I would go for a Corn or a King. They can both be a little nippy and nervous as babies, but quickly lose those tendencies with regular handling. Our Mexican Black King was a little terror when we got her. The pet store employee wouldn't even reach in to get her because she was so aggresive. When we brought her home, she would rattle her tail and strike at the glass if you even walked by her cage. We made it a point to handle her twice a week (not counting feeding day) for at least 5, usually 10 minutes. Within a month she was tame. She is now a little sweetheart.

Milks are beautiful, but in my limited experience take much longer to calm down, and you never see them. They are always buried in the substrate or in their hides, whereas Corns and Kings tend to be more inqusitive, active snakes that I can actually enjoy watching in their cages.

As stated in the post above, Ball Pythons have a little bit more demanding husbandry. They can also stress out easily from too much handling, which can lead to feeding and general health issues. I imagine the children would get more enjoyment from a more interactive-friendly snake.
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Diego

Diego & Tiffany's Zoo:
SNAKES
3.4 Corn Snakes (Different morphs)
1.0.0 Boa Constrictor
0.1.0 Dumeril's Boa
1.1.0 Rosy Boas (Mexican & Mid Baja)
1.1.0 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1.0 Indonesian Dwarf Pacific Boa
0.1.0 Tangerine Honduran Milksnake
1.0.0 Honduran Milksnake
0.1.0 Pueblan Milksnake
1.2.0 Ball Pythons
1.0.0 Woma Python
1.1.0 Cape York Spotted Pythons
1.1.0 Macklot's Pythons
0.0.1 Ribbon Snake
1.0.0 Western Hognose
1.0.0 Albino San Diego Gopher Snake
0.0.1 Sonoran Gopher Snake
0.1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.1.0 Gray Banded Kingsnakes (River Road)
0.1.0 Desert Kingsnake
0.1.1 California Kingsnakes
1.0.0 Yellowtail Cribo
0.1.0 Blacktail Cribo

LIZARDS
1.0.0 Frilled Dragon
3.1.0 Bearded Dragons (2 Normal, 1 RedXGold, 1 Citrus)
0.1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
0.1.0 Merauke Blue Tongue Skink
2.3.0 Leopard Geckos
1.1.0 Yellow Niger Uromastyx
1.1.0 Green Anoles
FROGS
2.2.0 Southern Bell Frogs
1.0.1 Green Tree Frogs
0.0.2 Striped Walking Frogs
1.1.1 White's Tree Frogs

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• Help on choosing a snake for... - Circe, Sun Aug 6 22:44:28 2006
• RE: Help on choosing a snake for... - althea, Sun Aug 6 23:21:00 2006
• RE: Help on choosing a snake for... - bpkid, Mon Aug 7 00:29:57 2006
• RE: Help on choosing a snake for... - viborero, Mon Aug 7 00:35:40 2006
• RE: Help on choosing a snake for... - twh, Mon Aug 7 10:20:31 2006