We're actually working on this, first with a rewrite of our item/block behavior system to be modular and moddable using lamdbas.
Then we will be adding a way for plugins to provide new textures in resource packs.
Once that's all done, we will create a client Forge mod to allow for plugins to add new blocks rather than reuse existing ones.
We also have a pretty nice modular system for AI tasks, but it needs more stress testing with a pathfinding implementation before we start finalizing the API for it.
A lot of people are recommending Scratch, but I am going to recommend Construct 2. It is an awesome engine for making HTML5 games. It is visual coding so your nephew will have no problem with it. https://www.scirra.com/
Of course, listen to what pvaldes said also. Designing a game first will be better.
Also, I would recommend Teamviewer for you guys to use so he can share his screen and you can interact with it.