Mum bought this for my nephew for Christmas.  It looks fun so I bought a kit.

http://www.arduino.cc

I had a play for a little while and came up with a button that when pressed plays out SOS on a red LED.  I suspect I am not the first to try this, but it looks interesting and the possibilities are enormous.  I initially had problems because in the dim light of my sitting room I had plugged the 5V lead in to the 0V (GND) hole. But I got there.

My masterpiece

I’m still not *quite* sure why I bought this, but if/when I make a go of going it alone in Primary school eduction it might make a fun little project.

This is the board I have:
http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardUno

All purchased as a kit from www.earthshineelectronics.com.