DIY LEGO Kit

11 / 28 / 19

Last Christmas, I made the kids each one of these DIY LEGO kits and I’m so glad I did. They were a super easy project and they’ve been so great for taking along on our travels and vacations. We don’t use them in transit (too many small pieces to be used in a car or on a plane for me), but they’re perfect for down times once at our destination {usually in an airbnb}.

I wish I would have taken proper step-by-step photos of the process, but truly they’re not even needed – it’s so easy.

First off, here’s what I used to make two kits:

Of course if you’re making just one kit, you could get away with a single carry kit, a smaller base plate, and a smaller LEGO brick box. Or if you have a different carry case already on hand, you could easily use that and just refer to this material list and the following instructions as a basic guide. Whatever works! In the past, we’ve even made the most basic portable LEGO kits using old-school metal lunch kits.

Now to make the LEGO kit! Here’s what you’re going to do:

1. Start by measuring the inside of your carry case’s lid.

2. Measure out a piece of baseplate that will fit nicely inside the carry case’s lid and mark your cut points with a pencil. For this particular case, I made my base plate 16 centimetres by 23 centimetres.

3. Using regular scissors, carefully and slowly cut your baseplate down to size.

4. Using your scissors or a sanding block, round the edges of the baseplate piece so there at no sharp / pointy corners.

5. Apply several mounting squares to the bottom side of your baseplate and press them down firmly to ensure they’re well adhered.

6. Peel the sticker backings off of the mounting squares, position the baseplate inside the carry case’s lid, and press it down firmly. I like to take a few minutes and really ensure a good stick here.

7. Place the dividers into the carry case to make sections for the different LEGO colours. I chose to add only two dividers – one between the green and blue sections and one between the orange and red sections.

8. Fill the carry case with LEGO! I chose to separate mine by colour because I’m a total sucker for rainbow anything, but you could do by brick type / size too! Whatever floats your boat.

And that’s it! You’ve got a DIY LEGO kit that’s perfect for taking along on the go.

What I love about this particular carry case is that the clasps are crazy strong, so I don’t worry about them flying open as the kids carry them {and inevitably fling them around – especially in Sam’s case}. Also, I feel like two clasps are always better than just one… Just in case!

The other thing I love? The lids of these particular kits open completely flat, which is so, so helpful when building. (The lids on our metal lunchbox LEGO kits have never opened flat, which can be a little annoying, just fyi.)

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Take Along LEGO Tic-Tac-Toe

5 / 6 / 155 / 16 / 15

Grae and I love playing tic-tac-toe. We play it down in the courtyard with sidewalk chalk, we play it at the beach in the sand, and we play it at restaurants with napkins and pens. So why not play with LEGO too?!

LEGO Patterns Busy Box

10 / 9 / 1411 / 11 / 14

Truth be told, I’ve never loved the name ‘busy box’. Or ‘busy bag’ for that matter. It’s ridiculous, I know, but I think I associate both with the term ‘busy work’ from my teaching days, which to me, is basically work {often of very little value} that keeps kids busy and out of the teacher’s hair. Not my cup of tea. I figure that if a teacher is going to expect her students to engage in some sort of activity or work, it shouldn’t simply keep them busy {that’s a waste of time} – it should engage them, challenge them, and teach them something worthwhile along the way – right?? Well, after looking at many, many activities labeled as busy boxes or bags, I learned that most of them do all of those things. Most of them are fun, playful, and help little ones build on some sort of skill {or multiple skills at once}. And yes, they are easy to pull out during times when you’d like your little one to play quietly and/or independently {while you shower, during restaurant and doctor’s office waits, during quiet time, etc.}, but that’s only because you’ve taken the time to prep the fun in advance – not because they’re anything like boring busy work. And so, because I’ve finally made peace with the term, here’s our first busy box – a LEGO patterns busy box. ☺

Portable LEGO Kit for Little Travellers

6 / 11 / 1411 / 11 / 14

Gracen’s little weekly play date buddy turned 4 today, which called for another homemade gift. Like almost all of our expat friends here in Kuwait, he and his family will be headed home for the summer shortly, so we wanted to make him something he could easily take along and hopefully use during the journey back to Canada. Since he and Miss G play with LEGO pretty much every time they’re together, we figured a portable LEGO kit would make a great gift.