When I was 7 or 8 I used to enjoy typing BASIC programs into the TI-994A my parents had bought. One day I accidentally wrote a simple program that did what I expected, and I was thrilled.
My only regret is that I never had proper books for the version of basic I was using (TI, Apple, etc.). This was b/c it was never an intention of my parents that I learn to program. I just found it more fun than video games, even though I could find no explanation anywhere for what some of the keywords did :)
I did the same with our C64 around the same age. I never call that "beginning programming", though, because it took very little problem solving on my part, and doesn't come close to what it takes to make something usable nowadays.
My only regret is that I never had proper books for the version of basic I was using (TI, Apple, etc.). This was b/c it was never an intention of my parents that I learn to program. I just found it more fun than video games, even though I could find no explanation anywhere for what some of the keywords did :)