Advise Please....Which software

Appologies if this is in the wrong place but I can't see anywhere else it should go.

I need a bit of guidence as to what software to use for a school.
I've been using Sonar since it was 'Pro Audio' all those years ago and have never got to know anything else very well as it fitted my needs. But now I've been ask by a local school for suggestions.

The school is a 'Primary' school age range (4 to 11) and the idea is to allow the kids to be able to record themselves and play a bit with midi sounds. Hardware wise e.g. soundcards, PC specs etc I've no problems but software well.... The problem with Sonar is I can't see 4 to 11 year olds getting their heads around it easily.

I had a little look about and there seems loads of other s/w about that can do similar things but I was hoping that you guys can sorta point me in the right direction.

They have a mixing desk that can give them up to 6 channels at once so I guess the softwere would have to be able to record up to 6 channels at once. Although 4 channels would be good enough. They'd need to be able to play and record at the same time aswell. they would also need to be able to add effects. These are things that I just take for granted with Sonar but as I wrote above I just don't know other software. I suppose what I really want is a very simple cut down sonar ;)

Please can you give me some suggestions/ideas.
Thanks in advance - Paul

Music Creator 3

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This was taken from the Cakewalk site. Why not use this? It's $39.00 and it's a cut-down version of Home Studio 4. I can't think of anything better.

As much as i love sonar i have to say that it wouldnt be suitable for young children. Its main interface is far to complicated to get the hang of. This may sound ridiculous but have you considered Pro-Tools LE or M Powered. Despite being more advanced i think they may find the user interface a lot more simplistic....Pro-Tools configuration is very logical and works much like a mixing desk.....god knows how you route a send effect in cubase.

The only problem is that you would need to get an interface compatible with the software which might set you back a bit. Other option is an early copy of Cubase SX....i think SX2 was by far the better looking, none of this new funky jazzy stuff.

keith