For your budding computer scientist, here is a high-tech project to create the ancient 9-armed Menorah.
The project kit, from evilmadscientist.com, requires soldering elements onto a circuit board: Resistors, capacitors, diodes, and such. When finished, the candelabra automatically lights up the correct sequence of lights for Hanukkah.
The kit includes especially good instructions and illustrations.
Sold for $45, this kit is suitable to anyone who can be trusted with a soldering kit (not included).
If soldering is not in your wheelhouse, check out the other Menorah projects at the site that do not require it.