I was born long ago, at a time, when, in my early teens I could go to the CHEMIST and buy just about any chemical.
I experimented and enjoyed creating and watching reactions take place.
We made BP and attached "engines" to our Corgi and Dinky cars, we mixed WK and sugar and filled Airfix planes with the mix, attached them to a clothes line with hooks, made a fuse (from jetex motors), lit, stood back and watched them move quickly along the line, before impacting a wall where the unspent fuel caused a big ....
I attended a school, where the chemistry master was willing to allow experiments "after hours", I dug up an advanced inorganic chemistry book, and searched for interesting reactions. To this day I remember dropping some Ali powder into Bromine.... NICE.
We also made rockets and sent them skyward out of the chemistry laboratory windows. I enjoyed school :-), .... and this was a comprehensive school!
Now my son is interested in chemistry, things are different, the fun is difficult to find, this modern age is saddening, maddening and frustrating.
However gotta make the most of what you got.....