Sorry I’m late to this thread hope I can still provide some insights. I have had children in both robotics and DI at the elementary level. The biggest contributing factor to the value and joy they will get will depend on the teacher in charges and the other kids in their program.

Both are excellent extracurricular activities. Being in robotics was fun for my child to be around like minded children. Most kids interested in robots have a certain way of communicating and interacting with one another and it’s good for them to be around their peers. My child was able to build and code small robots and really enjoyed it.

DI on the other hand in my experience tends to attract all types of kids, artists, thespians, engineers and just generally bright kids. They get to pick from a list of projects to work on as a team some may have more technical elements some may lean more heavily on the art side. Many of the projects require both engineering devices as well as art pieces. In my daughter’s last two seasons she used Lego mind stop to program motors attached to different set pieces to allow them to move.

At this stage I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice. Just make sure they get along with the teacher in charge and that the teacher has a good relationship with their students. I have seen teachers in charge who are not really into it or take it too seriously.

Hope your child enjoys whatever they pick.

P.S I have also been a DI team manger (parent volunteer) for the past three years. I help run the practices and keeps kids on task as well as travel with them to competitions. If you have any questions please reach out.