I think there's something to that.
My starter program for 9 year olds was
print("draw with the arrow keys");
var cx=320;
var cy=240;
function move() {
if (keyIsDown(38)) cy-=1;
if (keyIsDown(40)) cy+=1;
if (keyIsDown(37)) cx-=1;
if (keyIsDown(39)) cx+=1;
}
function draw() {
fillCircle(cx,cy,6);
}
run(move,draw);
I think since then I changed keyIsDown to keyHeldDown [with keyWentDown] as a compliment.That combined with
https://fingswotidun.com/code/index.php/Keycodes
That gives an etch a sketch program and enough information of how to convert it to WASD which seems to be a universal impulse amongst 9year olds.
Why not using Processing?