Modding a sled to fit a 10 year old is more beneficial to the kid and his growing riding ability than most adults give them credit for. I rode a 440/500 until I was 17 years old and put those sleds in places most grown men on 600's and 670/700's had trouble. When I would hop onto my Dads sled, or his friends sleds, I was damn near unstoppable. The transition from a 440 race sled stretched to a 144 to a ground up 800 mod build was seamless because of this. Now riding was easy because before, I had to do everything with half the power. So don't let others deter you from building this sled up for your son. It very well may keep him in the sport(and on that sled) for the next 10 years.
Well when I was 10-12 years old I had a Prowler 440 and the difference between the stock steel skis and a pair of Ekholm II skis was night and day different. Same thing when I got a Summit 500 in '98. The stock skis compared to the Ekholms were the difference between being able to sidehill into spots versus doubling with my Dad as someone(or him) rode my sled into the bowl we were getting to. Let me tell you, that doubling thing didn't last long for my old man, I figured it out quick!
First off, is it a M-Series M5 or a 2003 Mountain Cat 500? I'm guessing a M5 since we are in the M-Series section.
I would look for a 2.25 Camoplast Extreme for that sled. Fits no problem and will give him a huge amount of traction. That is unless he will be riding it back home a lot. Then a 2" is more than plenty. Depending on what it has for clutching(elevation or sea level) you may have to play with the weights a bit. I do suggest you install a softer primary spring so the sled engages buttery smooth for your riding partner. Helps when learning throttle control and trying to manipulate the sled onto its side for those powder turns off trail. Leave the Diamond Drive gearing alone, it's geared plenty low.(But go ahead and change the oil and bearings in it! BDX has a great kit o do just that)
So a track and skis are the biggest priority, but you knew that already. Then comes the ability to narrow it, and lighten it.
There's a few guys selling 36.5" Alt Impact front ends in the classifieds last time I checked. This will help the kiddo out a lot. I totaled my Summit 500 the first year I had it because I couldn't get the front end to stay planted on a sidehill.(Learned how to replace a tunnel later that summer!) Having shocks serviced and new springs installed(maybe softer ones too!) is also a great investment that should be looked at in conjunction with a narrower front end.(Both front and rear shocks and torsion springs)I know there are plenty of quality shock places in the mid-west that can dial in your pal!
And buy a can for it, the weight loss may not be noticeable for him(or you for that matter) however when he's reefing on the bars to get the sled to do what he wants, it will be a difference maker for certain. The biggest weight loss for these sleds is a hood, they actually weigh a friggin ton! It's too bad BRTech doesn't do Thrasher hoods any longer. Would have been perfect for your project. The other option is to buy a vent kit and start cutting holes in the stocker. I'm also a fan of removing one headlight and just running the one side. I'm not sure if this is feasible on the Minnesota trails. Of course the best option would be to replace both headlights and run a small 5-8" lightbar mounted off the bars or mounted on the hood. Again, only if applicable on your trail system. Anything is a good thing when it comes to shedding hood/headlight weight.
One of the things I found extremely important when building my younger brother, and now my daughter sleds is that the kids can handle and manipulate the sleds much better when they are more rigid. This means the steering has to be solid, especially on these M-Series sleds which have the tendency to have sloppy steering. Canada Sled Parts(wwildchild on here) has a great set-up to strengthen the bulkhead and also tighten up the steering. Then I would look at a set of tube running boards. Of course not in everyone's budget, but if you are lucky you can find someone parting out an M that will probably sell you a set for well under half of what a new set costs. Also, bar height means a great deal to kids. I had to replace the stock bars on my brothers sled to a riser and straight bar to get the height he needed(he was short) as the stock M-Series bars just hindered him and wouldn't let him control the sled with his upper body.(Think - Hanging off a tree branch) And lastly, the seat....don't high side him simply because a newer or aftermarket seat is lighter. His ability to move around the machine means more than having him try to ride it while being stationary.
From there it's all just maintenance and having fun. Remember a new belt will help a lot too. Response means a lot more when learning how to ride more aggressively. If the sled hits too hard or barely picks up when you rev it up it'll make it much more difficult to learn how to do certain maneuvers such as the aforementioned powder turns and sidehilling technique.
If you do plan on going a little further with this sled in the future a '09+ updated rear tunnel cap and bumper is a great upgrade. Keeps the back end from becoming a shovel hindering performance in the deeper snow. And once he's familiar with the power of the 80-85hp mill and he's begging for more, doing the oil delete and running premix cleans up the bottom end quite nicely, giving a nice punch to the gut in low end power. My 440(almost the same engine, just with APV) responded well to removing the exhaust heat shielding and ceramic coating the pipe too. Not only do Cat pipes rust before they even leave the showroom, it saves a few pounds and tricks out his sled for a relative small cost. Plus these motors like to run warm and a ceramic coated pipe will work 10x better than that stock shield. Don't forget to raise the engagement so it hits a little harder for him too when he gets to that "power hungry" stage.
Have fun and update us on what you ended up doing and how he's liking the sled! I built my little brother 2 different sleds while he was growing up and now have my 10yo daughters first "bigger than a 120" sled(340 Indy Lite) on the saw horses getting (some uneeded) treatment so she can start riding with us for longer periods and be able to venture off into the fields and rolling hills without me having to be 10ft behind her at all times.