When parents ask me how to organize their child’s LEGO collection, one of the first questions that comes up is:
Should we sort by color?
At first, it sounds like the obvious choice. There are far fewer LEGO colors than there are different part types, so sorting by color feels simple and manageable.
But here’s the catch.
A giant bin full of random red pieces can be almost as frustrating as a giant bin with everything mixed together. If you’re looking for one specific part, knowing it’s red doesn’t always help much.
Interestingly, this is one of those topics where experienced builders often disagree.
I’ve frequently recommended sorting by color for families. On the other hand, many AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) prefer sorting by part type because it makes building complex models faster.
Who’s right?
Really…both can be.
The best sorting system depends on two things:
- How large the collection is.
- How your builder naturally looks for pieces.
Before worrying about color or part type, I almost always recommend these first steps:
- Separate the instruction booklets.
- Separate minifigures and accessories.
- Separate baseplates (the large flat pieces many kids call “land pieces”).
- Pull out any oversized elements.
Just doing those four things makes the remaining collection much easier to manage.
From there, one of my favorite approaches is sorting by general piece size using a brick sifter. There are a lot available online if you just use the search term “LEGO sifter.”
I’ve even seen a vacuum designed to pick up LEGO bricks while automatically separating them by size. That’s pretty impressive.
Once the collection is separated into more manageable groups, then you can decide whether sorting by color makes sense.
For smaller collections—say everything fits comfortably in a 15- or even 30-quart storage bin—I don’t think color sorting matters nearly as much. But as collections grow, dividing pieces by size first can make a huge difference.
Now I’m curious…
How do you help your child organize their LEGO collection?
- By color?
- By part type?
- By size?
- Or…do you embrace the beautiful chaos?
And about how big is your collection these days?