We love creating around here. We are constantly building new things, working on new projects, and talking about what we’ll make next. And we understand fully that pure creation doesn’t always follow a clearly marked path. It’s unpredictable and we like that about it.
Yet we also find that an environment too chaotic can hinder creativity. It’s hard to focus when everything is messy. And it can stop experimentation in its tracks.
“Where did we put the baking soda and scrap cardboard?”
So when our (ever-growing) collection of Legos got a bit out of control, we spent some time trying to figure out the best solution. Our play had been hindered by constantly digging through a big vat of bricks to find the one needed piece.
Our first try was to sort by color. We divided our Lego table into six or so sections, each one filled with a color, or related group of colors. This was a step in the right direction. We saw immediately that it helped a little- to have a smaller amount of pieces to sort through when trying to finish a build.
But it didn’t really work right. For one thing, Legos come in so many colors, we quickly ran into questions about which section certain colors went. But more importantly, we found that when building and trying to complete a particular project it was more important to find the right SHAPED piece, rather than the right COLOR. It was too difficult to find a tiny 2×1 flat piece buried at the bottom of the entire spectrum of red section. It’s much simpler to find a 2×1 red piece in a bin full of 2×1 flat pieces.
So we reset our table with a series of smaller bins to hold different shaped pieces: 2×2 bricks here, long flat pieces there, windows and doors in a section all together.
It works great!
We find now that creativity is flowing strong at the Lego table. When we think about the Legos based on shapes, it is easier to see how they might all fit together. And easier to build say, a trap door by sorting through the different hinge options in the hinge bin and finding what works, than sorting through a huge mass of pieces, hoping to randomly stumble upon one that works.
Bring some order to your Lego collection and watch the creative juices flow!