Lego Tray for a Lego Kid

Bubba went to a birthday party yesterday for one of his good friends.   His little pal loves Lego's.  I've gone over to their house, in the past, and have seen their family room full of his creative mind going to work with the Lego's building all kinds of things; and when his little pal had completed these projects and tried to carry them to mom and dad to show them off they had broken and fallen apart.

I got to thinking about how we could give him a pretty cool gift with some Lego's.  We came up with the idea of a portable tray.

Supplies:

Plywood cut 18 x 18  $15.00 (approx.  Mine was 24 x 48 piece, I plan on making about 2 more of these trays for 2 other little boys)  $5/tray
Trim piece 1.5" x 6'  $1.48
Nails  (had on hand at home)  -- Free
Wood Glue  $4.99  (won't need to buy for awhile now)
Lego base board   $20.00
2 handles  $1.02 each (clearance at Lowe's)

Approximate cost: Under $30

Step 1:

I started with a piece of plywood, cut to 18 x 18.  

Step 2:

A piece of trim that was 1 1/2 inches by 6ft long. 
I cut (2) pieces of the trim 15 inches long and (2) pieces 18 inches long.
You will have the (2) 18" pieces parallel with each other and the (2) 15" pieces parallel with each other.

Step 3:

I used Gorilla Wood Glue and ran a strip on the bottom of the trim and clamped them together.  I also put a dab of glue on the ends where the pieces of trim meet.

Step 4:

Flip the board over and nail the plywood into the wood trim.  I wanted the nails on the underside of the tray, but I wanted this to be secure.

Step 5:

Sand it down.  Sand it until the wood is smooth.   This is for a child, we don't want them to get any slivers.

Step 6:

The Lego baseboard (15x15) should fit inside your tray perfectly.
Gorilla Glue the tray to the plywood.

Step 7:

Attach the handles

I wish I was at the party to see his reaction, but I've been told by all my kiddo's that Bubba's buddy really liked the tray.

 

Now you could paint this any color that you'd like, or even stain it if you'd like.  I happened to like the look of the natural wood, so we stuck with that this time.  But I think I might paint it a fun color the next time around.

 

What do you do with your Lego's?  Do your kids keep them on display for weeks on end?  Think you will be making one of these for a child in your life?