If they're interested in software and hardware, robotics is a fun place to start. Line following, object avoidance, maze solving, all sorts of cool options. A

If they're interested in software and hardware, robotics is a fun place to start. Line following, object avoidance, maze solving, all sorts of cool options. A relatively cheap option would be the micro:bit [1] and a chassis [2]. The micro:bit can run CircuitPython [3] which is an simplified version of Python that can run on embedded systems. This setup offers lots of room for growth from graphical programming, to circuitpython, and then on to C programming. [1] https://www.adafruit.com/product/4781 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4781 [2] https://www.adafruit.com/product/4575 https://www.adafruit.com/product/4575 [3] https://circuitpython.org/board/microbit_v2/ https://circuitpython.org/board/microbit_v2/