I have some "sets" of legos. Most of them I have gotten at the thrift store so I am not even sure if they are exact sets. I have a Hello Kitty set that is in one bin because there is quite a few there. Then I have a start wars set (maybe sets not sure). Last night I picked up an army set. Would you mix them or keep them in separate sets? My first thought was to mix, but they love the star wars ones so much. Will they love them all just as much mixed? How do you do this?

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I think with the sets, I would keep them separate like you are doing. I just have basic duplo pieces and people, so they are all in the Lego table together.

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I say mix them.

I think searching for, sorting and finding the pieces you want when playing is a good learning experience.

Having them all pre-sorted and ready for assembly takes away that part of the "learning experience" in my opinion.

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I can see this too. I guess for me, it would depend on the amount of Legos I had all together. If it was just a few sets mixed together, I might. If there are hundreds of other random Lego pieces, it might be overwhelming. Depends on the kids, too.

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Right now there are not that many. I have tons of the bigger duplos and have been building the set of the regular ones. Maybe I will mix these two sets and then as I acquire more, do another mixed set down the line. I can see both sides of this.

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I am thinking older.....as I wouldn't allow kids under a certain age to play with those little Legos. Too much of an opportunity to lose one and have littles choke.

I tend to stick with Duplo blocks and the giant sized Lego bricks.

My thoughts came from when my DS was young and obsessed with Legos. Every set he had got it's own Rubbermade box for storing and every set of directions got laminated and put in a 3 ring binder for easy access.

It was a fantastic storage idea and ALOT of work (for me) but fast forward to today and I would venture to say he has several thousand $'s worth of Legos. I would be inclined to not really ever know the true value/cost. I would probably have a heart attack buuuuuuut he can easily pass them down to any children he has in the future as they will be all sorted classified and filed for easy access for them.

But from a provider standpoint, I'd just go with mixing them all together because the work it takes to sort them out will occupy the kids longer and I think that sorting them sort of gives the message that you can only use them "this" way or to build "X"....... I think sorting them makes it too easy....kwim?

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Makes sense! And what a cool idea for your son's Legos--he must've loved that.

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With my children, we built the set following the directions the first time. They played with them built for a week or two. Then the pieces got taken apart and put into the mix.

For me, I love that Legos are open ended and they can use the imaginations to build anything they want. I only want them to have to "follow the directions" the first time. After that, I want them to make their own creations.

So, to answer your original question: mix them all up and see what they create!

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Most of mine don't come with instructions, because I get them all second hand. So very open ended here! I don't tend to buy them new, because lets face it they are expensive!

I don't let the littles play with them either. I have a 3 year old right now that I normally wouldn't allow to play with them. But she has a SA brother and sister, so has access at home and has been taught not to put toys in her mouth. Since it isn't an issue I allow it. I have seen many 3 yr olds I simply wouldn't let have them.

It has been my experience that the older kiddos do not like the duplos at all.

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My older non-mouthing stage kiddos get legos at the dining room table. The younger munchkins get duplos on the floor.

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I don't buy sets myself but my kids will sometimes get them for Christmas from other people. I usually keep them in a ziploc but the kids rarely if ever play with them. They seem to like the mixed bricks better and so do I.

Right now I have really big Lego and Duplo and then small bricks separated into two groups. I like having the younger kids who are using the larger blocks to be able to play at the same time as the older ones who use duplo. The small bricks are separate though because only the older ones use them on a high table.

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Did anyone notice how all the legos are sets now? When I was growing up, we had a case full of legos in all shapes and colors, but it seems like you can only buy them individually anymore(star wars, minecraft, ect.). If I see a big bin of them at yard sales, I scoop them up! I had no idea they were so expensive until my nephew got really into them.

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I have duplos. I keep them in sets. I do have a whole laundry basket full of basic pieces. I have a hospital, and a western town, and keep them separate.

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Walmart has tubs of mixed legos. If you are interested. They are for open ended play, and some include wheels, animals, people etc.

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I wish I would find those at the thrift store! I may break down and buy some new one of these days. But it goes against everything in my being. I am just a total "reduce, reuse and recycle" and "buy use and save the difference" person.

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Thank you! I just have not seen them in our walmart, but that is probably because I put on y blinders and get in and out as quick as possible...our walmart sucks I will definitely check it out now though!

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It's great to see the varied suggestions on this thread, I suppose it really does come down to the kids that your caring for. If they're quite varied ages and you keep them playing separate then I think you use both Duplo and standard Lego. The younger kids playing together are happier just playing away with the Duplo trying different pieces to see if they fit together. You can play games with them so they learn the different colours and shapes etc. With the oder kids, stndard Lego is much more interesting and I think you just mix it all together so they can be creative and let their imaginations run wild.With my own kids there was a transition from Duplo, to standard Lego, to Technics. The standard Lego was always the most popular. I remember me and my siblings when we were kids being just fascinated by it.

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Yes! you have to buy the tubs to get varied mix of them but the tubs are great for storage. I think I bought mine at Target. You can get base plates and stuff like that at Toys R Us.

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This is funny- I never knew people really did those sets by the instructions. I had already been working in ece for many many years and never seen instructions used. One day my husband bought our son (5 years old) a set and I threw away the instructions with the wrapping paper. Husband later commented that he couldn't find the instructions. To which I replied something along the lines of 'what do you mean instructions!? You make stuff!' Lol I honestly thought all those papers were just some silly examples and ideas and we would much rather do our own thing...

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It will take your husband 5 years to put it together without instruction...about 6 hours with instructions

My daughter got a Rapunzel castle for her birthday one year and I took it upon myself to put that thing together. Oh my!! Once it came apart it never went back

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