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At my high school, which has no programming classes, my co-worker does lead the robotic's club which uses a simplified version of C to make the robot do things.

We also included Alice on all of our netbooks. It does seem like Scratch is probably more popular these days.

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with any of these and I've only used one of them for like 5 minutes so YMMV. I'm not a programmer at all and the only languages I've spent any time with at all are C and Python and I would barely consider myself an amateur at Python and a nothing at C.

Or alternatively take a look at VEX Robotics equipment, especially the new VEX IQ line:
http://www.vexrobotics.com/

The VEX IQ stuff is on par price-wise with the Lego but appears more advanced and more capable than the Lego sets.

VEX is a good place to start.. modular, compatible... worth a look.. http://www.vexrobotics.com/

There's also VEX: http://www.vexrobotics.com/

FLL, VEX and FRC have different advantages, but all of them are great.

I've been a mentor with a FIRST FRC team for the past three years, and if anyone had told me four years ago how much fun it would be to work with a bunch of high-school students I'd've told them they were nuts. As it turns out, they're one of the best groups of people I've ever worked with: eager to learn, flexible in their thinking, creative and capable. It's like Scouts or Guides for the 21st century. Kids come out of it able to debug complex systems, diagnose mechanical, electrical and software issues, work as a team, argue for their own ideas and reach principled agreement with others.

VEX is great because it puts all the work in the hands of the kids themselves. It's more economically feasible, too. VEX is a Mechano-like system that can be put together with simple tools but is incredibly flexible in the freedom of design it gives. One of my kids has been on a VEX team and last year they were getting a mysterious clicking sound from the robot when it lifted one arm... turned out they'd under-speced the shaft, which had twisted inside the bushing to the point that it looked more like a drill-bit. That's the kind of lesson that will make these kids better engineers, come the day.

FLL is awesome because it's so universally accessible, and there's no better way to teach kids things like the meaning of an infinite loop than for them to see their FLL bot repeating the same endless pattern when trapped by field objects.

The great thing about all these programs is they aren't battle-bots: they are solving far more interesting problems than "smash the other guy", which is really a kind of sad and silly pre-modern use of robots, which are giving us new and fundamental capabilities to create prosperity so we don't have any urge to smash the other guy (not that that urge ever made much sense.)

This is a world-wide phenomenon: I'm in Canada, which routinely produces world-championship FRC teams (the team I help mentor isn't one of them... yet) and there are teams in Europe and elsewhere.

If you've got kids and are interested in technology, you can't do better than to get involved in a local robotics organization. The future is happening right now, in your local schools, and you can be part of it.

I have about 10+ years of experience with the FIRST Robotics competition. For an "all inclusive robotics" kit you will need to increase your budget. However, electronics and software kits are in budget. Here's my list:

1. Innovation FIRST's Vex Robtic system. This is hands down the best system available. The kit is basic enough that you can get something working while also open enough that the possibilities are limitless. You can interface your own custom circuits with it. It comes with default software in source code form that you can modify to whatever you would like. It also has mechanical kits where you can build almost anything. It's also not flimsy. This is one of the most expensive options, but you can start around $300 and add on for years.

2. Lego MindstormsI would reccomend this kit for someone younger (8 or so.) It's not quite as extensible mechanically or electrically but is easier to use.

With those two out of the way and actually answering your post based on the budget, I would recommend a Basic Stamp kit from Parallax. The kits are aimed at learning electronics and software. They're not a lot to them mechanically, you need additional parts and know-how for that. The kits are low cost and require you to learn. I cut my teeth on the Basic Stamp 2 (BS2) and I turned out to be a successful software engineer.

I highly recommend a VEX kit. http://www.vexrobotics.com/ The starter kit doesn't require machining, just bending metal and cutting it with some good scissors. With it they can also learn to program. With the different wheels you can teach them about friction etc. I love the kit and it taught me how to program. If you don't want to program get the EasyC add on and you will be able to use pictures to program your robot and with the provided instructions it will be VERY easy. AND if you want you can even enter VEX competitions and stuff all for under a few hundred dollars and come away with even MORE VEX goodies as they hand out kits and stuff as prizes. You can do anything with VEX with very little knowledge and in the end you will think in a different manner and it teaches you a new way of solving problems. Have your kids try to move a soda can one day, and then purchase some bigger motors and have your kids try to mechanize your lawn mower for even more fun. (I'm doing this right now.) Also if you have any problems the Innovation First Inc. (IFI) staff is great. I have had problems and IFI helped me out. Their forums are top notch and their service is very hard to beat! Try it out, your kids will LOVE it. -Junx

Vex kits are expensive, but will teach your kids about everything. A cheaper option is just going to radio shack and buying a bit of everything (breadboard, LED, resistor kit, some wire). I'm at IGVC (Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition) and well that's what everyones robot mostly is anyway.

Seconding lego mindstorms, and get your kids into lego league-it's a great, fun experience for younger kids and a nice intro to robotics. I'd especially push that if you've got girls-get them into it early and get them comfortable around boys and a machine shop or they'll end up stuck with the pr and painting (maybe software if they're good) jobs even if they get into robotics.

Also, have them build their own box to run computer code-lego and microsoft are options to explore, pyro if you're dead set on FOSS. Once they've built it, they'll have a lot of fun testing it, plus they learn a lot of coding fundamentals.

I've been doing robotics for years, and the standard intro kit is a Vex kit. You can buy a basic kit and all sorts of sub kits to build just about anything, but the complexity is a few steps up from a lego kit (which isn't bad, but is better for programming.)
You can also hack together a robot-four wheels, two motors, a board, a battery, a motor control and a switch. Add in a remote control or a pic board to take it a step up. Soldering the wires to the motors can teach you quite a bit.
For making your own cables, just google it. Seriously, the only thing you need for a cat5 is cable, heads, a crimper/stripper/cutter, and a diagram. Most other cables are the same.
As for basics-I've learned as much from wiki+sources in wiki articles+additional links in wiki articles+google as I have from most of the books I've bought.
I'm throwing in another vote for the NAVY electronics manual-really comprehensive, but still understandable.Fundamentals of Electric Circuits is one of the better ones for explaining the basics, but math heavy. Schaum guides also aren't a bad choices, but they get a bit too bogged down in the math.

http://www.vexrobotics.com/ this is the url of VEX product line.

Check these out http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/ http://www.vexrobotics.com/index.php/posts?thread_ id=5&offset=0

Ok, I seem to have answered some of my own questions by downloading the inventor's guide (76MB PDF File) from the Vex website.

With the exception of programming, the overall learning curve seems pretty minor. The hardware assembly is only slightly more difficult than comparable Lego kits, and does not seem to require the user to solder anything.

As for additional parts, it sounds like the best option is to purchase two starter kits and combine them into a larger, more functional robot. Although, I did find another site that sells less common Vex parts, such as a pneumatic pump system. It also appears the site will be selling add-on sensors in the near future.

Overall, Vex is looking to have a bright future ahead of it. I'm just hoping it doesn't get killed off due to a lack of market exposure.

Dean Kaman is doing more things. He just launched his Vex Robotics. This is the robotics kit that is a step up from LEGO Mindstorms. Essentially based on Dean Kaman's FIRST competition, this is a commercialized manufactured robotics kit.

I've just about finished assembling my first robot with the kit, and the kit is what I've been waiting for since I could solder stuff together (no soldering required). It's real metal parts and real radio control and soon real programming. Radio Shack is the exclusive outlet for these, and they sell all of the sensors, gears and wheels, motors and other parts as individual components, so one can upgrade their robot as much as necessary.

I've already gotten my Vex Robotics starter kit from Radio Shack, and it's pretty impressive. This is a commercialized version of Kaman's FIRST competition kits. In fact, FIRST is now using the Vex kits.

What makes the Vex kits nice is the real microcontrollers and impressive transmitter. Very nice packaging of all of the robotic stuff. Unlike Lego Mindstorms, these use real screws and nuts and can be used as a foundation for real robotic projects.

While the starter kit is $300 (it gives you everything to make robots except batteries), I believe there's an educational discount of some sort. You can also buy the individual components at Radio Shack, so you can piece together whatever you need. I stopped buying components at Radio Shack years ago, but I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of money on sensors and motors there.