Hi Eddie,
+1 to what Tim & Brian said about a tabletop scope.
I'm about to get one myself as a quick grab'n'go. The nice man at Bintel said the Orion SkyScanner 100mm was of very good quality as it has parabolic mirrors and made of glass and not plastic (as many of the tabletop ones are apparently). It even has a red dot finder! Bintel sells them for $200.
-Easy enough for a 6 year old to handle.
-Minimal set up.
-Takes up little room to store.
-Nicely priced.
-Nice 4" worth of aperture.
-You can also mount it on a simple camera tripod apparently, if you want more height or convenience than using a table.
Can I sell ice-cream to eskimos or what?!
This is the scope that I plan on letting children run free with when I take it out with me.
http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=15218&tb=2&kw=orio n skyscanner&st=2