Keep LEGO bricks contained with this brilliant sand table to LEGO table hack!
With summer over, I was lucky enough to get a great deal on this Sand Table! I have a few things we are using it for – different uses for different subsets of my four kids! My two younger girls use it a lot as a sensory table. My three oldest LOVE having it as a LEGO table, and playing with it was our main after school activity this week!
DIY LEGO Table Hack
We dump our LEGO bricks in, and they can easily sort through for the pieces they need. When they are done, all the pieces dump easily back into the bin (this Step 2 sand table is very lightweight and easy to move). Of course, if you aren’t planning to use your sand table for anything else, there is no need to remove the bricks when LEGO play time is done! Our house is fairly small, so I multi-purpose wherever I can.
We used to keep all of our LEGO bricks in a king size sheet and dump them out on the sheet, but I found that too many would get pushed off as the kids searched through for just the right piece. This system works better for us – the kids take their bricks and build with them on a table. All four kids can easily gather around for playing, and there is a lid that attaches on with elastic, so I can cover the table and keep one-year-old Anna out of it when I need to.
MaryAnne lives is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
What a great LEGO solution! I’m always trying to figure out the best. Currently, Joshua has them in plastic bins but they get everywhere!
Jody
I love that you use the sand table for legos – that is such a great idea. I was planning to get the girls their first legos for Christmas but I decided to go with MagnaTiles instead – I hope they are a hit!
MagnaTiles were our big investment last Christmas, and they have definitely been a hit – especially with Lily, who prefers them over Legos (for now, at least). I hope your girls love them as well!
Jody
That is so great to hear. I debated long and hard over those MagnaTiles!
We haven’t really gotten into Legos yet though we have a lot of “construction tools” that keep J busy. I’m looking forward to the Lego world. John found this fun tote/storage/playmat for Legos at Makerfaire. He picked up a card/info to see if he could recreate, and then I think we lost the card.
That is a really cool idea to use the sand table. This is the new LEGO table ans storage we setup. My kids are bigger and they need taller, bigger tables. You can also find links to my olders posts about LEGO storage ideas as well. http://practicalmama.com/2013/10/diy-lego-table-and-storage/
Multi-purposing at its best! So far we have been able to contain the Lego madness to just one bucket, but we also only have one kid playing with Lego right now lol. Once the other two start getting into Lego (or once the itty bitty one enter our home), this is a great idea to just dump them all in one place.
Many of these are from my childhood (and my younger siblings)! We also lucked out, finding two large bins free on the side of the road when we lived in Massachusetts. They were pretty dusty when we got them, but I sewed them into a couple pillowcases and ran them through the washing machine and they came out looking brand new!
this is a great idea! I love seeing sensory tables used for other things. we have a drawer system for our Lego organization.
Drawer systems are great for Legos! I could see us switching to that as my kids get older.
FANTASTIC IDEA!!!
This is such a clever way to repurpose the sand table. Great idea!
What a great LEGO solution! I’m always trying to figure out the best. Currently, Joshua has them in plastic bins but they get everywhere!
I love that you use the sand table for legos – that is such a great idea. I was planning to get the girls their first legos for Christmas but I decided to go with MagnaTiles instead – I hope they are a hit!
MagnaTiles were our big investment last Christmas, and they have definitely been a hit – especially with Lily, who prefers them over Legos (for now, at least). I hope your girls love them as well!
That is so great to hear. I debated long and hard over those MagnaTiles!
They are out ALL the time at our house – hope your girls love them just as much!
We haven’t really gotten into Legos yet though we have a lot of “construction tools” that keep J busy. I’m looking forward to the Lego world. John found this fun tote/storage/playmat for Legos at Makerfaire. He picked up a card/info to see if he could recreate, and then I think we lost the card.
Was it this product, by any chance? http://neat-oh.com/products/category/lego-zipbin-products
That is a really cool idea to use the sand table. This is the new LEGO table ans storage we setup. My kids are bigger and they need taller, bigger tables. You can also find links to my olders posts about LEGO storage ideas as well. http://practicalmama.com/2013/10/diy-lego-table-and-storage/
I love your LEGO solution – great for older kids and larger spaces! Thanks for sharing your link!
Multi-purposing at its best! So far we have been able to contain the Lego madness to just one bucket, but we also only have one kid playing with Lego right now lol. Once the other two start getting into Lego (or once the itty bitty one enter our home), this is a great idea to just dump them all in one place.
This is genius!!!!!!! I need another sand table now!
Thanks, Megan! It was a happy accidental discovery for us!
That is such a great idea! I need a table like that; one for legos and one for K’NEX!
Yes! It would work great for K’NEX as well!
What a fun idea for Lego bricks! You have quite a collection! We keep ours in several big boxes in the same closet to be pulled out for play.
Many of these are from my childhood (and my younger siblings)! We also lucked out, finding two large bins free on the side of the road when we lived in Massachusetts. They were pretty dusty when we got them, but I sewed them into a couple pillowcases and ran them through the washing machine and they came out looking brand new!