How do you Sort Your LEGO?

LEGO comes in hundreds, possibly thousands of shapes, and you could probably say the same of its colors!  For most builders it suffices to have one – or several – giant tubs.  If a specific part is needed, the builder will rake through the tubs, one by one, searching for that perfect LEGO part.

The basic brick shapes and colors are 2×2 and 2×4 bricks bright yellow, blue, red, green – but there are so many colors and shapes beyond that!  Delicious Easter greens, pinks, yellows that appeal to the girl in us.  Shades of sand and grey for walls.

I’ve had a personal preference for the educational benefit of LEGO, and have gathered many, many LEGO Technics parts: beams, pins, gears, gearboxes, motors of various kinds.  As of yesterday, my sorting was by shape.  All LEGO rounded beams in one drawer of the caddy specially purchased for LEGO. All LEGO pins and axles in another, Squared LEGO beams in another, gears separated out.

Today, I’m thinking about LEGO for design.  This is what most folks who use LEGO see in it.  The potential for a myriad of designs in all of those colors! So today, I turn my sort to the non-technics bricks that have remained in the bins.

I’m specifically thinking about Valentines day designs, and I’m seeking the color red.  But while I do this, I’m thinking about the potential for designs within designs, and for that I need more colors.

So, I’m sorting my LEGO bricks… the non-technics varieties… by color.

It’s truly a sight to see so many red bricks stacked together!  All different shapes bunched together, the only distinction is the color.  Reds in one pile, blues in another, regardless of shape.  Car hoods and sloped bricks, 1x1s, 2x2s and 2x4s all in the same pile.

A variation – I’m thinking that I will put all translucent bricks together (regardless of color) and that I will put all 1×1 and 1×2 plates together, as they will have a special purpose.. that of creating the designs within designs.  The 1×1 and 1×2 plates are tiny enough to let you create shapes, and curves, without taking up too much space.

It’s a very personal thing, the LEGO sort system.  I don’t think that anyone will ever have the perfect system.

Do you have the perfect system?  How do you sort your LEGO?