Scratch is awesome, and I've worked with many dozens of kids on it.
The huge conundrum has always been where to go "after Scratch". Python isn't it, because you can't easily share graphical games unless the recipient also has pyGame installed. Javascript hasn't been it for a lack of appropriate on-ramp.
But there's now a free online tutorial system aimed at "Scratch kids" who want to take the next step. http://s2js.com/ It tutors them through the bits of Javascript they need to know in order to write graphical games that'll run on their smartdevices. It's tutorial, simple development tool, private image storage, and deployment facility.
It's "Javascript as told to Scratchers".