Kids, at least boys, out here in the countryside do not seem at all afraid to touch them. Granted, my sample size is small (I'm not a teacher, so just see whatever kids we walk by or at our weekly table tennis community thing), but kids around here are definitely interested.
I went to a BBQ last week over the Obon holiday with friends of my wife and some of their friends and spouses. Saw my first female kabutomushi and these guys in the 30s and 40s were explaining some things to me with some obvious nostalgia for their time collecting them as kids.