Please --- you can't cheat the axiom, "you get what you pay for", and vice versa, you get only what you don't pay for, and if you pay very little, you get crappy stuff, almost certain to fail and be inadequate to the most minimal performance criteria. You can get one or two, maybe three, acceptable silk neckties for $100, maybe two long-sleeve nylon fishing shirts, several pairs of really good boot socks, for $100, but does anybody really think they're going to get much of an entire tent for $100, or less? C'mon --- get serious --- if you so little value your outdoor experience as to try to do it with shoddy equipment, certain to fail, and prove that "it's not for me", or poison the attitude of your children for outdoor activities, because cheap gear ruined their initial experiences, well, way too bad... If you can't afford decent equipment, by which I mean decent enough to ensure that kids' first experiences are positive and rewarding, then, please,scale back the mission so as not to require decent/expensive gear to make it a rewarding success for your kids (or other initiates...). Maybe a motel room and a day trip are better bets than a camping fiasco?
If I amortize the cost of my moderately priced (but high-quality) Eureka Timberline SQ Outfitter 4, the mostly commonly used in my tent inventory, I reckon its +/- $300 cost can now be amortized at somewhere around $4.50/night, after about 3 years of fairly regular use (I'm guessing, conservatively, I think, about use, so cost-per-use may be lower...). Quality costs, but also pays for itself. Cheap crap is not only no bargain, but is also a disservice to newcomers who don't know any better. Those of us who do know better have an obligation to teach those who don't. "Teach your children well..."