When I was 14, I got my very first hot rod, a 1968 Chevy pickup, and I learned most of the fundamental for my racing and the mechanics I later learned from taking apart that truck and putting it back together like a big puzzle. It was only supposed to be some minor repair work and have a rat rod driver, then things kinda got out of hand and we ended up taking it all the way down to the the frame rails, sandblasting, and starting over with a frame off restoration. Sound familiar anyone??
Rolex, your story made me think of something. My uncle was always taking things apart, but he eventually got tired of toasters and lawn mowers and such. When he was 11 he decided to pull the engine out of the family upholstery delivery van on a Friday, and he didn't have the choice of not having it back in on Monday because the parents literally may have killed him if they couldn't have made their deliveries. Well he got it out, cleaned it up and cleaned the engine bay, and put it back in and did some test runs to make sure the deliveries would be made on schedule. A few weeks later he did it again, only he pulled off the carb and valve covers, and within a month he was pulling the thing out and tearing apart the top and bottom end and then reassembling it, using his paper money for gaskets and such. Moral of the story, he was always amazed at the engineering that went into building an engine, and 40 years later his machine shop (that he started himself with his wife as his only employee in small town Louisiana) was named one of the top 5 machine shops in the country by CAT. He does contract repair work for them, and they toured the country and when the rankings came down he was in the top 5. Sorry to get off on such a long rant but ya never know what a young childs curiosity may lead to.
