When comparing Lego Mindstorms vs JavaScript for Kids, the Slant community recommends JavaScript for Kids for most people. In the question“What are the best books or programs for teaching kids to code?” JavaScript for Kids is ranked 3rd while Lego Mindstorms is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose JavaScript for Kids is:
It's written like a kids book and doesn't bother with getting into the boring details up front.
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Pros
Pro Lots of sensors to provide input
There are many sensors available, such as infrared, video, sonar, gyros, accelerometers, controllers, and more.
Pro Control real world objects
Children are encouraged by seeing their programming efforts doing something in action, and having the result command a robot is a very tangible way of showing the outcomes of their programs.
Pro Support for multiple programming languages
There are many enthusiast projects for accessing the mindstorms API over Bluetooth to allow you to use any programming language of your choice, allowing for advancing students to graduate to more advanced languages while still controlling something familiar.
Pro Simple drag and drop interface
Mindstorms has an intuitive visual programming interface with digital previews of actions to make programming easy for beginners. The visual programming interface allows for actions, control flow, sensors, data manipulation and more.
Pro Fun style
It's written like a kids book and doesn't bother with getting into the boring details up front.
Pro Learning JavaScript is useful
JavaScript may not be the greatest language, but it's immediately useful and has applications everywhere.
Pro No tools or IDE required
All examples can be done in notepad and a browser.
Cons
Con Expensive
The base mindstorms kit costs $350 and additional sensor components range from $20 - $50 each.