Scratch is starting to take off. It is a pretty powerful paradigm not just because of its visual nature, but also because of the ease with witch you can "play" with your code, and see, in real time, the results. Here is an example used for design: http://designblocks.net/ .

Taking the fear out of programming, making it tinkerable, is hugely valuable. Not to mention the emphasis on creation and story telling that it is designed for. Breaking it out into the real world is a wonderful way to make the computer more than just software.