Is it safe for children to handle meteorites?
Yes. Ordinary meteorites are not toxic or noticeably radioactive, so children can handle them safely with adult supervision, washing hands afterwards and never tasting, cutting, heating or applying chemicals to them.
Holding a meteorite is one of the best ways to bring space science to life, and for children it is safe. Meteorites are mostly made of the same kinds of minerals and metals found in Earth rocks: iron, nickel, olivine, pyroxene and feldspar. They are not poisonous to touch, they carry no germs from space, and their natural radioactivity is very low, no higher than that of many ordinary rocks.
A few sensible rules keep things safe and protect the specimen too. An adult should supervise, especially with small fragments, which are a choking hazard for young children and easy to lose. Hands should be clean and dry before handling, because sweat and skin oils can encourage rust on iron meteorites, and washed afterwards, as with any rock or old object. Heavy iron meteorites can hurt toes if dropped, so handle them over a table, ideally on a soft cloth.
There are also things children should never do. No tasting or licking, even though some old guides suggest licking rocks to see their colours. No cutting, grinding or hammering, which can produce sharp edges and fine dust that should not be breathed in. No heating and no acids or other chemicals. These tests belong in properly equipped laboratories with trained adults, and they can also ruin a scientifically valuable sample.
Many museums and science centres have meteorites that visitors are encouraged to touch, often a large iron that has been polished smooth by countless hands. If your child has a meteorite of their own, a small labelled box with a note of its name and where it fell makes a wonderful start to a collection, and teaches the habit of recording information that scientists value.