Mountain Biking Beginners have fun while doing!
To learn mountain biking, beginners need to start with simply learning to ride a bike. There's debate about whether or not training wheels are the best way to teach new riders -- some parents feel their kids become too dependent on the training wheels and don't learn good balance. We started both our kids on training wheels -- for our son, it seemed to work well (though that might partly be because he only used them for a couple of months). 
For our daughter, it's been a longer journey. She still uses her training wheels, and it seems like she is too dependent on them. Whichever way you choose to do it, getting your kids familiar with a bike is the most important step. Once they can ride along flat surfaces, move them up to small hills. We're lucky to live in a hilly neighborhood, so we were able to have our son ride up and down a number of hills with asphalt or cement. The goal is to have your child feel comfortable with speed and working hard. Teaching mountain biking includes teaching endurance and the ability to stop without falling or crashing. Even familiarity with coaster brakes will help kids learn to find their own comfort zone with speed. 
We started both our kids on 16 inch bikes -- if you think your kids can handle that size, it's a good choice rather than the 12 inch. The smaller bike lets them put their feet down to stop, and that's not a good way to learn for mountain biking. Mountain biking beginners need to rely on their braking skills rather than risk bumping or bruising their feet or ankles by using them to reduce speed.
Another benefit of the bigger bike is that they can use them for a longer time before upgrading. Our son had his 16 inch for three years -- and then, when we bought him a 20 inch, we went straight to a bike with handlebar brakes and multiple speeds (with a derailer). Once you're able to use this type of bike, your child is ready for easy mountain biking trails (dirt hills with small bumps). 
Here in Colorado, there are many easy mountain biking trails. But wherever you live, look for hills which are short (even if steep), not too narrow, and not too rocky. Mountain biking beginners need the practice of pushing up a steep hill -- but I noticed that my son gets discouraged if the hill goes on for too long. When returning, going down is another good lesson -- and you need a bike without coaster brakes, because eventually, your child will have to learn how to rest his feet against the pedals and push his bottom back behind the seat.
Each time you go, choose one goal for your child. We began with making up and down the hills (without worrying about technique). Next time, I want to focus on learning how to shift before a hill -- just that one thing. If he doesn't feel comfortable with that skill after only one trip, we'll make it the goal for a few trips. As most mountain bikers know, there are a few basic skills which kids have to learn (shifting down to make it up hills, learning to push their weight back when going downhill, and dealing with obstacles). For us, I think we'll keep dealing with obstacles as the very last challenge for our mountain biking beginner. We've just begun teaching mountain biking to our son -- in the actual mountains. He's doing well, and we can see that this will be a family mountain biking adventure for years to come!
Return from Mountain Biking Beginners to Family Mountain Biking
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