This analogies thing... don't know if they are useful or not, but perhaps we're looking at the wrong end on this.
Typically, the water pipes analogy is used. You show a resistor and say how that's like having a narrower pipe, which kind of works but then breaks down when you go a bit far (or some pedantic nerd joins in). But what if you did it the other way: tell a plumber that a resistor is just like a narrow pipe. There is less chance of the analogy breaking down in that direction because he doesn't know enough about the resistor to realise where it falls over (he knows plenty about pipes, but that's not what he's trying to understand). Dig deep enough so the analogy does break down, and by then he should know enough for electronics to be standalone.
So here instead of trying to describe electronics with mechanical simulacrums, the trick would be to use these specific modules to make circuits. And only those modules. Ultimately, when you've got the hang of what can be done, and how, it should be relatively easy to replace those modules with their electronic equivalent since you already know what they do and basically how they do it, it's just the detail that changes.