How to Pack LEGO When Moving: Ready – Sets – LEGO!

When you’re moving house with young children, one of the entries in your Packing Checklist will most likely be PACK LEGO SETS.

Interestingly enough, you yourself, regardless of your age, may be a LEGO enthusiast, so you don’t necessarily need to be surrounded by kids to have completed or partially assembled LEGO sets lying around the house.

And when you do get to that specific packing chore, then you’ll have to know the best way to pack and move built LEGO sets safely so that nothing bad happens to your favorite interlocking plastic bricks during a chaotic house move.

After all, you must have spent many hours and days building the LEGO kits that you’ve put on display around the home, so the last thing you’d wish is to see your LEGO creations damaged in any way in transit.

Find below the best way to pack assembled LEGO kits for moving.

But first, you’ll learn how to pack disassembled LEGO sets when moving just because you have to protect the construction pieces that you are yet to use for a build. 

You love your LEGO sets, don’t you? Then don’t let anything untoward happen to them, alright?

What to do before packing LEGO sets for moving

Before you start packing your LEGO sets, there are a few important steps that you are advised to take in order to have a smooth packing experience from start to finish.

The thing is, you’ll probably feel the urge to skip some of those preliminary steps, especially when one of them suggests that you leave some of the LEGO builds behind. Of course, you wouldn’t want to even hear about NOT taking ALL of your LEGO sets with you, would you?

Step 1. Inventory your LEGO sets

Examine each individual LEGO set in the house and ask yourself whether it will be worth the time and effort to pack them up for transport. If the LEGOs belong to your kids, then do the inventory together with them to avoid possible misunderstandings at a later stage.

Most move-it-or-leave-it decisions will be super-easy to make, especially when it comes to the more expensive sets or the ones everybody loves. The trouble is that there are likely to be some specific LEGO kits that will be in serious doubt as to whether they are worth the packing and moving hassle.

Here are some good reasons why a LEGO set may have lost its assumed right to be transported to the new house:

• Children are known to lose interest in LEGO builds over time. You, as a parent, may have already noticed that trend, and that’s ok. LEGO can still remain a lifelong passion for some but the majority of kids will eventually grow out of it and turn their attention to other more high-tech hobbies.
  Speak with your young children about how strongly they feel about keeping each of their LEGO sets.
• Some of the construction sets in the house may already be damaged (broken) or have missing pieces – something that happens all the time. And it’s up to you to assess whether or not such incomplete LEGO sets will continue to bring fun and enjoyment for your kids and for yourself after the move.
  If you just know that a LEGO build has already served its purpose, then paying to transport it to the new home won’t make much sense in the end.
• It’s possible that you may not have enough storage space for all the LEGO sets in the new house. That’s really unfortunate but it’s also quite likely if you happen to be moving into a smaller place (downsizing). Plan ahead so that you don’t end up wondering where to store built LEGO sets and their boxes after the move.
  Unfortunately, moving house often requires plenty of sacrifices when it comes down to what to take with you and what to leave behind.

How to Make a Moving Inventory List

Step 2. Do the right thing with the leave-behind LEGOs

Hopefully, the task of sorting the LEGO sets will go without too much drama, and soon enough, you’ll know exactly which builds you’re moving with you and which ones you’re not.

After optimizing the LEGO collection in the house, now the pressing question is what to do with the sets, if any, that you’ve decided not to pack and move to the new home.

• GIFT the LEGO construction sets that you’re sure will be liked and enjoyed by other kids you know personally or other grown-up people who happen to be LEGO enthusiasts just like you. Keep in mind that a LEGO kit is a great gift even when it’s been assembled before.
• DONATE the LEGOs you’re not moving to kindergartens, child care centers, or libraries. Many charitable organizations will take LEGO sets in decent condition too. Be sure to check the donation requirements before you rush to donate your unwanted construction sets to avoid losing precious time.
• SELL the LEGO sets that are in excellent condition but you still don’t wish to move for one reason or another. That’s especially relevant if you own unopened LEGO boxes – unlikely, but still a possibility. You can always use the money from the sales to purchase new and exciting LEGO kits after the house move is a fact.

How to Get Rid of Unwanted Items When Moving

How to pack disassembled LEGO when moving

When packing LEGO for moving, the major challenge before you will be to protect the already built sets – the ones that you have neither enough time nor a burning desire to disassemble before moving out.

Read on to learn the best way to pack and transport completed LEGO sets, but for now, let’s look at how to pack disassembled LEGO sets for moving – ones that have either never been built before or ones that have already been disassembled back to their individual elements.

• GET hold of plastic bags that seal well – Ziploc bags, for example. You’ll need those to keep the small LEGO elements from getting lost during the chaotic move.
• FIND the original LEGO boxes, if you can. They are great for transporting disassembled LEGO sets – after all, those boxes did survive an international move to reach your home, remember?
  In case you have no idea where those original containers are, any small or medium-sized moving boxes in good condition should do the trick.
• TRANSFER the individual LEGO pieces into the resealable plastic bags. Be careful as you do it to avoid spilling any LEGO bits on the floor and possibly losing some in the process. Use a different plastic bag for any construction pieces that have been pre-sorted and pre-grouped by color, type, or purpose.
• USE soft packing paper to wrap any LEGO pieces that have relatively sharp edges or protruding parts that could rip the plastic bag in which they will be transported.
• SEAL the plastic bags well, and use packing tape whenever necessary to make sure they won’t open in transit.
• USE a marker to label each plastic bag with the exact LEGO model only if you intend to ship several models inside a single box. When transporting each model in a separate container, then you don’t need to do any labeling at all.
• ARRANGE the filled sealable bags either into the original LEGO boxes or into standard cardboard boxes of similar sizes. For best results, you can fit plenty of pre-labeled plastic bags into a larger transparent plastic bin for extra protection. That way, even if the content of a bag gets spilled out, the LEGO pieces will remain inside the plastic storage container and you will be able to quickly identify the set model by the label on the ripped bag.
• SEAL the cardboard boxes using packing tape. If using a plastic storage bin to store the plastic bags, then close its lid right and use a bit of tape to secure it against accidental opening.

How to Pack Fragile Items When Moving

How to prepare assembled LEGO for packing

As you just read, packing disassembled LEGO sets for a move is pretty straightforward – the packing process is not complicated in any way just because all the pieces are already ready to be transferred into a secure container for safe transportation.

The hardest part comes when you have to ship built LEGO sets – sets that have already been assembled and you don’t wish to break down before the move.

Complete LEGO kits are very delicate and unless you do an excellent job protecting them, you’ll risk not only finding the completed builds partially disassembled (nothing serious to worry about) but also possibly damaged (cracked, broken) due to unfavorable external forces on the road.

To avoid unpleasant accidents, here’s how to prepare your assembled LEGO sets for transport:

Step 1. Clean the assembled LEGO sets

If you’ve had the completed builds displayed in your home for some time, the chances are that they will be somewhat dusty. And since it’s not a good idea to transport dusty items into the new home, the first step is to clean the sets before packing them up.

To do that, use a soft brush with relatively long bristles to remove carefully the settled dust. Another way to do it is to use a can of compressed air in order to blow away the dust that’s accumulated onto the sets – just make sure you hold the can a few inches away from the set so that you don’t blow away some of the interlocked pieces.

No matter which method you use, it’s best to remove that dust outside where the wind will help you do it even faster.

Warning: Do not use a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust for fear of having small pieces sucked into the machine.

Step 2. Take photos of your completed sets

A good tactic when packing and moving LEGO creations is to photograph the completed sets from various angles for reference if they do happen to get partially disassembled during the move. That step is critically important when you’re packing and moving original LEGO builds – ones that cannot be recreated using the standard LEGO building instructions booklets.

The best part? Taking high-res photos of your assembled LEGOs can be fun. And even if everything goes smoothly while transporting your plastic construction sets (it should!), you’ll have cool LEGO build photos to show proudly to your Facebook friends.

Step 3. Remove super-delicate parts

This step is really important because it will help you keep your LEGO builds safe throughout the move. Think about this: most built LEGO sets have very delicate sections that are likely to come off the main build and possibly get damaged during the move. So, what’s the best way to protect those? Remove them prior to packing.

In most cases, such LEGO sections are easy to spot – the wings of a plane, the antennas of a robot or a vehicle, the sails of a ship, and so on. They usually stick out from a set, making them even more susceptible to transportation damage.

So, the best way is to take off those extra fragile parts and pack them separately, using the LEGO packing tips below.

The Greatest Moving Checklist of All Time

How to pack assembled LEGO when moving

Packing built LEGO sets can be a bit tricky but you shouldn’t worry too much because now you’ll learn the secret of doing it quickly and, more importantly – safely.

And the secret is to use stretch plastic film.

Also known as Saran wrap, the thin plastic material will help you achieve a couple of key goals at the same time: 1) keep the interlocked LEGO pieces together, and 2) keep the wrapped-up LEGO builds from dust and moisture during transportation.

Here are the steps to packing assembled LEGO for moving:

• WRAP assembled LEGO sets in plastic film once you’ve dusted them, photographed them, and removed the most fragile protruding sections from them. The stretchable plastic is safe to use directly onto the plastic LEGO elements and should keep them firmly in place until they reach the new house.
• WRAP the built LEGOs in large sheets of bubble wrap as the second layer of protection. Do this carefully without applying too much force onto the constructed sets. It’s the bubble wrap that will provide the best protection for your valuable LEGO sets and will keep them 100% safe and intact by effectively absorbing any possible shocks or forces on the road.
• PLACE the protected LEGO creations into suitable containers – either cardboard boxes of the right size. The usage of large plastic bins is highly recommended as they will serve as a final hard-shell layer of protection. Also, consider using office paper boxes that should be deep enough to fit most small to medium-sized built sets.
• TRY fitting two cardboard boxes together in case a LEGO build ends up being too long, too wide, or too tall to fit into a single moving box. Seal those boxes together using plenty of packing tape. Remember that your customized moving containers don’t have to be visually appealing – their sole purpose should be to add that final line of protection for your or your children’s prized LEGOs.
• ADD soft packing paper or pieces of bubble wrap to fill in any empty spaces around the LEGO builds already positioned inside the moving container. The idea is to make sure the built sets do not move around in the box but stay practically immobilized, cushioned from all sides with soft filling materials.
• INSERT the matching LEGO building instructions booklets too.
• CLOSE the lids of the moving boxes or plastic containers, and seal them using pieces of packing tape.
• LABEL the boxes, if you deem it necessary. Don’t forget to write FRAGILE and HANDLE WITH CARE in big red letters.

As you can see, packing and moving assembled LEGO sets is much more challenging than packing and moving disassembled LEGO kits.

Therefore, if you don’t really need to keep your sets built during a house move, you’d better take them apart to save yourself possible trouble.

As a bonus, you’ll have the pleasure of building them again after the move.

Can building LEGO after a house move help you cope with relocation depression? ABSOLUTELY!

Good to know: How Much Does It Cost to Hire Packers?