The SparkFun Inventor's Kit (SIK) is a great way to get started with programming and hardware interaction with the Arduino programming language. The SIK includes everything you need to learn about building circuits and writing code. You'll work your way through the guide and ultimately design your own autonomous robot!
Before you begin working with the SIK, you may want to learn a little bit about the Arduino hardware that you'll be using. This link will give you a good overview of what Arduino is all about. As you make your way through the SIK guide, you'll be shown how how to build and program a variety of circuits, along with a real-world connection! It's important that you are very careful when building the circuits. If you have a wire or pin placed in the wrong spot, your project probably won't work as planned! Each circuit builds upon the previous one, so make sure to keep everything together unless the directions tell you otherwise!