I took my oldest grandchild (7 years old) to the range for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was a good start. I brought along a Cricket .22LR for him to shoot. I also brought the gun I intend to give him when he is old enough and responsible enough, a Marlin 39 Mountie with a peep sight. The Mountie is a little bit big for him to hold up steady enough to shoot, but I figured it would give him a goal. I also brought along the BB gun (a Red Ryder lever-action) we had been shooting in the basement of my home for the last year, just for demonstration purposes.
We went over safety and gun handling, particularly sight picture. Then I showed him that a .22 was NOT a toy. I put a cheap can of pop on a post about 7 yards out and had him shoot it with his BB gun. It punctured the near side of the can near the center and it slowly drained out the hole. Then I put another can on the post and loaded the Cricket with a hyper-velocity, hollow-point and exploded it. The remains of the can were flat and the top was blown clean off. We were both hit with droplets from the pop. He was impressed.
I put up a target and he missed it with the Cricket. And he kept missing. Nothing I did or said could get him to hit the target. I put the BB gun back in his hand and he hit the target close enough to center, several times. Back to the Cricket on a sandbag rest and back to missing. In desperation I decided to have him try the Mountie. Since he could not hold it up, it was put on the sandbag. First shot dead center. The remaining 9 shots in the center or just below, well within the 9-ring. He did that a few more times, with the same accuracy, and then he finished off (by exploding them) the remaining cans of pop. That was his favorite target.
The Cricket shot well for me. The only reason that I can figure out for him missing with it was that the stock of the gun is pink. My grandson did not think much of pink on a gun. I bought it that color because it was $40 cheaper than the ones with the black stock (I think the guy I bought it from could not move it).
Since then, the weather had turned cold, but I intend to take him back (along with his cousin) next spring. His cousin (a girl) likes pink, so I doubt that she will have a problem with the Cricket. Just in case, I will be bringing along the gun I bought for her, a Browning .22LR lever gun. You never know how a kid will take to a gun.