I totally suck at stuff like this but my son inherited the gene from his dad. Unfortunately his dad makes no time for him. Anybody have any ideas how a kid can apprentice himself to learn the finer points of fixing stuff? He's just 13 but wants to begin looking for a job soon so more than willing to volunteer.

(ETA: Pondering this I realize liability insurance probably squelches this idea but worth checking to see if we can get our own coverage.)

Kids his age have bikes. Get him some basic bicycle tools and have him volunteer to fix up the bicycles that are donated to local thrift stores. Many of them need cleaning up, straightening, shifter adjustment and so forth before they can be sold. He'll learn a lot about fixing things in general that way.

All I will say is you can never have enough hand tools.

Good tools are an investment, showing the little 'uns how to use those tools mean when you're gone they're still be of use to someone that you care about.