i learned in granma's lap when i was three. she treadled while i sewed. kinda bumpy, but it seems to have worked.

you are never to young to quilt.

i don't know how old i was when my mom started teaching me. i know i was so young that i now can't remember. i had my own very real sewing machine by the time i was in kindergarten.

every stitch i sew to this day reconnects me to mom. sometimes i'm not even here. i'm waaaaaaaaaay back then in our sewing room.

short answer - if they ask to be taught they are old enough to learn. ;-)

My son was 3 when he sewed his first blanket. I did have to help but he did most of the work down to the cutting and pinning.

My DGD is now 10 y.o. When she was 9, she made a wall hanging for the dining room in her house. Her mom is soooo proud of it! Her mom (my DD) does not have time to sew although she knows how. She is a physical therapist and works hard in addition to my DGD and her twin brother being in all kinds of activities, and her husband too.
Now my DGE is working on a pinwheel quilt. I showed her how to cut the pieces and match points etc etc. She is doing the whole thing herself in lightweight flannel - a Christmas pattern to the materials. She has definite ideas on the arrangement of the colors etc. I AM SO PROUD!
As someone else noted, this is a wonderful bonding tool. We were close before but are even closer now.
She sews on my featherweight and does a wonderful job of keeping straight and the 1/4 inch seam.
KEEP THEM SEWING! no matter what the age. It can be supervised and arranged to fit the time frame in their little lives.

When my oldest GD turned 5 I bought her a SEW MINI machine. Maya, has been quilting since she was 5. She's made at least 13 quilts and she's only 9 years old. Most of those have gone to charity and she's made some for her teachers. I believe she's even sold one or two. She's to the point where she uses the rotary cutter by herself. She's also graduated to a bigger machine. Only 9 and already has 3 machines. So, it's never too early to teach the little ones to sew, especially if they are eager to learn. Have fun with her you'll be making so many wonderful memories. Happy quilting!
She has some quilts posted on this site. Do a search; Maya's Flannel Quilt & Great Job, Maya

My daughter started when she was three. She even had her own stash. She loved going to quilt shops with me and knew that she would get to pick a couple of fat quarters out if she was good. There is a quilt shop about an hour away that sells fat quarters "by the boat load" meaning that they have a row boat in the store that is filled with all kinds of fat quarters. She is 18 now and still loves to go through the selection to see if there is any fabric that must go home with us :)

My granddaughter began at 5 by making a tiny quilt for the classroom teddy bear. To encourage reading, Teddy, his quilt, and books went home in a tote bag with the student of the week.

I have a friend who's granddaughters all started as toddlers on 'Grammie's' knee. She has a needleguard for each of her machines, so no worries.

Where do you get needleguards?