[gghh]

Back in 1991, when I was 7, the Logo programming language did great for me. You have to write instructions for a pointer to move on the screen and draw things ("go ahead 20 steps; turn right; go ahead 10 steps...). We had a Logo class twice a week and we all kids couldn't wait for it to come. I bet some flavour of Logo is still around, and "turtle graphics" (the general concept of procedural drawing for kids) is a great way to introduce programming. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_%28programming_language%2... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_graphics

Scratch from MIT is another canonical suggestion when it comes to this matter.

Some teachers are using Minecraft to let kids build imaginary things; I guess the underlying principle is "let kids plan ahead", which is the core ability for algorithmic thinking, thus computer programming (as in this board game http://www.robotturtles.com/ , ispired by Logo; it's for pre-school tho)

I'd also check out "CS unplugged" http://csunplugged.org/ , a collection of open-air activities you can make that sneakily teach algorithms.

[brc]

My kids started with 'beebots' in their first year. This is simple logic - go forward 1 space, left 1 space, etc.

My oldest child is still in primary and they have a lego robotics club- they build simple robots and do simple programming. He does well at maths and is a lego wiz so has been allowed to join the club 3 years early.

I've been thinking about where to start and they love minecraft, so it makes sense to start there I think. I'll check out some of your other links as well.

[pbhjpbhj]

There are minecraft mods where you programme bots to do tasks for you - I like the sound of it but haven't tried it with my kids yet; it was on HN a week or two ago.

Few links:

http://www.computercraft.info/download/

http://scriptcraftjs.org/

http://www.learntomod.com/ (paid)

[Symbiote]

I was 7 in 1993, and did some Logo programming. It was the final puzzle in the educational adventure/puzzle game "Crystal Rain Forest"[1] for the Acorn Archimedes.

The puzzles started out with very simple programming (so simple it doesn't look like programming). Just setting a single variable, or two. It progresses to programming a one-dimentional robot (forward/backwards), then finally using Logo with loops.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Rainforest

[elros]

I was 10 in 2001 and also did lots of Logo programming. Same thing with institutionalized classes twice a week.

It wasn't what got me into computers, but definitely what got me into coding. I'm thankful every day.