[mlyle]

It's not bare metal, but Python on Pi400 is great for kids.

Especially with side-by-side with a Minecraft window and the Minecraft Pi Edition python integration.

Also, there's a whole lot of little boards that support Micropython, and boot straight to it, including ESP32 etc. I use them in the classes I teach.

[boogies]

Wasn’t Minecraft Pi Edition discontinued years ago? Minetest on the other hand might be a great intro to programming with its Lua script mods, and also has always been designed for modest hardware.

[cyberbanjo]

https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/edition/pi

Appears to still be available

[boogies]

But not updated in ~7 years since v0.1.1

https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Pi_Edition

[mlyle]

Yah, it's discontinued, but it works fine and is still distributed. It's a fine path to write some code and interact with a working game world.

[boogies]

Yah, it’s technically functional, but there’s an actively maintained alternative that can support such advanced features as spawning mobs (like, say, the mascot in Minecraft’s logo).