My daughter will be 8 in a few months and I want to get her a new rod and reel. She currently has a Shakespeare princess spin cast reel that is 2 and a half feet long.  She wants to stick with a spin cast but I want to start moving her to a spinning reel. I was looking at an ugly stick gx2 spinning that cones in 4 and a half feet long.

She is still a novice but I think she is out growing her current setup.

Should I start pushing her toward the spinning reel or stick with the spin cast?

Also what would be a good rod length for her? She is about 4'2" tall.

Also what line would be good for her? We would be mainly fishing for sun fish and bass.

Spincast.

If someone handed me a spinning reel when I was 8, I might have stopped fishing, or just went back to a cane pole.

Depends on the kid.  My almost 5 year old started on the same kind of rod/reel two years ago....Mickey instead of princess though.  He likes to throw my 6' spinning rod and 7' baitcaster.  So, he is getting a spinning setup tomorrow.  I'm going to get him the Lews american hero spinning reel and a decent 5' rod.  So, I guess it depends on the kid.  I wouldn't push it on her.  If you have a setup she can use every once and a while and if she likes it then make the jump.  My little guy likes to practice in the back yard and he is pretty damn accurate so we will see how it goes when he gets his own.  I think part of it is that he caught his biggest bass with mine so he is motivated.  For reference he is about 45" tall and can manage the 6' spinning rod but going with 5' to play it safe.

My daughter is 6 and I picked this up at the beginning of summer for her. She's been able to catch Bluegills, a Largemouth and Smallmouth bass, Rock bass, pumpkin seeds, bullheads and small Channel cats.

I think kid rods are too cheap, short, and flimsy.  My kiddos have been using adult sized spinning rods and reels since they were all about 5 years old.  Learned how to use them in no time and when my 7 year old daughter hooks in to a 4lb bass or 10lb channel, she's got the rod and reel to make it happen. Attached File

When I take my oldest daughter (7) slip bobber fishing, she uses one of my older berkley 5' or 5.5' light action spinning rods with an older shimano spinning reel with the trigger on the bail.  She practices casting egg sinkers and is getting to the point where she'll be casting my Okumas & Pfluegers pretty soon.  She's reeled in 4 pound bass and 8 pound drum on those 5' rods with no issues.  I just simply keep an eye on the drag settings and she battles away.

When we troll for walleyes, she uses my gear, whether it's the 8' leadcore trolling rods or the 8' baitcasting rods for bottom bouncers.

She cranks in her own fish when we troll crankbaits all the time, including this fat 19.5" eye sunday night.
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I also have her dialed in with her own rod/reels and vexilar for the winter.  She loves ice fishing and it's "forcing me" to upgrade my rods, reels, electronics, etc. so I can pass down quality gear to her.  :)
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Would just go to Walmart and get her one of the Barbie combos and just keep upgrading from there depending on how she progresses and her interest level.

Just give her/him your spare spinning rod. buying those "spiderman/barbie" rods is fowl !

Get her something light and not super long. A nice Zebco would due nicely.

No need to buy her a premium rig because if she digs it, you will just need to upgrade it pretty quick anyway.

Also, taking your kid fishing isn’t about the kit/gear, it is about the quality time.

Depending on the fishing, I wouldn't worry about length too much. My 9yo is using my 8'6" spinning setup in the rivers this year.

When you want to buy her a nice spinning reel Penn makes a nice pink one in different sizes.
http://www.pennfishing.com/penn-reels-spinning-reels-penn-passion/penn-passion-spinning/1447411.html
They also make a matching rod.