A hamster is as good a pet for a child of any age as a dog is. A dog may be bigger but the treatment a dog and a hamster require is much the same.

Dogs need to be loved, cared for, fed and cleaned. They also require human contact on a daily basis. Okay, you don't need to take your hamster for a walk to the park and play fetch with it but you do need to train it enough to let it be able to run around in the yard a bit (supervised of course). Obviously, hamster need to be loved, cared for, fed and cleaned just like dogs do. Only difference is, a hamster is small and so is it's habitat. I guess that is a pro.

A con would have to be the actually cleaning. Although the enclosure in which it is kept may be small, you will need to give things like walls a good clean as well as changing its bedding etc. You must check its water and food bowls regularly because the last thing you want is for your child to check on the hamster a few days later and find it flat on its back, legs in the air. Hygiene is important (not just for the hamster's sake, but for the owner/s too).

As long as you are willing to put in the type of effort that you would with any other pet, a hamster is just as ideal as a pet for a child as any other. The best thing about them is that they are little, not all too intimidating for a child and, well, they're cute!

One last tip I have for you is, as far as I know, female rodents are supposably more cleaner than the males (no offence guys). So, it's probably best that you invest in a female hamster rather than a male. You don't want the smell of male B.O radiating from the hamster enclosure, now do you?

Good Luck!