French here (context). Legos [1] (starting with Duplo Train) and Kapla [2] were probably the most stimulating toys I played with. Also, Logiblocs [3], Meccano.

French here (context). Legos [1] (starting with Duplo Train) and Kapla [2] were probably the most stimulating toys I played with. Also, Logiblocs [3], Meccano. Oh, and some random basic electric components (lamps, batteries, switches, etc). I did have some more "sciency" toys like chemistry kit or such but I quickly got bored with these. But I think that, before that, being given the opportunity to read books, play around with a computer and having limitations (restricted computer time, limited Internet subscription, finite number of books) really made me think to find workarounds or other ways to pass the time. tl;dr: Science and IT skills are just results of a stimulated mind from the early age [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapla [3] http://www.logiblocs.com/ http://www.logiblocs.com/ [4] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano