Kids quads?...

The Suzuki 50s or 80s are pretty bulletproof. Polaris make a few variations as well. 

I suggest 2 wheels though. 

Bad idea. Get a CRF50 or similar.

Broadly, two-wheelers tend to self-govern the speeds they are written. Kids only go as fast as they feel comfortable with.

On four, they can really get moving before they run into a tree. 

There used to be some 50s out there that were legally for 6 and up. The Suzuki LT50 comes to mind and I know Polaris used to make a couple of 50s as well. Pretty sure Kawasaki had a KFX50 for a time during the great Kawazuki phase where they were sharing platforms and just changing colors.

The influx of cheap Chinese knockoffs absolutely killed the small ATV market for legacy manufacturers.

A dealer can only sell one for the age bracket it is labeled in or above, and you even hint that a child younger than what it is labeled for will be on it they are required by law to stop the sale.

The consent decree in Congress (that killed 3 wheelers) required those hang tags and stickers all over ATVs. You cannot mention the age of your children to the dealer or salesman if it's under the sticker or they will stop the sale.

get training wheels on the 2 wheelers if kids are really young starting out. Helps if they have mastered balance and stopping on bicycles too at any age.

2 wheels. teaches them that fallin feels like. sounds backwards but its safer. creates self preservation awareness

All but Honda currently use China engines or whole units for their youth atvs.

Only the TRX90 is built solely by the manufacturer. 

I’d strongly advise against buying kids quads. Seriously. When they roll, they always find a way to roll over the kid. And 4 wheels allows kids to be distracted and get away with it, where as 2 wheels requires a minimum level of skill and focus at all times. 

I bought my kid a power wheels KFX look alike quad, and it was mind blowing how much fun he had on that and where he could actually drive it at 2yrs old that I thought buying a 50cc kawi quad would just be the natural progression for his 3rd birthday. We did have a lot of fun with it, don’t get me wrong, but 12-15mph is a lot different than 4-5. Clipping trees, a couple roll overs, one head on into a tree. I bought a PW soon after. Not saying he didn’t have a million tip overs and crashes on the pw, but they were completely different category of severity. 
Even now as a 10yr old, he hops on the old power wheels and tools around grandpas when we visit. 

I showed my wife this thread, we've talked before about everything thats been mentioned already, but she added another take I hadn't thought of. She didn't get into motorcycles/dirt bikes until she met me. I don't want to drag this out but she said mastering her dirtbike gave her more confidence in other aspects of her life, a feeling of self confidence she didn't have before. On a dirt bike they're using their whole bodies, they're balancing and shifting their weight around, when they tip over they have to use their muscles and pick the bike back up etc, they feel like they've done something that most don't. There's huge difference, on a quad they sit on it and push a button to go. Like filthygrungy said, that's awesome when they're 2 and top speed is 4-5 mph. Not mention how much more room those things take up in the garage, trailer etc.  Age 5 ? 2 wheels. Just another $.02       

I started all my kids on a Yamaha YFZ50. Electric start, throttle limiting screw on the thumb throttle. They were still riding their pedal bikes with training wheels at the time. I was able to make it so slow with the governor screw that I could essentially walk with them. They now race KTM 50’s and 65’s. I feel like I gave them the most gradual intro I could without scaring them away in the beginning stages. 

You are going to get a lot of hate on 4 wheelers here from the dirtbike guys. Never really understood this. I grew up on hand me down 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers, they were all the fun my dad could afford for us. I bought myself my first motocross bike at 19 after moving out. I’m almost 41 now and I love racing motocross. I love riding 4 wheelers and 3 wheelers still as well. I always viewed 4 wheelers as a good way to see if your kids would have any interest riding a motorized toy. It’s a relaxing, no balance needed approach. Govern it down, and put some gear on them and make some good memories together. 

The kawasaki 50 and 90 have the same body size, the only difference is the tires are taller on the 90.  Try to get the 90 and govern it down because the 50s of any brand dont keep the kids happy for long.  Theyre slow for safety purposes.  The manufacturers got sued a lot.  Kid rolls the quad and breaks his arm, the parents freak out and sue, saying they were told quads were safe, which NO ONE says.  Only people who've never really ridden bikes say that.  If the salesman asks you how old your kid is you must say “10” or the 90 is off the table.  Its only enforced at the dealer level.  Its not illegal for the kids to ride them. Just Not “recommended”. In the desert I hear about people bragging how their 8 year old rides a 450 TRX around.  I hear it all the time.  Theyre putting 8-10 year old on LT-Z250’s as their personal quad.  When you suggest a small dirt bike to the them, parents says the kid would “get killed” on a klx110.

My daughter is 5 and she has a oset electric bike.

When it comes to kids play bikes I think electric is the way to go. You can dial the power super easy. I have even let her friends try it if their parents were ok with it.  If they can ride a bicycle they can ride a electric minibike.

Suzuki makes a Z50. I bought one for my son. It has the tether killswitch, throttle limiter. You can set it so the quad maxes out barely above idle, so you can walk right next to them. I keep it at our cabin and he hasn't ridden it yet. It was our neighbors up there and the kids outgrew it and it was like new, so I bought it from them. But I am buying him a Stacyc this year for his bday and probably a pw50 or electric ktm to keep at the house (and take to tracks eventually.) But the Z50 is perfect to play on up in the fields and trails at the cabin. Maybe check those out.

One point to make re:50cc quads and throttle restriction. I had sought out the 2 stroke Kawi (Suzuki) 50, from a power perspective it was great, but limiting the throttle on the 2 stroke was futile for the most part. Like doing a 1/4 throttle dyno pull, the quad would still eventually hit near top speed. A 30lb kid was hardly recognizable as a load on the engine. The 4 stroke 50's may actually stay at a low rpm at least better than a 2t one. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gMUkf7ZzoX4

America is very sue happy, not you guys are more likely to freak out, but purely because even with health insurance often the copays are outrageous or theres some fine print that rules out specific activities, or places or blah blah blah.  

Americans are just normal people.

The American healthcare SYSTEM on the other hand… is fucking outrageous.  

Both my daughters started on quads and progressed easily to a TTR110 and both are know on a KLX140f. 

They hated the 50 with training wheels it was to easy to learn to lean to the wrong side since there was no penalty for leaning to far to the outside of a turn. So they went from 50cc Polaris quads to 90cc quad then motorcycles. 

Excellent decision. If i may add, skip the bolt on training wheels. They are more dangerous than putting a kid on a quad.

While I do agree with the sentiment of putting the kids on two wheels right off the bat, our property is mostly soft sand & even all the dads with a combined 100+ years of riding are known to tuck the front leaving camp.

With that in mind we bought a KAYO 70 (quad) five years ago as a tester to see if the kids were even into it - despite it being an off brand, that thing has thrown a single chain/sprocket in over 200+ hours. Half the price of the Japanese brands and by far the least troublesome motorized purchase of my entire life.

Congrats on getting the kids into the passion!

the 4 stroke engine also has engine braking effect which would be beneficial to a beginner.

We did the Stacyc 12 to TTR50E, back to Stacyc 16, to PW50, to CRF50, to PW80. He had a crash on the PW80 and got scared of dirt bikes. I found a steal of a deal on a CamAm DS90 2 stroke and he freaking loves it. It sucks riding a dirt bike with a quad though, so we bought a "mom quad" (TRX200SX) I can putt around with him on. As much as I don't like quads, if that's what gets him on the trail, then that's what we're doing that weekend. Hopefully he gets over it and we move back to bikes only one day. 

So I know quad riders sit to pee… but (I think) she already does that. What happens when a female rides a quad.? 

I'm starting to understand why you got punched in the face. Probably wasn't the first or last time.

I hope not. I don’t mind it when it’s 1v1. Want to be next? 

Must be stuck at a no kings protest.