One of the reasons I recommend Zed Shaw's "Learn Python The Hard Way" to people that want to learn is that it tells you to type out the code in the exercises. It's not quite the same as stumbling into it with the lure of having a game to play, but I think it probably has some of the same intoxicating power.
To me the weird part is that nobody gets their start sitting at a computer with somebody else. Or at least, if you do get a group of kids around a single computer, they're sooner going to watch YouTube (or play Minecraft) than learn to program.
nobody gets their start sitting at a computer with somebody else
My experience tells me that when you are just a bit beyond hello-world, it's way better to sit alone and maybe even disconnect from the Internet. I was starting with nothing more than a book on Delphi and the help system of Delphi, which included Win2k SDK, and feel that only by this way you could develop good debugging skills. I know some people who are learning software development, and the single skill they need badly is troubleshooting complex problems on their own and not relying on colleagues.
edit: now I see that my point is about sitting together with someone more skilled, but you're talking about kids leaning together, which is totally different.
I think one of the most underrated way to learn how to code is YouTube videos -- you hear a lot about books or interactive websites, both of which are great -- but I love following along with random heroes who document the start-to-finish process through video. Cherno's Java game lessons have been amazing thus far -- http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD1A2E956F00ECC48
To me the weird part is that nobody gets their start sitting at a computer with somebody else. Or at least, if you do get a group of kids around a single computer, they're sooner going to watch YouTube (or play Minecraft) than learn to program.