The BigTrak was my first exposure to programming, as well. I was so distressed when my family moved and it was lost/discarded. I used to work out path programs for it to drive from my bedroom, down the hall to my brother's room, and back, ferrying baseball cards or comic books or such.

For those who aren't aware, BigTrak was an electronic toy from the late 1970s, a treaded tank-like toy car with a membrane keyboard on top. The user could program in a path as a series of steps (forward, forward, right turn, forward, make sound, stop.) and I think it had a gripper claw on the front. (memory is a fleeting thing).

A google search shows I was close to accurate (no claw, though): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Trak