I think that to make a kid interested in programming, instant visual feedback is important. That is, writing (simple) games is about the best start.
For little kids, MIT Scratch should be good.
Python + pygame, or Scheme/Racket with its simple game-development features, or even Javascript + any 2D or 3D visualization library should hook an older kid. All of these have simple and compact syntax (JS is worse in this regard, of course).
For little kids, MIT Scratch should be good.
Python + pygame, or Scheme/Racket with its simple game-development features, or even Javascript + any 2D or 3D visualization library should hook an older kid. All of these have simple and compact syntax (JS is worse in this regard, of course).