What to buy
Three itemsThat is the whole list. The Pi 400 kit covers nearly everything — it is an entire computer built into a keyboard, and the power supply, mouse, and video cable all come in the box. You add a memory card, and a screen if you do not already have one.
Raspberry Pi 400 Kit
The computer itself, built into a keyboard. Buy the kit, not the bare unit — the kit includes the power supply, mouse, and micro-HDMI cable your child needs.
microSD Card — 64 GB, A2
This is the blank card your child builds the whole computer onto in week one. It must say A2 on the packaging — slower cards corrupt and take a session’s work with them.
A Screen with HDMI
Needs to travel to class weekly, so think spare monitor or small portable TV — not the living-room set. Check section 02 before you spend anything. If you do need to buy, a 10.1″ 1366×768 monitor is the easy pick.
Prices above are approximate and are moving right now — there are ongoing supply constraints in the memory chip market, so the card in particular may cost a few dollars more than listed by the time you order.
If cost is a concern, please reach out before the first session so we can talk it through.
Check your display first
Do this before buyingYour child brings their screen to class each week, so it needs to be something portable — a spare monitor, an old one from a closet, or a small portable TV. Roughly 10″ to 24″ is the sweet spot. Please do not plan on the family television. If you do have a spare, the only thing that matters is the shape of the socket on the back — match it to one of these.
HDMI
14 mm wide · flat trapezoid
Wide, thin, and slightly narrower along the bottom edge than the top. Nearly every TV and monitor made after about 2010 has at least one. This is what you want.
VGA
Usually blue · 15 pin holes · two screws
The old one, with a thumbscrew on each side. If this is the only socket on the screen, that monitor cannot be used — the Pi has no analog video output.
DVI
Usually white · grid of square pins · two screws
Common on older desktop monitors. Adapters exist, but they are fiddly and we cannot troubleshoot them in class. Treat this screen as unusable.
DisplayPort
Rectangular · one corner cut at an angle
Looks a little like HDMI but one corner is clipped and the socket is squarer. It needs a powered adapter that does not always work. Message me before you rely on it.
USB-C
Small rounded oval · same as a phone charger
Some portable monitors take video over USB-C, most do not. If this is the only socket, send me the model number and I will check it for you.
micro-HDMI
On the Pi itself · not on your monitor
This tiny one is what the Raspberry Pi 400 has. Your monitor will never have it — that is why the kit ships with a special micro-HDMI cable. You do not need to buy one.
Not sure? Take a photo of the back of the monitor with your phone and send it to me. I would much rather answer that email than have a student arrive with a screen we cannot plug into.
If there is an unused monitor in a closet or a small TV from a spare room with an HDMI socket, and your child can carry it, you are already done — skip item 03 entirely and save about $60.
What your child will learn
Bible stories have shaped lives for generations. Technology is shaping the world our students are stepping into. This club brings the two together — and the skills your child walks away with carry into college, careers, ministry, and beyond.
Real technical skills
Navigating a computer by typing commands instead of clicking. Understanding what “installing” and “updating” software actually means. Writing basic Python code.
These are the same foundational skills real software engineers use every day. By the end, your child can explain in their own words how the technology behind tools like ChatGPT actually works under the hood.
Character, built in
Patience — compiling software takes time, and that is okay. Honesty — we teach students to recognize when an AI is guessing versus when it is grounded in real, verified sources. Care — in how we speak, and in how we build tools that others will use.
We spend real time on discernment. Students learn that an AI can be confidently wrong, and that checking a claim against a trustworthy source — here, Scripture itself — is a skill that matters far beyond this club.
Habits for life
Comfort with technology will serve them in school and in almost any career they choose. The habit of asking “how do I know this is true?” before trusting an answer — from a search engine, a friend, or a chatbot — only grows more valuable as they get older.
And the persistence it takes to debug code that will not work is the same muscle they will need for hard problems of every kind, technical or not.
Questions and resources
Anything you need before the first session lives here.