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Unfortunately, I don't think that there is a closed faced "spincast" reel that will stand up to salt water for very long. You'll be buying them new ones every year. At best, you'll get pot metal gears. At worst--plastic. And the line opening can get clogged with sand and weeds. None of them have decent drags, either--at least, not one that'll stand up to a keeper bass or a medium bluefish should they hook up with one.
A 6 year old should be able to handle an open faced spinning reel. Both of my kids used them at that age. Get one with a switchable handle and let the boy decide for himself which hand he wants to crank with. A 3 year old--probably not. He'll probably have to use the closed faced reel.
I look at it this way--they're addicted to fishing. That probably isn't going to change. They're both going to outgrow a $40 combo before too long. There's nothing that'll break a kid's heart faster than losing a good fish because the reel jammed or exploded. I would look into an 8' Tica rod for the 6 year old and maybe one in the 6-7' range for the 3 year old. The rod would probably run $50 or so. The reel doesn't have to be all that great. Check out some of the smaller Okuma or Tica reels. Even something like one of the cheaper Shimano freshwater reels. You can put together a decent combo that'll give them a fighting chance against a good fish for under $100, and you'll probably get 3-4 seasons out of it.
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