My 9-year old asked me to build something to store all her Lego pieces AND to safe-keep some of her creations. Rather than jump in to build a storage box, I observed her at play for few days to get an idea of the issues she was dealing with. I realised that just building a storage box isn’t going to be sufficient.
Observation
While she was playing, I noticed that she keeps the pile of pieces close to her as she works on her new creation. And she was spending a long time searching for a particular piece which was most likely hidden beneath the pile. Clearly there was a need for a storage box that can also double as a workstation. I also figured that having separate drawers or containers for each type of piece would be a good idea to cut down on the time required to find a particular piece. I’m sure there is some glee to rummaging through a pile as well!
Doodles
I played around with various options before deciding on a final design
Final design
After a lot of these trial sketches, I arrived at a final set of product features:
- A single place to store ALL her Lego pieces in one storage bin
- An integrated work surface that can be used to build with easy access to the storage area
- Easily movable by the child without parental help
- Able to stowaway under the bed
- A place to store completed pieces without having to dismantle while storing away under the bed
The final design looks like this:
To keep it light, perhaps making it using 12mm ply or equivalent thick pineboard would be ideal.
Update:
I made a final build-design in sketch-up located here
