legos, legos everywhere!

[Aerynne]

My ds has quite a few legos. This is what I ask of him irt his legos

1. He has a giant (maybe 30 by 30 inch) washing machine tray. I ask that he keep his loose legos on that try when he is playing with legos.

2. I ask that he put them away when he is done with them

He is not following either rule. The consequence for breaking the rules is that his legos either become a quiet play time toy- he only gets them during his afternoon quiet play time and then has to put them away when quiet play time is over. If this presents any trouble then he loses them altogether for awhile. He got so casual about it last time that I took them away for six months. Then he was really good for awhile when he got them back but not for long. Just to clarify- if I see his legos out I will ask him to put them away, but if he doesn't do it, then he loses them.

Is all of this reasonable? Or what should I do? Our carpet is long so the legos get lost if he has loose legos off his tray, which is why I want them on there when he's playing. But if he builds a car or a house I don't mind him driving it around. His tray is HUGE- there is ample room for spreading legos out. I don't know why he has so many legos off the tray. I wouldn't mind buying him a rug or something else but if he's not using the tray, I doubt he'd use the rug either.

[Momys]

We have a king size flat sheet. Rhe lego lives in it and when the kids play lego,
they open it up and sit on vn ornext to it. When done they fold the corners in andputs the whole thing in a large plastic tote. It works well because the can sit and surround themselves with the lego. HTH

[Two Little Birds]

We plan on building a dedicated Lego table once we've moved into our new house.

Are you helping him with the putting away? I find Ash is not yet able to do it always by himself. However, he's too big for me to "make" do it. KWIM? In those instances where we are offering help and he refuses to clean, the Legos are gone for a while.

[AdrienneQW]

The rules are reasonable and he obviously understands them, so if he doesn't follow them then he's made his choice. :shrug You set clear expectations and alert him ahead of time to the consequences of his actions - the rest is on him. :yes

[Dulci]

Have you ever asked him? Could be forgetfulness or carelessness... or maybe he doesn't like the tray for some reason. Could you (or have you already) ask him for his ideas on how to keep the legos contained, and let him know why having them loose is not acceptable?