Reddit reviews Phantom YoYo Compatible/Replacement for Dupont Cable 200mm Male to Female 40p/Set

Yes they connect to the GPIO. I would use some pushbuttons like this then get some of these dupont cables to connect them to the GPIO on your Pi. Just snip and strip the male end of the cable and solder it to the leads on the button. You'll want to daisy chain one lead from all of the buttons and plug that into a ground pin on the Pi then connect the other lead from the button to an availible GPIO pin shown on this page in the "connecting to the Raspberry Pi" section.

After you have your buttons all connected, you'll need to install Retrogame. It's very simple but Adafruit's guide is pretty bad, if you ask me. I had a hell of a time figuring it out the first time so I'll just explain it to you here to save you time.

Use Putty on your PC to SSH into the Pi (you can find your Pi's IP address in the Retropie menu in Emulationstation, the port is 22, and use the SSH connection type, then the username is Pi, password is raspberry - when you type the password into the terminal nothing will show up, just hit enter when you're done and you'll have direct control over the terminal on your Pi). Now copy this code and right click in the terminal window to paste and hit enter

git clone git://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Retrogame
When that's done enter this

sudo nano /etc/rc.local
Enter the following right before where it says "exit 0"

/home/pi/Adafruit-Retrogame/retrogame &
Hit ctrl+x and save the file. Now enter

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/10-retrogame.rules
And enter this in the new document

SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{name}=="retrogame", ENV{ID_INPUT_KEYBOARD}="1"
Now save the file just as with the previous one.
Now download the retrogame.cfg from the retrogame github and open it with a text editor on your computer (if you don't already have it now would be a good time to get Notepad++) and change the keybinding you want to use for the corresponding pin. Save the file and copy it in the boot directory of your Pi by putting the SD card in your computer.

That should do it.

If you need any help or more information just ask. I know how irritating this stuff can be. I've been wrestling with getting my setup working perfectly for a while and have just recently figured it all out. It's great once it works!

Edit: formatting fixed.

I didn't say there were any, I said "What about a board?".

The unavailability of DIP packaging should not be an impediment for one to learn to program any platform. Also most (if not all) boards have headers so you could use something like this http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-YoYo-dupont-cable-female/dp/B00A6SOGC4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415057821&sr=8-1&keywords=female+to+male+jumper+cable for breadboarding.

You just need to figure out which pins are for power and connect them with two jump wires like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Phantom-YoYo-dupont-cable-female/dp/B00A6SOGC4/

Well, breadboards run pretty cheap... And size matters here. Sometimes a smaller board is better, but a large board gives you more room to work with. So I'd recommend getting both! A small board will be nice for smaller projects, but larger boards will be nice for more in-depth prototyping that require more room to work with. And he can always use a small area of a large board when he doesn't need it all... but a large board won't fit into a small boat or airplane if that's what he is doing... So, at a good price, both can be beneficial.

Other than that, he'll need jumpers (male/female), and maybe a ribbon cable. Ribbon cables need a T-board (or equivalent) to connect to the breadboard with, but jumpers just plug into the GPIO pins. With a small breadboard, jumpers are favorable, as they only take up as much space as one pinhole, and they come in many different colors and lengths. A larger board can accommodate a ribbon cable and T-board more readily... a T-board can take up a LOT of space on a small breadboard REALLY quickly.

Word to the wise: if you buy a ribbon cable and T-board, you are going to want to know what type of Pi he has. The original versions had fewer GPIO pins than the B+ and the A+ versions. This means that a larger ribbon cable wouldn't work with the original Pi's. If he has an A or B, a 40 pin cable/T-board wouldn't work as they're designed for the newer B+ and A+. If you need help identifying which board he has, we can help you with a photo or a description of the board...

Also, a resistor kit and a capacitor kit would be good to have, if he doesn't already have them. Most projects require that you use resistors/capacitors somewhere, and the kits usually come with several of the most used resistors/capacitors, which should tie him over for some time.

Then you should get him an LED set. LEDs are nice because they can be used as a "proof of concept" tool. Since everything into and out of the Pi is digital, all you are doing is giving an item voltage. So it doesn't matter if you're using a buzzer, motor, servo, or LED... they will all work interchangeably. He can use an LED to prove that his code and wiring works when the light comes on... then, when it all works, he can swap the LED for a buzzer or something, and everything should still work, just with sound instead of light.

You could also buy him some sort of case, but these aren't always necessary. I don't use on on my Pi, and it works just fine... I just have to make sure I'm not shorting it on anything, or breaking it in some stupid way. These vary so much in design and price, I'll let you search for them instead of providing a link... just remember, like the ribbon cable, cases will obviously depend on the model he has.

Personally, I would stay away from potentiometers and photoresistors since the Pi only has digital inputs. Both of these items would need to be attached as analog items to work properly, and that means buying extra boards for correct functionality. The Raspberry Pi can not natively read analog inputs, so these items would only be frustrating to him since he can't use them without extra parts.

This should get him started in coding and prototyping. If he's looking for motors, servos, or speakers, you can get him those too, but they're not necessary to tinker with a Pi.

There are also kits that offer these items, but they're usually more expensive than they have to be, and they may or may not have everything you're looking for. Also, there are other places to shop for these types of things, but I use Amazon because it was the quickest and easiest place to search for examples of all of these things for this post. If you're smart with your shopping, you can get all of these items for ~$100, and might be able to have them shipped before Christmas... but you're going to have to hurry.

EDIT: Added links since you said you knew "nothing" about these items. This should make searching easier since you can actually see what I'm talking about...

They have these on amazon prime. I use dupont cables (that's what they're called on amazon) - i have male/male for arduino to breadboard, and male/female for rpi to breadboard. Female/female will also work if you use the headers you linked on the arduino and the breadboard (or arduino to rpi/motor controller/whatever)

http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-YoYo-dupont-cable-female/dp/B00A6SOGC4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398200406&sr=8-1&keywords=dupont+male+female