See The LEGO® Batmobile in action Get More of The LEGO® Batman Movie in Your Life Think You Can Do Better?There is no end to the fun it can bring to kids, not to mention its many other benefits including creative expression and developing design, planning and fine motor skills.But try to find me a parent who hasn't hopped out their child's room, barely stifling the obscenities they want to scream after traumatizing a foot on a stray 4x2 block.And how about those requests from your precious little one to come and "play Lego" with you when in fact the role you are assigned is that of "part finder." Notwithstanding the quality time you'll be spending with your child, the activity itself gets old fast.Lego, or any creative project for that matter, is one heck of a lot more rewarding when the components you need to complete your endeavor are readily at hand while you're inspired. I've seen my son lose interest in Lego pretty quickly after a valiant but ADHD-hampered effort to find a tiny part he needs in a deep box box of a billion or so random parts.
Dang, I've gotten bloody knuckles from abrasions resulting from digging around such a box when I got hyperfocused on finding the 2x1 inverted wedge that I know is in there.Why, you might ask, is Lego so freakin' difficult to organize?One might argue that the organization part is relatively easy, if time consuming. Just buy a bunch of little containers, then devise some sort of taxonomy that evenly distributes the parts throughout them.OK, I've often gotten stuck on that second part and given up.But if you soldier on and get the trillion parts (those little yellow people are multiplying!) into a bunch of little parts organization drawers, after a few months of dedicated evenings and weekends, you get there. I've managed to do this once or twice in my lifetime.High fives all around! You feel great, and deservedly so. Right up until your kid starts playing with the Lego."Don't touch that!" you want to yell. But you know this was the whole point. Your child can find the parts and express his true engineer now!
You take a deep breath and walk away.Of course, when comes time to put the Lego away again, you already know what happens next. Your kid has no grasp whatsoever of your brilliant organization scheme, and frankly, can't be bothered to stick to it. "No, that's a flat 1x8 without studs. It goes in the other drawer! So within about 48 hours, you're looking at a completely randomized collection of parts again. Hey, on the bright side, you felt kinda zen when you were doing the sorting right? You killed that audiobook, too.But the original problem remains unresolved... or it did, until recently!After a lifetime of Lego use –Leo inherited my own '70s and '80s vintage parts, lovingly preserved by my parents– I believe I have finally solved it, with the help of IKEA. I give you Pierre's Ultimate Lego Sorting System:What's so great about it? Well for one thing, it's still organized after 10 months consisting of many construction sessions, and I love playing Lego with Leo again. I'm not just the parts finder anymore.
Of course, Leo likes Lego a lot more now, too.A few observations led to what I believe is the most optimal solution that doesn't involve a dedicated paid employee or a robot with machine vision.1. Putting Lego Away Mustn't require any thoughtThe mental effort and time required to put Lego away at the end of a construction session is what kills every organization system, every time.It is absolutely essential that the process of putting Lego away be as fast and "brainless" as possible. You want to be as close as possible to just tossing the Lego into a random vat without it actually being random.This means that your "categories" must number no more than 6 or 8. We went with part color. With only 6 drawers, we had to group a couple of colors (high contrast, like red and green went together, for example.) This works better than you'd think because while you're looking for a particular blue part, the computer between your ears doesn't need to do filter out the undesired colors before assessing each part for the desired shape / size / characteristics.2.
The Container must be broad and shallowWith fewer categories, you've got a bunch of very different parts still mixed together. You know why your child has the urge to dump all the Lego on the floor when using it, right? It's so she can spread the parts around to make them more visible with less digging. With a wide and shallow container, the parts are already spread around and quite visible. More scanning and less digging lead to faster finding.3. The Container must be a large targetThis dovetails nicely into point (2) above in that a broad and shallow container makes a nice big target for rapidly tossing parts of the appropriate color into it, from a distance. You don't want to be fiddling with little lids, either. That's why drawers are ideal.We used an IKEA Alex drawer set after first considering used flat file cabinets, which still worked out to be more expensive than the Alex, at least at the time I was shopping. I had no idea the drawers would work so well that I'd be writing about it, so IKEA has not paid me for this mention.
Anyway, there you have it. Wide, shallow drawers are the key to true Lego happiness. (In the highly unlikely event that an equivalent or better solution exists, I hope you'll let us know in the comments.)Receive a FREE NEXO KNIGHTS Collector Case See more Special Offers below The item(s) you want to add may not be available for purchase from your registry in the future. Consider purchasing the item(s) now, and check your local store if we are out of stock online. Do you still wish to add this item to your registry? The item(s) you want to add may not be available for purchase from your wishlist in the future. Do you still wish to add this item to your wishlist? The item(s) below are unavailable and cannot be added to your registry. Please select alternate item(s) or consider purchasing the item(s) now! The item(s) below are unavailable and cannot be added to your wishlist. Just added to your Cart Free In-Store Pickup TodayEquip your students with STEM knowledge and skills
Today’s elementary students are tomorrow’s creative problem-solvers. Equip them with the necessary STEM knowledge and skills to be innovative and imaginative thinkers. LEGO® Education helps make abstract STEM concepts tangible by taking teaching out of the textbooks and putting it into the hands of your students. Create a better understanding of STEM subjects while building 21st-century skills. Make STEM learning come to life LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 makes science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and coding come to life. The unique combination of the LEGO brick, classroom-friendly software, and engaging, standards-based projects results in a resource that builds students’ confidence to ask questions, define problems and design their own solutions by putting STEM learning directly in their hands. WeDo 2.0 uses Bluetooth Low Energy For WeDo 2.0, we have integrated the latest Bluetooth technology into our solution to let you take 'live' control of the models you create for near-instantaneous response.
To find out more about this amazing technology, click here. Don't forget to check out our system requirement to ensure that your device is compatible with WeDo 2.0 BLE technology. The LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 curriculum pack is built on Next Generation Science Standards and delivers key science content to second through fourth grade students. The curriculum facilitates and supports a clear, easy-to-follow journey through subjects, including: life-, physical-, earth- and space sciences, and engineering. Features 17 projects totaling more than 40 hours of instructional content. Download Resources For Free Everything you need to bring LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 to life in the classroom. LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 Software LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 Curriculum STEM relevant curriculum addressing Science, Engernering and Computational Thinking. LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 eLearning An online eLearning program taking you from complete beginner to classroom-ready.
Discover how real-world STEM works LEGO Education Machines & Mechanisms enables elementary students to discover how the real world works. With Machines & Mechanisms, students get an in-depth understanding of mechanical and structural principles built into everyday machines. By building, designing, and testing solutions, students work as young scientists and engineers, all while honing design technology, science, and math skills. We support teachers by providing easy-to-use, age-appropriate, hands-on materials along with guided lessons that meet technology and science standards. The LEGO Education Machines & Mechanisms activity packs give you the tools, documentation and lesson plans to teach simple and complex machines effectively. Activity pack for Early Simple Machines (Grades K-1) Includes eight 45-minute lessons, each with extension activities of up to 20 minutes, and four additional open-ended problem-solving activities. Activity pack for Simple Machines (Grades 1-4)
Features 16 principle activities, four main activities, and four problem-solving activities. Activity pack for Simple and Powered Mechanisms (Grades 5 +) Features 37 principle model activities, 14 main activities, including extension activities, and six problem-solving tasks. Download Machines & Mechanisms Resources For Free Many LEGO Education products require curriculum to get a succesful start in the classroom. You can now download and explore Machines & Mechanisms Resources for free at any time. The easiest way to get started with LEGO Education Experience the positive impact that LEGO Education solutions can have on learning, engagement and your overall classroom environment with LearnToLearn. Designed to give educators a taste of what it’s like to use LEGO bricks in your classroom, LearnToLearn provides an ideal introduction to the world of LEGO Education elementary solutions. For teachers, it offers a glimpse into how LEGO bricks can be used to boost learning across literacy, math, science, and engineering.