My son has gotten into designing logic circuit with Redstone. I wish I could get him to do the same with 74xx/54xx parts.
Why 74xx parts, other than nostalgia for an era that was over decades before he was born? If it's about building physical things rather than virtual things, consider Lego Mindstorms controllers; you can build digital logic in them using Scratch...and graduate to Python when he gets frustrated with the limitations. And there's tons of Minecraft-themed Lego contraptions, he could theoretically use Mindstorms logic, lig…
I'm kinda clumsy but I get a lot of pleasure out of breadboarding with 74xx parts.