I assembled and finished a .22 single shot from a kit for my Daughter when she was around 10. It was actually a pretty cheaply made gun but she liked it.
For some reason it liked .22 shorts and was accurate with them. Not so with the long rifle. In my experience, most rifles are just the opposite.
Probably had to do with the rifling.
Too many twists for the higher powder load.
Got my son a scoped 10-22 for Christmas one year.
He never shoots it - prefers the Mosin-Nagant and M1.