How to turn a pile of bricks into a LEGO masterpiece

TAMPA, Fla. - For aspiring young LEGO Masters – and the parents facing piles of your kids bricks all over the house – there are some tools to turn the chaos into creativity. 

"Not only does it teach engineering and science, matching, counting, it teaches you to use the side of your brain that develops creativity and imagination," said John Fontana, who has owned the Bricks4Kidz Tampa franchise for almost a decade. 

Fontana suggested going on YouTube to find endless tutorials for new ideas to keep kids challenged. 

Bricklink.com is another resource. It's much like an EBay for LEGO's. If you're missing that one piece from a set, there are sellers on the site from all over the world that might have it. 

"You can not only buy LEGO's there, you can find ideas, instructions with the random LEGO's that are at your house," Fontana said.

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You can also check out the app called BrickIt, which can scan any pile of bricks and turn the mayhem into magic. The app offers directions for a variety of instructions and templates.

"You can make ice cream a popsicle, a house...." he said. ""I've got cherries... a boat, a duckling... and what's really cool is if you click on it, it tells you all the steps."

A free option is to head to social media. Fontana said you can head to Facebook or Instagram and type "LEGO MOCS," which stands for "My Own Creation." There you can find people who have made their own models. 

You can search what you're interested in building to find instructions and often the corresponding bricks are also for sale. Bricks4Kidz offers MOCS for LEGO mosaic art on Etsy.