Short answer
Yes. In the Hanafi school a child below puberty may be given the mushaf to learn from without wudu, because requiring wudu every time would make learning too hard for them. Teaching them to make wudu first is still better, as training in respect.
Children who have not reached puberty are not legally accountable, and there is no harm in giving them the mushaf to learn from without wudu; the adult who hands it to them is not sinful. Encouraging them to make wudu is mustahabb. The adult teacher still needs wudu to touch it.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Hidaya explains the reason clearly: stopping children from holding the mushaf would mean losing the memorisation of the Quran, and ordering them to keep wudu all the time would be too hard on them. So the rule of wudu is relaxed for them while they learn. The other three schools allow much the same for young learners, with small differences in detail.
The Prophet ﷺ said the best of people are those who learn the Quran and teach it, and the scholars made the path easy for children for this reason. A child of seven or eight should still be taught how to make wudu, just as they are taught to pray, so that by puberty both are habits. Once they reach puberty, the full rule applies to them.
- Parents and madrasah teachers may hand the mushaf or a juz booklet to young children without asking for wudu.
- The teacher, as an adult, needs wudu to touch it, or can point with a pen.
- Teach respect early: keep it off the floor, close it gently, put it back on a high shelf.
- Beginners can start with the Noorani Qaida before moving to the mushaf.
For the adult rule, see touching the Quran without wudu. More on raising children with the Quran is in the children section, and the hifz planner helps with a memorisation schedule.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Waaqia 56:77-79
إِنَّهُۥ لَقُرْءَانٌۭ كَرِيمٌۭ ﴿٧٧﴾ فِى كِتَٰبٍۢ مَّكْنُونٍۢ ﴿٧٨﴾ لَّا يَمَسُّهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلْمُطَهَّرُونَ ﴿٧٩﴾
Indeed, it is a noble Qur'an In a Register well-protected; None touch it except the purified.
The Quran describes itself as a book that only the purified touch, which the four schools take as the basis for needing wudu to touch the mushaf.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5027
Sahih... خيركم من تعلم القرآن وعلمه ...
"The best of you is the one who learns the Quran and teaches it."
Teaching the Quran is among the best deeds, which is why the jurists removed obstacles from children's learning.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on menstruation and istihadah. There is no harm in handing the mushaf to children, since forbidding it would lose the memorisation of the Quran and requiring wudu would be a hardship for them.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, discussion of what is forbidden to the one without wudu. The adult who gives the mushaf to a child is not sinful.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.