I would recommend Python. If you install Thonny, you get pretty much everything you need right out of the (free) box. And because of its format, they can learn single commands in the REPL, then graduate to writing script-like programs, then progress onto increasingly complex GUI apps and whatever else they want from there, without having to change, install or update anything.
Then also if they get a Raspberry Pi Pico (which is only $4 or $5), Arduino, or just about any other microcontroller board, they're already set up to be able to control and program them, too. Lots of branching out potential, and a painless learning curve.
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I would recommend Python. If you install Thonny, you get pretty much everything you need right out of the (free) box. And because of its format, they can learn single commands in the REPL, then graduate to writing script-like programs, then progress onto increasingly complex GUI apps and whatever else they want from there, without having to change, install or update anything.
Then also if they get a Raspberry Pi Pico (which is only $4 or $5), Arduino, or just about any other microcontroller board, they're already set up to be able to control and program them, too. Lots of branching out potential, and a painless learning curve.