Stem Toys

I've looked at some of these toys on the shelves, they're interesting in a limited way... They're "single purpose / single use" kits usually. Great compared to what the toy market is; but i find them unsatisfying in concept somehow.

Anyone remember taking toys apart, to the parent's horror and dismay? I recall trying different motors and gears in slot cars and "stomper" trucks, bodging on bigger batteries or higher voltage packs, things like that.

Wouldn't that attitude make a pile of re-purposable trash a far better toybox than thousands of dollars of "here's the instructions, this is all it does" kits?

Are we trying to teach kids "science" without teaching them curiosity? Has that quality disappeared from our children and we're trying to light the fire again by means of more and better extinguishers?