Temperament points yes, handling points to rules
The Abyssinian character suits children in several specific ways: she is confident rather than timid, so normal household noise and visiting friends rarely rattle her; she is playful for years, so games do not bore her after kittenhood; and she is social, choosing company over solitude. A child with a wand toy, a ball to roll for fetch, or treats for a taught trick will find a willing, funny partner in this breed.
The qualification is handling. Abyssinians are busy, athletic cats who like affection on their own schedule — alongside you, on a lap they chose — and most dislike being scooped up, held tight or carried about. A swat from an Aby is almost always the end of a chain: she signalled, tried to leave, was followed or held, and used the last tool left. Children old enough to understand that chain can be taught to break it at the first link.
Ages: where the match is easy and where it needs work
With school-age children, usually six and up, this is often an excellent match, because they can throw, trail, teach and — crucially — stop. They can learn that a cat who walks away has ended the game, that ears back and a flicking tail mean hands off, and that her high perch and retreat room are out of bounds for following.
With toddlers and pre-schoolers, plan on management rather than natural harmony: constant supervision when they are together, baby gates or closed doors giving the cat child-free zones, and adults doing all lifting and close handling. That is not a failure of cat or child — it is the honest maths of a breed who will not submit to being manhandled meeting an age group who cannot yet help it. Families who want a cat a toddler can cuddle should look at calmer, more tolerant breeds for this stage.
Teach the signals before you teach the games
Children learn cats fastest when the rules are concrete. Show them the friendly picture — tail up, slow approach, rubbing against legs, choosing to sit near — and the stop picture: turning away, moving off, skin twitching under stroking, ears flattening, tail thumping. Stroke the cheeks and chin, skip the belly even if it is shown, and let the cat start and finish every cuddle. A child who becomes the source of games and meals, and never of being grabbed, becomes a favourite person remarkably quickly with this breed.
Give the cat architecture that makes good behaviour easy: a tall tree children cannot climb after her, shelves in family rooms, and a litter and feeding area children do not crowd. An Aby who can watch the fun from above joins it far more than one who must flee the room to get peace.
Arriving with known boundaries helps everyone
If you are adopting an Abyssinian — kitten from a breeder or adult from a rescue — ask specifically about her history with children: what ages she has lived with, whether she seeks them out or avoids them, and what handling she accepts happily. That detail predicts your first month better than any breed generalisation, including this one.
Bringing that history home in writing is where KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles helps a family most, transferring her profile to you with her records, routines and known boundaries intact, so every adult and older child in the house can read what she likes and what she does not before the first game begins.