with the general building blocks, but he likes to keep models that were particularly hard to build intact.

groovygrl

I let DS decide. Certain favorites he tries to keep together, others he will break apart quickly, we have  a lot of sets and a lot of loose bricks but still have quite a number still assembled. He does a lot of building on his own of things outside the sets too. I keep the booklets all together in a box if he wants to go back to rebuild.  Unfortunately just this week some friends came over & disassembled a lot of them when they were playing...DS did not seem too upset but I was kind of bummed for him b/c some were from xmas and he barely had a chance to play with them... reassembling them is hard w/ some of those tiny specialized pieces whent hey get all mixed in w/ the others. So we decided that in the future we would put any he absolutely didn't want touched up on a shelf when friends come over.

Also he pretty much ran out of lego table space (we have a small one and a big one) b/c it was covered in put together vehicles & whatnot so we also use a nearby shelf for storing put together vehicles so he can use them for play when he wants to (he does a lot of pretend play on his own w/ the figures, buildings & vehicles).  

I found this blog the other day when I was brainstorming some ideas for storage & organization
https://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/organising/kids-rooms/40-awesome-lego-storage-ideas/

MesmrEwe

Let her do whatever she wants with them - ultimately yes, they end up being cursed out...  And worse than that they end up getting the "eh - we've got plenty more of that I'm not bending over to pick it up" as it gets sucked into the vacuum...

Most of ours have become "the bin" which they play with and build things with NBD!!!

neverblushed

True sad story:  We had several other families over for NYE.  Among these families, there are 5 other boys, ranging in age from 4 to my DS, who is 10.  Someone found the shelf with the finished Lego models and took many of them apart.     I'm pretty sure whatever kid(s) got to them didn't realize that those Legos were off limits.  But it was still a bummer for my son when he found 4 gigantic Star Wars ships in pieces....

velvethelicopters

The "important" builds get little plexiglass boxes to sit under. Keeps naughty kitties from playing Godzilla.

The various bits are in the IKEA Trofast set, but divided on size. My girls don't always care what color, and don't mind digging for the right color, but trying to find the little 1×1 blocks when they fall to the bottom wound up with tubs dumped out to find two stupid blocks. DF built plexiglass doors for these also, again to keep naughty kitty paws out. Also keeps out destruction prone toddler cousins.

For some reason, I don't find many on the floor. I will pay for this with new baby I fear.

MesmrEwe

neverblushed said:

True sad story:  We had several other families over for NYE.  Among these families, there are 5 other boys, ranging in age from 4 to my DS, who is 10.  Someone found the shelf with the finished Lego models and took many of them apart.     I'm pretty sure whatever kid(s) got to them didn't realize that those Legos were off limits.  But it was still a bummer for my son when he found 4 gigantic Star Wars ships in pieces....

Something tells me his room will forever be off limits to other kids... Heart aches for you on that one!!!!  Especially the bigger builds!

girlymama79

Ours are all dumped in a bin and I have a bit envelope taped on the side with all the instructions.

niknak1208

Ooh Legos. I feel like I live in the house of Lego. lol My son is 6 and he is obsessed with legos.  He got a ton of them for Christmas and for his birthday and both sets of grandparents keep on buying him more.  

Usually, DH and DS sit together and assemble the more complicated structures.  DS can do some of them on his own.  Once they're built, DS plays with them for a bit and then usually destroys them.  I bought a big lego brick for Christmas and they're all in there.  I thought it was a huge storage container (and it is) but it's FULL!!  We usually toss the instructions and the box because DS just likes to build what he wants with them.  I was thinking about having DH build him a lego table that he could stand and build at. Right now he builds at the kitchen table.