Back in the early 70's I had a Lite Brite, "stick the colored plastic pin through construction paper to make a colored pattern" toy.
Lite-Brite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also an etch-a-sketch, (an early laptop that you shook upside down to reboot it)
and Lego's , an amazing technology that forced you to use your imagination compared to todays "pirates of the caribbean" Lego's kits build a Pirate ship per the drawings and instructions.
Erector Sets, been around since 1913................damn those square nuts.........
In a way, I feel sorry for the kids of today that most likely would be bored building a tree house or playing in a mud puddle......Wii or Xbox Tree house App more likely (don't want them to actually hit their thumb with a hammer, or then sue said Hammer Manufacturer)...but then again, kids today will invent the Holodeck and beam-me-up Scotty transporters.