[Groxx]

Get them to make something on http://neocities.org because it's not hard, it has visual results they can show to anyone, and once they're comfortable with the basics of the site have them read a javascript book.

Moving quickly and freely (in any direction) at the beginning helps keep interest levels up, where an 800 page book on Java might squash their energy. Plus, if you only have the basic-basics of web stuff you start to chafe pretty quickly, and that's great motivation.