Other creative toys/products that come to mind would be, say, Play-Doh as a sort of children’s intro to…Clay, I suppose? But in this vein without being exclusively directed towards children (albeit I imagine many may be).
Always enjoyed a creative kind of toy to mess around with.
The StemmaQt or Qwiic boards from Adafruit and Sparkfun, respectively, are more accessible ways to make physical computing projects with sensors and screens.
I’m working on some simpler discrete circuits with my son, like 555 and shift registers, since he’s really good with his fingers, but only just starting to read. We get to build and test them with Tinkercad or Fritzing and then make them in real life. It’s been awesome learning for both of us.
The CD4069 and LM386 are fun for discrete projects too. Also OPA2132 :)
The Adafruit and Sparkfun stuff is great.
Accessibility is not so much a concern for me, I don’t mind reading long datasheets. That’s half the fun for me. I also like KiCAD a lot, I’ve sent off several designs to the factories to make a few units. Was a really cool experience and I learned a lot.
I’m not a super big Fritzing fan (personal preference I guess) but love Tinkercad for quickly designing something 3D printable.