SparkFun Inventor's Kit Experiment Guide - v4.1
Joel_E_B, 
bboyho 
Connect the Microcontroller to Your Computer
Use the USB cable provided in the SIK kit to connect the included microcontroller (RedBoard or Arduino Uno) to one of your computer’s USB inputs.
Select Your Board: Arduino/Genuino Uno
Before we can start jumping into the experiments, there are a couple adjustments we need to make. This step is required to tell the Arduino IDE which of the many Arduino boards we have. Go up to the Tools menu. Then hover over Board and make sure Arduino/Genuino Uno is selected.
Select a Serial Port
Next up we need to tell the Arduino IDE which of our computer's serial ports the microcontroller is connected to. For this, again go up to Tools, then hover over Port (Serial Port in older Arduino versions) and select your RedBoard or Arduino's serial port. This will be the same serial port seen when installing CH340 drivers.
With that, you're now ready to begin building your first circuit!