A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report says "software development skills continue to be the most in-demand" STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related jobs in the United States, and the White House projects that there will be over one million unfilled jobs in STEM related fields by 2020.

And perhaps one of the easiest ways to encourage this interest is with toys. Toys and kits that are designed to teach kids hacking and basic programming skills abound, and they cater to a range of ages and skill levels. "It's important that we create learning experiences for kids that help to see what's possible for them, what they can do, who they can be, and the changes that they can make to what's around them," said Eric Rosenbaum, who is an electronics kit designer and has a PhD from MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten group.