Raspberry Pi with a free Mathematica license. You can do a lot with a little code. Geography, graphics, natural language parsing, everything is built in w/o having to learn about package management etc. I mostly enjoy generating crystal lattices and searching for convex polyhedra, casting shadows of 4D objects... its great for making art out of math equations. Docs are second to none and the online getting started book is a great intro to programming IMO.
Edit: +1 for LEGO mindstorms, thats how I learned code as a 10 year old. If you haven't read Seymour Papert's book "Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas", check it out. You can put a marker on a LEGO bot and have your LOGO turtle in real life.
Edit: +1 for LEGO mindstorms, thats how I learned code as a 10 year old. If you haven't read Seymour Papert's book "Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas", check it out. You can put a marker on a LEGO bot and have your LOGO turtle in real life.