I bought these for my 5 and 8 year olds. They are just like adult fivefingers and the girls love them. The only problem is getting them on. It's tough for the 5 year old to line the toes up and get them in the right slot. Once she does she is off and running. We've only had them a few days, so maybe she will get better at it.

I am an adult with a TINY foot. I usually wear a 32 or 33 in children's shoes. I was thrilled that these came in kids. I had heard so many good things about them. I ran in them the first day I got them and the guy at REI had told me that the first time you run in them you will only be able to do about 1/3 of what you typically run. He was correct. I typically run 3 mi a day and I made it through one mile before i realized I was using muscles I had never used before. These shoes force you to build strength in your feet and ankles, but don't try to go all out long distance running right at first until you build up those muscles. Overall, I am extremely happy with them and bought a second pair.

We got these shoes for my 5 year old daughter who was born loving anything that glitters, wearing skirts, and high heels. I wasn't sure that she would like them but we wanted them for somewhat of an "intervention" reason. She has a terrible habit of picking her toenails and she has destroyed them. I needed to cover up her toes, but socks/shoes are too easy to slip off to start picking her nails. I wanted something that wasn't easy to take off and would still be healthy for her feet to be in all day.
The first time you try to help your child into these shoes, expect it to take a while. For our daughter who was pitching a fit, it took a very long while. We gently and firmly held our ground. Once having them on, she said they made her feet want to do things. We first walked around a grocery store, and she wanted to walk every aisle. She tried picking up a grocery basket with her feet! She said they were fun.
Putting them on every time after that certainly did get easier. She can do it herself now and it takes one to two minutes instead of fifteen.
Get measured in the store! She is a medium width and measured a US kid size 11 (I think) and so would have needed a vibram vfive finger size 29. But it was too small of a width to fully get her feet in. We knew it would be hard to try them on, but still, it just didn't seem to be working. I asked for the next size up (30) just so she could have the extra room to learn how to put them on. It is hard at first to learn how to get each toe in each pocket. The child has to be fully participating in order to accomplish this. Don't think that you'll be able to slip it on for him/her. Once it was on, It was hard to know if it was on right. Her short stubby toes barely, if at all, reach the pockets. Only the big toe is fully in the pocket. I don't think her last toe is even in it, but it fits her great everywhere else on her foot. most of her middle toes are partly in. Dont think that you'll get a larger size for them to grow into and thus wear longer before outgrowing. It needs to fit snug.
These have accomplished what I wanted them for. Although she loves matching outfits, skirts, glitter, and being pretty, she still likes these shoes. She likes how they feel. She has gotten used to how to put them on. We use them for around the house, running errands, taking walks. She is starting to get a slight rub on her left instep though. I'm gonna try a bandaid to see if it keeps from rubbing. Seems to be from an inner seam in the shoe. Vibram should consider the inner shoe to be smooth if it's going to fit snug.