Maybe look for practical projects they find interesting. Maybe building a cheap homebrewers cubesat, then test "launch" it using a weather ballon. If it works and you have a valid scientific mission for it you can get the launch aspect covered under a program/grant. This is something I wanted to do (only up to the test launch since I don't have a meaningful mission).
I personally use the microbit as a hardware platform to teach my 8 year old daughter. We have build a remote control robot out of legos, a lego crane that can raise and lower an object.
I have also been building out a course for her school that utilizes the microbit v2. It can use most of the sensors that the Arduino uses, but I like it as a more complete package. It comes with bluetooth, a radio, and a whole host of sensors built in.