I think that's why having it as a family pet helps. Stepson didn't lose interest with the hamster at all, but it took quite a bit of effort on my part to do out of cage time with stepson and hamster regularly. We had great fun. But he ended up being my baby
. I was the one who talked to him the most. Having said that all our hamsters have perked up at hearing childrens voices - they tune in to the family atmosphere and feel part of it in my view.
One thing I meant to add was - taming in the bathtub can be great fun for the kids as well. We had an Octopod which we used as a toy in the bath (dry bath of course). I have a short video of it I'll add. But generally a tube or other hamster toy in the bath gives them something to do while they're having the taming session. Taming starts with just a stroke on the back with one finger, while they're in the bath. If they jerk around then leave it and try again. It took a couple of sessions before our hamster accepted a stroke by one finger. After that they're used to you're touch and things move on quicker. Letting them walk over your hand, flat on the bottom of the bath (palm up). After that you do the same but lift your hand slightly but still let the hamster walk off. A session or two later the same again but this time let them walk hand to hand. After that you should be able to pick them up without them pinging (wriggling free and leaping 2 feet in the air at the same time). Ours went from completely untame to fully tame and let you do anything, within 4 to 6 weeks. Some are quicker to tame than that or already partly tame.
When we had the hamster in the bathtub, stepson used to take videos of it. And that's how the youtube channel started (his idea). I don't add much to it these days.
The other thing that makes it interesting for children (and the hamster) is out of cage time with childrens toys. You have to check things carefully for safety, but we had a big truck, lego ships, all sorts in the playpen area! The Octopod in the bathtub is in the video as well but that bit is speeded up.
Toys for Syrian Hamsters! - YouTube