Kids don't have standards as high as yours. I'm sure kids would get a kick out of it, even if they aren't really building something. I think it would help get them to be less intimidated by an expensive and complicated looking circuit board, and that's a great thing. I mean, I'm still intimidated by exposed circuit boards. They're expensive and I don't want to accidentally break it. There's not a whole lot to it, but it's still probably enough to get kids excited and interested. Remember, when you go under the basic interface for a computer, it's very very intimidating to non technical people.
If you read through, the bulk of the project is more about programming. Putting together the computer parts and customizing it is more about getting the kids in the right mindset, and giving them a confidence boost. "You just built a computer! Now programming should be more fun!"
If you want to teach your kids about electronics, not programming, then building a radio or doing experiments with a breadboard would be a much better project, but this could be a good stepping stone to that as well.
If you read through, the bulk of the project is more about programming. Putting together the computer parts and customizing it is more about getting the kids in the right mindset, and giving them a confidence boost. "You just built a computer! Now programming should be more fun!"
If you want to teach your kids about electronics, not programming, then building a radio or doing experiments with a breadboard would be a much better project, but this could be a good stepping stone to that as well.