10 building ideas with fewer than 50 bricks
You do not need a crate of bricks to build something good. A handful of basic parts is enough when the idea is clear and you reduce the shape to what matters. All ten ideas below use fewer than 50 parts, take 10 to 25 minutes, and rely only on basic shapes: bricks, plates, tiles, 45° slopes and round bricks. Exactly the parts you find in the editor.
The quantities are guidelines. No 2×4 brick at hand? Use two 2×2 bricks. Missing a colour? Pick another one. A blue duck is still a duck.
Before you start: how to count
Every part counts, including plates and tiles. The baseplate does not. If you build in the editor, the parts list on the right updates as you go, and any published model with 50 parts or fewer lands automatically in the Small & Quick category.
1. Duck on a pond
The duck is the starter model on lay-a-brick: a body made of two layers of 2×6 bricks, wings and tail from slopes, a beak from an orange plate that sticks out at the front, two black 1×1 bricks for eyes. The pond underneath is a single layer of blue plates.
Parts (about 32): 4 bricks 2×6 or 2×4, 4 slopes 2×2, 2 bricks 2×2, 1 orange plate 2×4, 2 black bricks 1×1, 8 to 10 blue plates for the water. See the finished duck.
2. Tree with a trunk
A trunk of stacked brown 1×1 round bricks, topped with a crown of green bricks that narrows towards the top: 2×4 at the bottom, then 2×2, then a single round brick. Two slopes at the sides make the crown look rounder.
Parts (about 20): 3 brown round bricks 1×1, 1 green plate 2×4 as the ground, 2 bricks 2×4, 2 bricks 2×2, 2 slopes 2×2, 1 green round brick 1×1. A version with roots and leaves: tree.
3. Sunflower
A green stem of three round bricks, a flower head with a brown 2×2 plate in the middle and yellow 1×2 plates around it, two leaves from green 1×3 plates on the stem. The flower stands best in a small pot built from four 1×2 bricks.
Parts (about 25): 3 green round bricks 1×1, 1 brown plate 2×2, 8 yellow plates 1×2, 2 green plates 1×3, 4 bricks 1×2 for the pot, 1 plate 2×2 as the pot base. The full version: sunflower.
4. Heart mosaic
A heart made of 1×1 plates on a baseplate. Sketch the shape on squared paper first; 9 studs wide and 8 studs tall is plenty. Red plates inside, a darker edge on one side as shadow, a light dot top left as a highlight.
Parts (about 45): 35 to 40 red plates 1×1, 6 dark red plates 1×1, 2 pink or white plates 1×1. Template: pixel heart.
5. Sailing boat
A hull from a 2×8 plate with two 2×4 bricks on top and a 2×2 slope at the front as the bow. The mast is a stack of round bricks; the sail is a triangle of white 1×2, 1×3 and 1×4 plates that get shorter step by step.
Parts (about 30): 1 plate 2×8, 2 bricks 2×4, 1 slope 2×2, 4 round bricks 1×1, 1 brick 1×1 as the mast foot, 6 white plates 1×2 to 1×4, 2 tiles 2×2 for the deck. Built larger: sailing boat.
6. Mini rocket
A 2×2 tower of four bricks, a round brick on top as the nose, four 2×1 slopes at the bottom pointing outwards as fins. An orange round plate at the base stands for the flame. Tiles in the middle become a window.
Parts (about 35): 4 white bricks 2×2, 1 red round brick 1×1, 4 slopes 2×1, 4 plates 1×2 as transitions to the fins, 2 blue tiles 1×1 as windows, 1 orange round plate 1×1, 1 plate 4×4 as the launch pad. The big sibling is here: rocket.
7. Table with two benches
Four legs of 1×1 bricks, a tabletop from a 2×6 plate covered with tiles. The benches are 1×6 plates on two 1×1 bricks each. Put everything on a baseplate so nothing slides.
Parts (about 24): 8 brown bricks 1×1, 1 plate 2×6, 3 tiles 1×2 or 2 tiles 2×2, 2 plates 1×6, 4 plates 1×1 as bench feet. Fits the Everyday & Furniture category.
8. Cactus in a pot
A pot from four 1×2 bricks in a square, inside it a cactus of green 1×1 round bricks. Two arms branch off sideways over 1×2 plates and then go up. A pink round plate on top is the flower.
Parts (about 18): 4 orange bricks 1×2, 1 plate 2×2 as the pot base, 6 green round bricks 1×1, 2 green plates 1×2, 1 pink round plate 1×1, 1 sand yellow plate 2×2 as soil.
9. Mini lighthouse
A 2×2 tower of alternating red and white bricks, a 4×4 plate on top as the gallery, a yellow round brick as the lamp and a slope as the roof. A few grey plates at the base as rocks, blue plates as water.
Parts (about 40): 6 bricks 2×2 in alternating red and white, 1 grey plate 4×4, 1 yellow round brick 1×1, 4 black tiles 1×1 as windows, 1 slope 2×2, 1 black round plate 1×1 as the tip, 10 plates 1×2 to 2×4 in grey and blue for the base. The large version with its island: lighthouse.
10. Snowman
Three balls made of white bricks: 2×4 plus 2×2 as a block at the bottom, 2×2 in the middle, a round brick on top. A white plate between the layers makes the transitions look like spheres. An orange round plate as the nose, two black 1×1 tiles as eyes, a black 1×1 brick as the hat.
Parts (about 30): 2 white bricks 2×4, 4 white bricks 2×2, 2 white plates 2×2, 1 white round brick 1×1, 1 orange round plate 1×1, 2 black tiles 1×1, 1 black brick 1×1, 1 red plate 1×2 as the scarf. Example: snowman.
Three rules for small models
- Offset, not stack. Two layers shifted against each other hold better than four layers lined up on top of each other. More on this in the article about brick types.
- Two colours plus one accent. More colours make a small model look busy.
- Details from plates and round parts. An eye, a nose, a headlight – these are the parts that make a model readable.
If you like one of the ideas, build it, change the colour or size and publish it as a remix. How to turn it into printable instructions is explained in create building instructions. More small models are waiting in Small & Quick.
Build your idea in the editor
Pick one of the ten ideas, open the editor and place the first bricks. The parts list and the building instructions are generated while you build: Start building.