MoJo wrote:For children that young I would go with a regular Daisy BB gun. The noise and ammo expense is less and you can set up a safe shooting place in your garage. The Cub Scouts have a BB gun program and when they move up to Boy Scouts they get to use .22s. I would also suggest taking an NRA basic rifle course yourself if for no other reason to refresh your basic rifle safety and marksmanship skills.
There is little else more rewarding than passing on sporting skills to young people. I have taught all four of my now grown children to shoot and fish and I'm working on the grandchildren as I can.
This is pretty much the way I was taught as well as my four brothers and two sisters. It worked for us. I would get a pellet gun, rather than BB. There are some very accurate rifles available.
We were lucky and had an indoor range where my dad worked and went through the NRA rifle marksmanship program. Later on I took the pistol courses. I still have some of my medals.
For my kids, I have used Marlin 15Y, Crickett, and a Daisy .22. They were all single shot bolt action .22LR rifles with open sights. The Crickett is the smallest and lightest, which made it best for the smallest kid. The Marlin was the heaviest.
But I gave each kid their own rifle on their tenth birthday. I intended for them to keep it and pass them down later. The oldest (now 34) still has the Daisy. I think it may become a collector's item one of these days since it was only made for about 4 or 5 years. All of the rest except the one with a child still have theirs. He is the only person who ever got me to pay for the same rifle twice. His wife told him he could not buy a new rifle unless he got rid of one. I bought the .22 back from him and told him I was giving it to his daughter when she turned 10. It will still get passed down as I planned.
I did pick up a Ruger 10-22 with the collapsible stock for a second rifle for them to use. The stock made it work perfectly to fit them and extended so i could use it. But the semi-capability does make it easier for them to spray ammo instead of concentrating on learning to shoot properly at first.
And given the ages, I would not argue too much with a BB gun to start with, but the Crickettwould also be a good choice with careful supervision.
I am going to go a different direction on this: Safe Gun Handling.
For a first time rifle, I'd suggest a single shot break action .22 rifle from H&R, NEF, Rossi, etc.
When my kids were first starting I liked being able to see at a glance from whatever distance that the action was open and muzzle pointed downrange. Really focusing them on the safety rules was a critical part of teaching them to shoot.
From there, I moved them onto a Ruger 10/22 after they were a little older and more experienced in firearms handling.
I was able to pick up a break action single shot for under $100 from a gunshow, and then sell it for the same price a couple years later when the kids had outgrown it.
I got my daughter a Crickett for her 10th birthday. It comes in pink, which was a big plus for her. She had a great time helping me to pick it out at the store. I told her I would take her to the range the next day, but only if she read the entire manual first. She stayed up that night reading it, and I quizzed her the next day. We then cleaned it, and went to the range. She had a blast.
She has since moved to handguns. She likes my Glock 19 the best, and is a pretty good shot. Not bad for a 12 year old.
My 7 and 5 yr old sons have rossi tuffy rifles that do .22lr and .410. The 410 is a beast to shoot but the 22 is nice. Only problem Ive had is with one had to be sent back because of accuracy issues, it was shooting 6 inches off at center and I had to move the rear sight all the way just to get it on paper at 25 yds. The other one is dead on. Still waiting on an update from taurus/rossi on the other one. Other than that my son's can shoot it just fine and get his cheek right on it since the tuffy has a shorter stock. We are doing open sites for now but once they get a little older I plan on mounting a scope for them.
Of those you listed in the OP, My kids have a Crickett and a Savage Cub. The Savage is a much better made rifle IMO, and has that sweet, sweet Accu-Trigger that will spoil your kids for stock triggers the rest of their lives.
The downside is that the Savage is bigger and heavier than the Crickett, but it isn't an issue for my 9 & 11 year olds now - they've been shooting for about 3 years.
"I don't know how that would ever be useful, but I want two!"
Springs are cheap - your gun and your life aren't.
I'm going to be a contrarian and vote for the Henry lever rifle.
My first rifle was an Ithaca single-shot lever gun. I have to admit it wasn't long before I envied my classmates with their repeaters.
They don't make such a thing anymore, but the Henry is the logical successor.
They are simple, the design is timeless, and you can tell at a glance whether the action is open.
It's also less likely to raise the hackles of any anti-gun people that enter the picture, if you care.
The lever-action rifle is a unique piece of Americana, and still works well.
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“Sometimes there is no alternative to uncertainty except to await the arrival of more and better data.” C. Wunsch
I started my daughter at 5 from the bench with my 10/22 (she's 8 now). The main issue I ran into was the rifle was too big for her and the scope I had on it made it weigh a ton. I went out and replaced the stock with the one in the picture below and threw a cheap red dot on it along with the bi-pod. Since the stock is adjustable, it works for her, her younger brother and her two cousins (all around the same age). I think I paid $250 for the 10/22 and another 99 for the pink adjustable stock. It has a Butler Creek magazine in it in the picture. However, we just use the normal 10 rounders when we are at the range. We also have an air-soft pistol we use in the garage to shoot cans and milk jugs. The air-soft is nice because even when it ricochets back at them, it doesn't hurt.
CZ makes a very nice youth size bolt action 22. I bought one when my daughters were younger and they enjoyed shooting it. It comes with both a 5 shot magazine and a single shot loading block. The bolt can be a little difficult to operate for a small child until the rifle is broken in. I would help with that as I did not want to turn them loose with the rifle anyway. I bought a parts kit to improve the trigger and it is now a very crisp, clean 2 pounds. The rifle is very high quality for the cost and I enjoy shooting it as well (very handy when you want something small to carry with you). Not the cheapest thing going but it is a very good value and worth the money. Plan to keep it around for the day when there are grand kids that need to be introduced to the shooting sports.
A Marlin Glenfield Model 60 .22 LR is a darn nice firearm. My dad gave me mine in 1976 on my 13th Birthday. My son is about to get it. Now that he's in Boy Scouts, he'll be using it to qualify for his shooting merit badge. Finding an older one is well worth it. There are tons of them out there. And not too expensive.
I'll throw another one in: Remington 514 single shot bolt action, $129 at Academy. My 10 yr old son just bought one this past weekend with his birthday/lawnmowing money. He has had a BB gun for a couple years, and we are actively involved in Cub/Boy Scouts. I have worked with scouts on shooting skills, so my son is well versed in firearm safety. Took it to the range Saturday and he put 100 rounds through it without a problem. My 6 year old shot it several times and had no problem working it. Of course, his 7th birthday is coming up and guess what he now wants.....
This is pretty much the way I was taught as well as my four brothers and two sisters. It worked for us. I would get a pellet gun, rather than BB. There are some very accurate rifles available. 
