My two children wanted a Mindstorm, so my husband and I made a deal with them that if they saved their money to pay for a third each we would add in the last third. We got it, and we all played with it for a couple of weeks. However lately it hasn't seen much use. I do have to admit I think my husband and I were just as excited to get it as them as we both like technology (I have a programming background) so we were more willing to make it a purchase outside of a normal gift time (birthdays, holidays, etc.).
It sounds like you might need this for the workshops. However if he is just looking to do programming, you could get him a Raspberry Pi which is much much less expensive ($35 for the Pi itself, but you also need to supply your own keyboard, mouse and monitor). It is just a very basic computer (not a robot out of the box like Mindstorm), but it has more options for programming. You can also buy lots of additional components that let you build different types of devices. With Mindstorm it uses a graphical programming language. With the Pi, you can use Scratch (graphical), Python (text-based) or others. The Pi also comes with Minecraft installed, and it is simple to use Python to control the game. My DD found it a fun and engaging way to learn Python. There are tons of tutorials out there for it. My DD prefers programming with Python rather than Scratch as she doesn't like the graphical programming model as much.
