What do your kids play/build Lego's on?

[artvandalay]

My 4 and 6 year old are suddenly very into Lego's (the smaller ones).

We have a 1 year old who sticks everything into her mouth, so I am super paranoid of these little Lego pieces falling to the ground.

They have been playing on the kitchen table.. but I would like to find something with a lip to keep stray pieces from falling.

We also have a train table that I've thought they could use, but it is so low to the ground, I think they enjoy sitting at the table more.

I thought about getting one (or two?) of these:

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/accessories/12765.html

Does this sound like a good idea? Each kid could have their own pan and they'd be easy enough to store away behind the couch when not in use. If I could find longer, more rectangular one that would work, too.

Any other idea I'm overlooking?

Thanks!

[toby]

I have fruitlessly searched for the "ideal" lego tray... I don't think that this would work for you because of your 1 year old, but DS has many of his legos in an old crib drawer (very long and shallow with a slight lip; sits right on the rug and slides under the bed). He usually builds on the floor or the counter and if I want him to put his "creations" away, he can put them in the drawer.

The trays that you linked to look good, although I think that the bigger they are, the better. I would glue some felt or something non slippery on the surface.

Also, Nilo tables are apparently great, although they are expensive. If you are interested, you can get them with 24" instead of 18" legs.

http://www.nilotoys.com/at.htm

[artvandalay]

I have fruitlessly searched for the "ideal" lego tray... I don't think that this would work for you because of your 1 year old, but DS has many of his legos in an old crib drawer (very long and shallow with a slight lip; sits right on the rug and slides under the bed). He usually builds on the floor or the counter and if I want him to put his "creations" away, he can put them in the drawer.

The trays that you linked to look good, although I think that the bigger they are, the better. I would glue some felt or something non slippery on the surface.

Also, Nilo tables are apparently great, although they are expensive. If you are interested, you can get them with 24" instead of 18" legs.

http://www.nilotoys.com/at.htm

Oh thanks for the link. I will check it out... haven't heard of this brand.

Yeah, I'm not sure those washing machine trays will work... I wish it were a rectangle instead of squares. I haven't seen them IRL.

Thanks!

[hellokitty]

Good luck. My kids refuse to keep their lego in one spot. Even though the lego bins are in their playroom (the sunroom), they travel all over the house. DS3 spent from the time he was a crawler to about 20 mo of age walking around with legos in his mouth (never swallowed). He outgrew the phase and still sometimes puts toys in his mouth, but no longer lego. I tried very hard to have my older two contain their lego in the toy room, but they obviously suck at following directions. I finally just gave up. My friend with kids similar to my kids' ages went through the same thing where her youngest basically did the same as mine and they got through it, b/c her boys would not contain their lego either.

[artvandalay]

Good luck. My kids refuse to keep their lego in one spot. Even though the lego bins are in their playroom (the sunroom), they travel all over the house. DS3 spent from the time he was a crawler to about 20 mo of age walking around with legos in his mouth (never swallowed). He outgrew the phase and still sometimes puts toys in his mouth, but no longer lego. I tried very hard to have my older two contain their lego in the toy room, but they obviously suck at following directions. I finally just gave up. My friend with kids similar to my kids' ages went through the same thing where her youngest basically did the same as mine and they got through it, b/c her boys would not contain their lego either.

Lol, now I know you really mean it when you call your DS "Lego Eater" in your signature :hysterical: Funny you mentioned this, my 4 year old just went to bed and wants to sleep with the "ship" that he made. He takes his all over the house. My 6 year old flies his creations all over the house, but he will put them in a bin when he's done.

It's weird because my 4 year old hardly ever put things in his mouth. He has his share of sensory issues... so I think that was part of it. My baby now wants to put everything and all things in her mouth, so I'm paranoid.

[Raidra]

We used to keep Legos in bins in our dining room, and the kids played at the table with them. But they weren't great about picking up stray pieces off the floor, so now they stay in the playroom, which Niall isn't allowed in. They still prefer building at the table (which they do at my parents'), but in the playroom they end up playing on the floor.

[katydid1971]

I don't have the baby issue but I have good luck using a sheet cake pan to keep legos on the table.
http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Bakers-Half-Sheet/dp/B000G0KJG4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1312854697&sr=8-2

[WatchingThemGrow]

My DC use a 30x18 wooden "love feast" tray (similar to this on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Nice-Vintage-20-x14-Wood-Serving-Tray-w-Handles-/360383547307?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e88887ab#ht_500wt_1054)) friends gave us for our wedding. We were scratching our heads thinking, "What are we going to do with that????" and it is one of the most useful, most coveted "rest time items" in our home. When people are having rest time, either DD or DS1 go into our room and can choose to play with legos on our bed on the tray. Also Playmobil, MLPony, Polly Pockets have all danced on it.

eta: Since the baby (well, 2yo) still naps, our rule is that tiny things only come out when he's asleep. There's plenty of time when he's asleep they can play with stuff like that. When he's up and around, they all want to play together and it wouldn't be fair to exclude him.

[SpaceGal]

We have two lego tables...my crazy kids.

This one has a lip, the boys use their building plates on it too.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4110522&prodFindSrc=rv

The other table, no lip but has a building plate built in it,
http://lawton.craigslist.org/tag/2514888597.html

[mom2khj]

We keep all Legos upstairs away from the baby. They have a Nilo lego table with the rolling bin for storage. But they rarely use it. Our pool table has become the lego city and is almost always covered in Legos. :rotflmao:

[logan's mom]

I don't know if it would be big enough, but have you seen the scrapbook storage boxes at craft stores. They are 12.5" squares that are about 3" deep and come with a snap on lid. Might not be big enough and too deep to be able to build in for larger projects.

Like this: http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/stowaway-scrapbox-937664/

[logan's mom]

Just saw this...may not be what you have in mind either, but thought it is a great idea:
http://www.target.com/Iris-Lego-Project-Case-Chest/dp/B0031P85VC/ref=br_1_19?ie=UTF8&id=Iris%20Lego%20Project%20Case%20Chest&node=13988031&searchSize=30&searchView=grid5&searchPage=1&sr=1-19&qid=1312997495&rh=&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_ primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchRank=salesrank&frombrowse=1

[hellokitty]

Lol, now I know you really mean it when you call your DS "Lego Eater" in your signature :hysterical: Funny you mentioned this, my 4 year old just went to bed and wants to sleep with the "ship" that he made. He takes his all over the house. My 6 year old flies his creations all over the house, but he will put them in a bin when he's done.

It's weird because my 4 year old hardly ever put things in his mouth. He has his share of sensory issues... so I think that was part of it. My baby now wants to put everything and all things in her mouth, so I'm paranoid.

Yeah, that is how I came up with my sig, b/c it really is true, lol! That's great your kids can try to keep their lego with them or in the bin. Mine are just horrible about it, esp DS2. If I see lego scattered basically throughout the ENTIRE main floor (including odd places like bathroom, mud room). I know it's DS2. He even has the nerve to get pissy if he leaves his creations on the floor or sofa and someone accidentally sits or steps on it. I already feel sorry for his future wife!