There's an old game from the 90s I loved : The Incredible Machine.
It's all about devising elaborate Rube Goldberg machines to solve puzzles. The cat knocks a ball into the goldfish bowl, which tips over and fills a bucket that operates a pulley that flips a switch that opens a door. That kind of thing.
I remember it being very freeform and exploratory, teaching cause and effect and physics and thinking through complex interaction chains.
I was probably around 7 when I played it. Very age appropriate.
It's all about devising elaborate Rube Goldberg machines to solve puzzles. The cat knocks a ball into the goldfish bowl, which tips over and fills a bucket that operates a pulley that flips a switch that opens a door. That kind of thing.
I remember it being very freeform and exploratory, teaching cause and effect and physics and thinking through complex interaction chains.
I was probably around 7 when I played it. Very age appropriate.
It's available on a web-based DOS emulator!
https://www.myabandonware.com/game/the-incredible-machine-1m...
Probably downloadable somewhere too.