re: Teaching child guitar?

Most children that age do not possess the physical strength, the discipline to learn and/or the responsibility of caring for a nice instrument. Your child has other activities that further muddle the scenario. Taking up guitar at this age will be very difficult and may actually be counterproductive as far as building a lifetime skillset and passion for music.

I'm not only a guitar tech but also a former guitar teacher who had many students of all ages. And I'm a father of six very musically inclined children. I watched my young students and my young kids struggle physically and mentally until they either quit out of frustration; or until they got bigger and stronger physically and mentally and were truly capable of taking on the task. All that said, I advise you wait until the child is a teen.

If you feel you must proceed immediately, the best guitars I've found for small hands and bodies are the Baby Taylor series. Unlike the mini electrics, the BTs actually hold tune and sound great. Be ready to pay a competent tech to lower the action a little for a 10-year old's hands. Mini electrics are toys and even me the pro tech hasn't figured out how to make them work properly with standard strings and standard tunings. Budget $399 street for a BT plus another hundred for a guy like me to do his set-up magic.