Need Ideas to Keep LEGO Pieces Under Control!

I.--
I hated having legos all over the house too so I bought 6 of the simple plastic containers. I separated the legos by colors and put red, yellow, black, green, blue, and miscellanious(weird shapes) into the different containers. Depending on how many you have you may want bigger boxes(maybe shoe boxes with the flip lids would work) My kids love it now because they don't have to fish around for a color, they just grab that container.

Chuck the rules! If they do not pick them all up when they are finished playing with them you should take them away. I find when I take the toys away for a week or two they appreciate them more. My kids are 8 and 4 (and a 5yr old neice living with us) and I refuse to pick up after them. I simply tell them that if they do not take care of their toys I will find kids that will take care of them. It is really hard to do but it really does work! You may already do this but I find it nice to have tubs for each item. If they have a fun colored tub to keep them in it may be more rewarding to put them away. I have also fount it to be very helpful to have them pick up toys immediatly when they are finished playing with them. They do not get to start a new project until the previous one is put away. As far as the living room goes if I find it on the floor in the living room I get to toss it. Like I said, it sounds drastic but it does work!

My rule is, If I have to pick them up- I will put them up. I don't mind helping my son-and we have army men not legos. But- I refuse to do it for him. And I have not determined amount of time that they are put up- but at least a day.

I have my kids put their legos in a bowl or some kind of container. That way they can put them away when they are done. If your boys are playing with just one set, they should split it up so each get the same amount. I think the rule about keeping them in the bedroom is a great idea. Good luck!!!

My sister has had legos for years her boys are now grown but she still keeps the legos for her nieces and nephews she has a five gallon bucket that she keeps them in....they are inside a flat sheet preferably a king size. when she gets the legos out the sheet is underneath them they are not allowed off the sheet and when it is time to clean them up all she does is fold the sheet up on itself leaving the legos on the sheet and places it into the bucket. then stores them.

I.,
I found the best way to make my children accountable for their toys. If they are not where they need to be I pick them up and store them out of sight. It is amazing how well they take care of them after they are returned later (depending on if the lesson is learned 1- couple of weeks). This needs to be explained to them before you start the program so they know what will happen. I also have done this when the kids are older with cloths that are not put away. Sometimes my bedroom looked like a storage closet, but it wasn't too long before the point became clear.

my son also has lots of legos. and our rule is only in the bed room and he keeps his in an under the bed bin. that way he can sit on the floor and play and clean up very easily and quickly!

Legos are great toys but they can be a pain. My mother taught me this trick and I have always used it.....Legos stay on a sheet...ALWAYS. They are played with on the sheet only. When they are done playing you simply scoop up the sheet with all the legos into a big ball and put the whole thing in the container, sheet and all. Find a sheet or blanket you are willing to part with and your troubles are over! Good luck!

At our house if certain toys (like legos) are found outside of the kids' bedrooms they are confiscated by mom or dad and held in a huge rubbermaid tub to be earned back with good behavior. It does help keep toys out of the other rooms, but it's not a 100% guarantee that toys don't get scattered throughout the house.

Good luck!

Hey there-I had the same problem and then I decided to put my boys', ages 6 and 4, in the sand table that had been outdoors during the summer. It works well because they can stand over it and play...they also can see all the legos they need for all of their cool creations. It has a lid that I kind of have to open for them and they love it when I open it up for them to build. When they are done, they know exactly where to put them! Good Luck...

Hi I., I've got two ideas for you. One is to have a piece of fabric on the floor as an area for lego play. When playing is done you pick up the corners and funnel them into the container. Some legos get away but it's not as hard to pick up a few. The second tip is using a clean up song to have the children help. Our Kindermusik class always sing "shakers away, shakers away, time to put the shakers away". Wish I could sing it on line! Just make up a simple tune.
Y.

Hi I.,

I have to laugh because I understand your plight! We recently moved up to teeny tiny Legos and I feel like they are Gremlins and somehow keep multiplying...although when I gather everything up it's still the same amount (minus a tiny piece or two I may have missed somewhere). I actually put our Legos in a "time out" last week because we also have Play Mobile and those do the same thing.

I have a 10 month old, so I have trained my 5 and 3 year old boys that there is a BABY ZONE in two areas of our house and absolutely no "big boy toys" go there. If they get there, those big boy toys go in time out - and I don't know if I'm wrong or right in doing so, but if it happens more than once in a short time, I let them know if they don't take care of their toys, I will give them to another little boy who knows how to. That usually does the trick for a few days anyway.

My 5 year old is usually not the cuprit when this happens, so you should have good results with your older ones.

Good Luck - I'll be following this thread for ideas!

What worked well for me was:

Tell them any legos you find outside the bedroom will go into your own bucket and they cannot have them back for a specified amount of time. Stick to it. You'll soon find out the legos won't stray too far from their room when they realize you mean business ;)(This works well for other items!)

My husband came toour marriage with quite a collection of legos, and this idea is actually from his mom.

They spread out a king size sheet, and the legos had to stay on the sheet. Which is nothing new, I know. The brilliant thing was when it came time for clean up. They just picked up the four corners of the sheet, which gathered al the legos into a bundle, and placed the whole thing in the box. Instant cleanup. Each time they played, they pulled the sheet bundle out, and the legos were already on the sheet, which eliminated the classic dump mess.

Hi there. We keep all ours inside the ottoman in the livingroom. That way, they can play with it while I can supervise, and the whole family can chuck them all in the ottoman before bed. The lid goes on it, and it's out of sight and just looks like a regular ottoman! It's great!

Good luck
T.

I have three suggestions: To help gather the remaining legos, you could send the kids on a treasure hunt, and give a little "prize" to the one with the most pieces. As for keeping them under control....I know it sounds mean, but I remember my folks gathering toys that were not picked up when told, and placing them in their room. We had to 'buy' them back with a chore or penny per piece. It is hard for us to keep everything organized ourselves. I have also used chore charts for each of my kids, reminding them that everyone in the house needs to help keep things nice, not just mom. They could be rewarded with an activity or treat that we don't always get on a regular basis if the whole chart was completed at the end of a week or month.

I., I've just had to deal with this lately at my house, only with general obedience. If my 3 year old son refuses to obey, then I take whatever toy is in his hands, and put it in a "time out," until the next day. Fully, in his sight, but not in his reach. You have no idea how much that has improved his obedience in all areas. Mostly because whatever is in his hands IS HIS CURRENCY....at the moment. If nothing is in his hands, I take one of his Thomas trains. That is the golden currency for him. While, it may not seem like disobedience for the legos to get mysteriously where they aren't supposed to be, I'd just pick them up and put them in time out, just like the previous poster said. I'm not sure how old your boys are, but maybe they can "buy" them back if they have allowance, or can "earn" them back by doing something of a "clean up" nature or "assistence" nature to help you with your daily chores like setting the table, sweeping the porch, folding laundry, etc. It helps them to see that the family works together to function and run smoothly. 'Good luck,
J.

I have two suggestions: The first is to help teach kids the value of taking care of their things. When you collect the Legos, put them in a large Ziplock bag for your kids to "purchase" later with some task, such as taking out the trash, making their bed, helping fold laundry, etc. Assign a number of Legos to be returned according to the difficulty of the task.

The second is make a game of it: Give each kid who plays with the Legos a bag and have a contest as to who can find the most Legos and put them in their bag. Of course, the winner gets a small treat, like a few gummy bears or maybe a cookie.

Hope this helps!
K.

I., my babysitter has our boys play with legos only on a blanket. It makes it easy for her to scoop them all back in the container.

But I know what you're talking about. . . someone makes an airplane and wants to show it to Dad, runs into the kitchen with it, someone else bashes it apart and the pieces fall anywhere and everywhere . . .

I have that same problem with Transformer body parts.

I am pretty persistent that toys go where they belong at the end of the day. My mom always placed out toys on the stairs and made us take them upstairs to our room every night. That seems to work for me.

(Crossed fingers) I think my 6 year old is finally seeing the benefit of keeping things together in a container . . .

Hi I.
I don't know if anyone has suggest this or not, but if you decide to pick them up, do not put them back in the bucket. tell them if the choose not to pick them up they will disappear. Sooner or later your kids will start putting them where they belong or wonder where all their legos are. I know it's always easier said than done, but it's worth a shot. Good Luck!

I don't know if this will help, and the other responses are too long to read but--

What we did is bought the lego table. This is a great organizer, and if you can have them stick with the rule--only have them on the table not the floor. Also, I bought my DS a small hand held broom dust pan combo, this is excellent for gathering small toys!

GL:)

Try www.housefairy.net, or .com can't remember which, but she is great and has done wonders with our family. There are great ideas to help us have fun while we clean.
Also, www.flylady.net has also been really valuable for me.

Do your kids receive an allowance? I've been following love and logic recently. I give my kids a weekly allowance. And when they do not do what is asked, IE: pick up their rooms, etc. I give them a choice. Do you want to pick it up yourself, or pay me to do it? Should they decide not to do what is asked, I pay myself out of their allowance.

Hi I.,

When my children were young (years ago) we use to keep a piece of cardboard (36 x 36 - something like that) in the corner of the kitchen, as my kitchen and dining area were like and L. So the kids were right where the 2 sides of the L would meet. I could see them from the kitchen, dining room, or living room. We used this area for play dough. Cause they always got it on the bottom of their shoes and then on carpet, and tile. So off came the shoes and socks when they played with play dough. I don't know why this would not work for you. Now a days you can purchase those rubber mats that are flat and would be great for playing with Legos. This would be the only place they could play with them. If you have a small old suitcase. Take the Legos and zip them up or latch them (depends on the kind) that way they won't be easily knocked over leaving you to pick them up. Our kids had to pick up their toys before nap time and put them in their toy boxes, also before bedtime. This gave them responsibility, and a feeling of pride when it was accomplished. They also loved playing on the cardboard.

I don't know if this is the solution you are looking for. But it works. You could also incorporate this in their room with the mat, and that is the only place they are allowed to play with them.

Good luck.

Hugs Mary

Mom of 2 (ages 32 1/2 and 34) and grandmother of 2, 2 1/2 and 5 weeks.

Have a great day.

There is NO way You gather the Legos.
Take the son by hand, lead him to the Lego, show the piece,
ask to pick it up, walk together to the place they are supposed to be and say if there is one more not in place, then there is no TV today (or whatever he likes, he's missing the thing or event). If all are in place tomorrow, the regular schedule of joys resumes.
At this age, he should know the rules WORK, so be very steady with it, never back up, never, and he'll get it very soon!
With all the other disorganised situations do the same pattern. Set up the rule, and make sure you yourself follow it by taking away some joy if the rule is not followed, and resuming the right schedule if the things are well.
I wouldn't suggest treats for doing things right as then you will soon run out of money buying him candy as he'll figure whenever he is doing all well, he is supposed to get a candy.
Good luck, don't be upset, do it with a smile "sorry, sunny-son, this is the rule, I am sad you have no cartoons today, but you can help us out so tomorrow we will both watch a movie together, you're the Master of the situation, so please go for it!"
Good luck!!!

I., this is easy, 2 solutions, BE FIRM, 1)Tell the boys you will throw away any lego's found outside the playroom, or 2) charge them .5 for each lego found outside the box (if they have an allowance. Or make a job jar, put small jobs like dust the living room, clean the toilet (my favorite) sweep the kitchen... if a lego is found on the floor, they must pick a job, (both of them) to get the lego's back. You could use the help anyway right? It has worked for me as a mom, childcare provider, and Grandma. BE FIRM, It works. K.

My first of all, bless your heart for even caring about Legos with so many children. :) Organization would be a full time job! My suggestion is to gather the pieces and collect them in a container. When they have run out of Legos they can return a job to get the Legos back. It puts the responsibility back on them. I praise you for keeping up with such a large family. You are very blessed.

While it wasn't legos I certainly know the struggle of keeping things in one place. Here is what I do.

If you have a table, blanket or set area they can play on and make the rule that the legos don't leave that place... I know you said their room which is good if you find that not working make the area smaller.

When you find pieces outside that area put them in a see through container up where they can be seen but not touched. Tell them they lose pieces not in the set area for a week. Some moms I know get so fed up they just throw the pieces away but personally I am too cheap to do that :)

If they really won't follow your requirements then the legos may need a break and again be put somewhere out of the way but where they are seen and re-enforce the reasons why they can't have them. Have a set time as to when they get them back and how they will get to keep them.
Hope that works!

We use a Lego blanket. The boys spread the blanket out then pour the Legos on top of it. When it is time to clean up, each boy grabs two corners and they pour them back in the bin. They only have to pick up the few strays that make it off the blanket. My son discovered this trick when he was about 6. It has saved countless hours of us scooping up Legos.