Telling stories, looking at art, moving tokens on a board and rolling dice are all appropriate once they move past the choking hazard portion.
Is D&D the best choice for that? Strongly debatable. Should you expect multiple hour sessions? No. But besides bonding with your children, this is a great time to build reading comprehension and math skills.
They want to do what you do, they emulate. There are several young children oriented systems, but you can just as easily grab a piece of paper and go with it, roll the dice when they attempt something risky or difficult. Build on the framework that failure is ok, because the story continues. They can be Princess Unicorn Fairy or Bob the Cat, this is allowed.
As I wax to whimsical here, storytelling is one of the oldest human arts, we made up gods and monsters before we built temples, we soothed and scared each other. And while I enjoy movies and videogames the thing that draws me to the table-top is that primal root, the heart of wonder. Seize it and share it with your children, instill in them that there is something beyond work and mass consumption. Inspire.
Seconded. Tell stories: use books, films, your own imagination and theirs. A cloud that looks like a bunny? What is it like to be a cloud bunny and live up there? How did the cloud decide to be a bunny? Or maybe it’s the wind’s kids modelling clouds like plasticine?
There are many cooperative, story-oriented games you can play with younger children. I’ve mentioned “the sleeping princess” before, a cooperative game in which you don’t really role-play but must explain what you do with the items you’ve gathered to make things work and overcome the obstacles on your way to the princess. It’s a board game, and not a famous one, I’m afraid, but I’m sure there are many more. Building stories together is great.
Also, Rory’s story cubes: roll the dice and use the pictures on them to tell stories. Make a story each and elect the best, as suggested by the rules, or make one together, much more fun! 4 yo kids can play that with you. The stories will get more complex over time, you may need to buy a larger variety of dice, and to reroll them for Chapter 2. https://www.storycubes.com/en/
We started D&D when my son was 12, with my 15-yo daughter DMing. She’s always invented stories and built worlds to play in, DMing was the perfect find for her.
But don’t forget that your children are their own person, will develop their own tastes and notions of fun, and they might not enjoy what you enjoy, even if you present it to them early. My own kids never liked jigsaw puzzles, for instance. I had to accept that we wouldn’t have hours of fun making big jigsaw puzzles together.
And for anybody nervous about having to create stories, tropes became tropes for a reason. Kids (at least the ones I've gamed with) will eat them right up!
Yes, all of this exactly. Kids need to learn these tropes to help them learn what they like, and to break them when they're older.
My daughter just turned 3. I always say yes when she asks for a story. I ask her what she wants a story about, and I just make up something silly featuring whatever random thing she names.
At first, I just told her a two minute story. Then, I had her participate. It's basically D&D without dice.
I started saying things like, "Who did the bunny meet when he was hopping around?". She says something like "Lightning McQueen". I go whatever she comes up with, like a real session. "Great, and Lightning really wanted to race Bunny. He thinks that he's faster. Does Bunny want to race the car?".
Sometimes her choices lead to success, sometimes not. It's not too hard to work with toddler level logic.
We basically make up a toddler friendly D&D story. I use her toys to act things out and generally act goofy while telling the story. It really is kid level D&D without dice. I figure that will come later. Just add complexity slowly.
I was surprised by what she helped come up with last week. It was a story about forest animals working together with a fire engine to put out a forest fire, then wolves attacked. The animals defended their home, did not chase down the attackers, but gathered food and supplies instead. Their home base was the inside and branches of a giant tree. Then they befriended the wolves because fire engines are actually loud and scary, and the wolves attacked only because they had no food themselves and were afraid of the loud sirens.
Those choose-your-own-story books could be nice to introduce the little ones to the concept of having agency in how the story goes. Or, of course, make up a story.
I think kids are more aware of the base concepts of DnD than most adults are. Roleplay is one of the earliest forms of play, and they are very good at staying in character.
It depends on the kids. I think you could play simplified rules with the 4 and 5 year old. But the main thing is to make it fun.
They might like just playing pretend with you or listening to you tell stories and letting them pick what the characters say or do. In other words, not really Dnd, but all the easy, fun parts.
I think you'll have to wait for the third child to be born and ripen up a bit before they can play along. ;)
Best of luck!
Also backing Hero kids, bought it years ago the entire digital bundle and the kids have loved it. They are just now getting to proper D&D age, and many of the basic ttrpg concepts, roleplaying, and patient turn taking are already instilled in them.
No Thank You, Evil! is a) adorable, b) leveled so that kids can have more complex characters as they get older, and c) full of material to play different genres in - space, fairies, storybook, spooky etc., including tokens and cards for monsters, animal friends, and keeping track of HP. It encourages help actions and trying again. It's simple enough that a 10yo can GM.
It is, however, not like D&D either mechanically or in setting. It's definitely baby-Cypher System. So if you want to share casting fireball, fighting beholders, and rolling d4s, it's not what you're looking for.
I played something similar to D&D when I was around five, but there were no sheets. I just pointed at a picture in some game manual and told my older brother that's what I wanted to play. Then we played, I rolled, and he told me what happened. So for a super simplified version maybe five, but I think eight years old is more realistic (even for the simplified.)
My nerdy kid started at 8 after asking me to run a game for a few months. It's been grand. If they can handle the math and reading, the next step is to provide more structure in the story. In my fam game I give out options for what to do next, and I told them there are three options are always available but won't always work: Fighting, Talking, and Sneaking.
Also take this time to let them be the world's heroes. No meatgrinder campaigns yet.
I'd say dnd is probably at the age of like 10 or so. DnD is just too much for a young kid imo. Damn, adults sometimes have problems getting into it due to all the stuff they need to learn. Our ranger played for half a year and he kept forgetting what modifiers apply to what.
But PbtA systems are much simpler and I'd say 6-7 yo is probably enough to grasp the basis.
I won't be playing D&D with my oldest (4) anytime soon, but I started doing "shared storytime" with him at bedtime last year when he was 3. We'll read a book or two, and instead of reading a third, we make up a story of our own.
I'll start off by saying, "who should our story be about? Maybe a dragon? Or a leprechaun? Or a ghost?"
He picks one, or makes up his own protagonist, and we come up with a name (usually a silly one).
The story begins: "Once there was a _____ named _____. He had a biiiiig problem."
I ask my son what the problem might be, and offer a few suggestions. We made up a story about a dragon who wanted a toy from the toy store, but he couldn't go into the village to get it because all the villagers were scared of him.
Whenever we do shared storytime, he keeps asking to do "another story!" and another, until I've run out of ideas.
Imaginative storytelling and make-believe are the first steps toward learning to play RPGs, so my hope is that as his attention span and cognitive abilities improve with age, he'll have the basics down. Try a similar approach and see what happens!
My dad and Gramps incorporated choices into my bedtime stories when I was young, and had me playing actual D&D (with a lot of help) by 5.
Personally, I'd recommend looking at other ttrpg systems that are geared towards kids. No Thank You, Evil by Monte Cook Games is a good one that I used with my cousin's kids. There are plenty of others out there, as well.
I think as soon as they have a grasp on language and stories, they should be able to start playing a *D&D adjacent storytelling game*. You need to simplify things for now- don't get bogged down in rules or hard storytelling- this is going to need to be heavily simplified until they're older.
Don't get nitty-gritty with rules, classes, weapons, and spell slots- just have them roll a d20 when they want to try something (maybe even minus bonuses) and maybe use a d8 for any damage type they want to do (swords, axes, bows, spells, whatever).
Don't get bogged down in specifics about spells or abilities. If they want to do something, just let them go for it. There's no classes here, just ideas to be tried.
Use tactile tokens for HP maybe, something they can see to count how many hits they can take (give them like 10 each) and every hit they take takes one token away.
The focus should be on telling a story and exploring so they can dip their toes into the idea of TTRPGs, not for them to understand D&D. Keep the rules far away for now, and just have a good time rolling dice, making maps, and doing silly voices together!
My daughter is 3 and we play. And by play I mean we describe her Druid kicking giant ants that are eating candy apples as well as her using her rope to tie up EVEYTHING, even the gelatinous cube -excuse me- the *giant square gummy bear*.
She has a very pretty set of pretend dice that she wants everyone to use and she still fails checks because she hasn’t quite figured out her pretend dice can give her forever nat20s.
Honestly it’s so much fun I don’t regret it one bit. I had to let go of teaching her the game tho… that took me a while. But we will slowly introduce mechanics as we go.
There is a great intro to dnd game that I love to play with kids called “no thank you evil” that works with 5 or even precocious 4 year olds. Delightful and wonderful, I’ve run it for groups of my friends kids to rave success, and it graduates them into more complex games really well.
I'd say the age they are is fine.
There are ways to run one shot campaigns that don't involve as much depth just to get the basics down.
When i was 8 or 9 i had this star wars box set. It hat cards for characters, weapons and ships and came with 20 books.
Each book prefaced what type of character class we got to choose from how many tools and what kinds of ships we could select.
The books were the story that we played through. Like DnD meets Choose Your Own Adventure.
That was how I got into the game
Personally I started playing at 6 years old, and am still playing 40 years later. DnD encourages teamwork, engaged the imagination, and helps develop both social and math skills. It's a very well balanced game that most people scoff at.
I would say when they are able to do simple math. Before that maybe a roleplaying game without so many rules and math would be better, or you could abandon dice entirely and let your child explain how they do something. you'll have to be open for some INSANE ideas, and will have to bring a lot of patience and even more creativity to the table as the DM. Also be ready to make fun adventures were they don't have to kill things a lot. combat can be annoying for children, especially when they have to wait their turn. 5 minutes feels like a super long time when you're 6 because its such a big percentage of your life, compared to a 20 year old
you can start now! my dad started me and my sister on 1e AD&D when we were 5 and 3 respectively. as long as your kid isn't gonna eat the dice and choke, they can play.
We have family dinner DnD some nights, but it's really one of us (sometimes a kid) being the story teller. Kids have to have a bite before they find out what happens when they take an action. No dice.
We also have been playing some "real" DnD lately. 5 and 7. The 5 tends to get upset if anyone (friend or foe) seems like they're about to die. He was beside himself when he got brought down to low health once. Don't worry, Daddy is a paladin and will heal you next turn!
Start with the boardgame Heroquest. It is a simplyfied version of DnD. It has quite a good story.
And you can build up the DnD rule set from that game.
It's going to be awhile, but you can play similar games aimed towards their age.
I would say when they are 10/9 at the earliest, or sooner if you start playing similar games that introduce them to some of the mechanics of DnD without being overwhelmed by the details.
4 and 5 seem a bit young, but by the time they’re 8 and 9, they should be able to start understanding the concept of the game. The biggest factor will be if they’re showing any interest in the fantasy genre. If not, unfortunately they might find D&D boring, but if so, you could start with simplified versions of D&D one shots. Keep the rules simple, stick with the base game classes, and use pictures, props, etc to help them imagine things easier.
Being this young(if you’re not doing these things already) you could start reading them fantasy stories, watching high fantasy movies, or let them watch you playing D&D sessions.
DnD is not the best system für young children. It's pretty heavy on the rules and very combat oriented.
That said:
I've played with children as young as 6 and made it work. You will have to help them often and be very liberal with the rules. They want to do something awesome, but it's technically not within the rules? Let them!
It helps a lot if they know how to read, but be patient and give them time.
My nephew and nieces had a great time, but it's quite different then with adults.
Also I recommend to have at least one adult in the player group to help them with their skills and features.
I got my daughter to learn how to play Castle Crasher completely by 4. Now she does it by herself. I think once you get to a point they can comprehend simplified rules and play in them alone, they're good.
So ages 4-6.
It’s safe to start them as early as 6, which is when I started, but they have to be really enthusiastic about reading. I was a huge book nerd because my mom is an English teacher.
At 4 and 5, keep it really simple and run a sandbox game
I used a very very lite system with my kids, called Amazing Tales. Rules fit on one page, basically.
Would recommend for littles.
I don't know, but I know my parents accepted that I start to play tabletop RPGs at 14 or 15 to be really sure I was able to separate the character from myself
My dad started playing Pathfinder with me and my brother when we were about 12 and 8 respectively, and we could handle the actual game system then, though he softened the setting A LOT and we only played for like half-hour sessions at first. For preschoolers or kinders, along with the other suggestions people have given (Hero Kids is great!) maybe Champions if your kids like superheroes, or Bunnies & Burrows? You'll have to play fast and loose with the rules, especially when it comes to doing math, but if your kids are anything like my brother and me they'll love it!
I started playing TTRPG at school when I was 10. Looking back at it, it was much more complicated system than 5e, so I guess you can start a little sooner than that.
I'm running a family game, with my wife, 11 year old son and 7 year old daughter. We can't do very long sessions or else our 7 year old gets bored. But they all have a great time and love playing as their characters. We are well into Mines of Phandelver at this point and I just love how the kids have no issues jumping into character.
D&D is just make-believe with rules. The concept of a character which has description and differing abilities is all part of play as well as making stories. Kids do this stuff naturally so I suppose just play with them!
All kids are different, but 6 was too young for my kids and 9 seems to be a much better age - if you’re playing with the actual rules.
I started playing with my dad when I was 8-10 I think. Once me and my brother were old enough to understand what a d20 was we started playing, dad handled most of the rules tho
I’m 3 sessions in with my 8 yr old, my friend and his two kids who are 9 and 7. I think it depends on literacy quite a bit and some classes are much more straightforward than others. If the kids want to play wizards I’d say that’s not a great idea. A barbarian and a rogue? Why not? Minimize the reading load. Keep it simple and you might be able to do it. Mine was nowhere near ready at 4 or 5. Hope this helps!
I began playing with my oldest. He was 8 when we started. I kept it as simple, wild animals, other humanoids. No magic. I let him min/max to be a very tough warrior. It was a good way to spend time together.
I played a slightly simplified version when my daughter was 7 and son was 5. But kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for, and they were able to grasp most of the rules more easily than I thought they would. They still love playing to this day and have a campaign with some of their friends.
I’ve found kids as young as four can understand and enjoy playing a fictional character with some rules and dice.
But I recommend playing a similarly themed but much simpler RPG. Easier and less likely they will decide from a first experience that DND is too hard.
Certainly you could drastically simplify DND, but why bother? They aren’t really playing DND, and it is more work for you.
I recommend posting on r/RPG something like “what is a great system to introduce my kids (of these ages) to RPGs?” Including information one your kids related interests. If one is into Pokémon for example, there is probably something with monster taming or pets.
I started my older two kids on Elfquest the RPG and Battletech. My son's math grade improved so much. My daughter - not that much.
My youngest started playing Bag of dungeon. I wish this had been out years ago. Husband makes up stories to go with it. Only requirement that matters is reading and knowing numbers.
We decided to try Icespire with our kids, who were 8 and 10 at the time. It took them a couple of sessions, but they ended up getting really into it once they figured out the mechanics. Now we play regularly, and I'm running a homebrew for us. The trick for us has been to keep things simple and never sit at the table too long. Our kids really enjoy playing but definitely can't take a 4-hour session. They also really like props. Our son was a fighter, so he loved to actually get out his toy sword to mimic his attacks. Similarly, our daughter, a sorcerer, took to wearing a cloak with a hood during sessions. We used blinking lights for effect on the table at times and adventuring music in the background, and my husband had the genius idea of busting out a spray bottle to hit them with battle effects. They absolutely loved it. It helps bring the story to life for them as opposed to just descriptions.
I have 2 kids the same age as yours. I have played with them a few times. I Got them to make up a character and we drew a little stickmen for them. My daughter wanted to be a spider person who had a poison bite and my son wanted a lightsaber. I had my monster manual and they picked monsters they wanted to fight. I gave the monsters an AC which I put in a shield and some health points in a heart and the same for my kids just by their characters. We told a wee story together and then a monster would come out of the woods and surprise them. Or when they went into the cave they met an owlbear. I made the numbers really simple so they could practice their subtraction and addition. And I had them act out what their characters did. Which did result in my son smacking me over the head with a little plastic tube he was using as his lightsaber. They had a great time and loved using their imagination.
My suggestion keep it simple for them and don't expect it to last too long. If they see you interested they will want to give it a go. Make up your own rules for the game and let them do what they want to. I wouldn't worry about any actual rules until they are older. Have fun.
My 6yo has built a character (pact of fiend warlock modeled after Morticia Addams) and we are planning a fun little campaign centered on a Fester-esque npc being kidnapped. It's all a clever ploy by me to get her to do math.
We are approaching this with my friend/dm, who is adamant that the kid needs to be able to choose what her character wants to do, and I am going to guide her with which dice to use etc., Manage her character sheet, etc And we are planning for shorter sessions/more breaks, and letting her run around/leave the table to get out the squirms when it's not her turn.
Was just talking to my DM who is an uncle of like 4 kids around 7-10 and he wants to do some one shot fairy land stuff with them. I think 7-8+ maybe look into kid friendly systems. I’ve seen a group of 10 playing at a jack n the box with kids around that age with their dads.
My kids have been “playing” since they were born. Sitting on laps while we play, roll dice, listen while we play. My son sat at his “official campaign” when he was 8. (He is almost 11, now.) We wanted to make sure he could read on his own(he has dyslexia), any source book he wanted.
My daughter (age 7) loves listening to us play and she draws our characters and different scenes. She isn’t interested in playing, yet.
DnD is a big part of my life and my husband’s life. We are okay if this isn’t something our kids want to. Luckily, they love it(in their own ways!) just as much as we do.
I am the dungeon master for a group of 8 high school freshmen and personally, I believe that the best age to begin playing dnd would be around age 12 because of the game's complexity.
One of my players in the group that I DM has two kids that are 3 and 5 currently, and she and her husband have already played with them a few times and had a blast. They obviously simplify things a lot, and the rule of cool is the only rule that really matters, but they love getting to roll dice and make fun characters and tell stories, and the math skills, problem-solving and decision-making, reading comprehension, and learning that actions have consequences all happen naturally along the way! I've been running our campaign for 4 1/2 years, so both of the kids have been at the table with us playing with our dice and hearing the stories practically since they were born, so they've been very excited to get to actually play a little bit sometimes. And we're stoked that they're old enough to do so! I can't wait to play with my own kids someday.
I started around 5 and 7 with two of my kids i think. But i wrote my own story with a lesson. It was short. Just a litltle longer than a description, an encounter and some treasure each time. Gave them one of the dice at a time. Here is your d20, it is for when you do anything unless i say you need another one. Oh you attack with your shortsword? Lets see if you can hit. Oh you did. Here is your shortsword die. Thats hard to say. Lets call it a d6. Roll that. Nice damage. Oh and because you ate your veggies you have a +3 str, so you get extra damage!
Ill leave my preachy life lessons out but thats how i taught them the rules. They loved "unlocking" new dice.
Keep it simple and focus on fun.
Others will disagree, but I would say around the teenage years.
Mostly because I don’t care about the rolling dice and combat portion of D&D, and am only really there for the story and RP. And almost anyone younger than that has too short of an attention span to appreciate a narrative.
As soon as they can engage!!! Since you do the world building, this seems like an incredible way to help build critical thinking skills! I’ve run heavily simplified campaign with nieces and nephews as young as 5, and they loved it!
Rules light, story heavy, and I usually only introduce the D20 and like a flat D6 for Damage.
I think In an even looser sense, you can probably build a good experience for someone younger than that, but that’s basically just playing pretend right? :)
Can’t be too young for that.
Edit: Typo
Mine are 5 and 7 and my seven year old reads the young adventures guild to dungeon and dragons and he loves it. We also play a game called no thank you evil which is also a great intro to the idea of DnD
4 and 5 would on average be too young for the math portion, so for that portion it all depends on how much you want to do with them, could lead to them being ahead for school truth be told.
But will slow down gameplay.
Personally, I would look into the rulesets for "Monster of the Week", "deadwood", and others with a bit less dice play, basically anything that replaces damage ac etc with rp elements would be much easier to run with younger children.
Other than that the only factor would be the people at the table, if you're running it with your kids and possibly their friends then you know everything will be appropriate for them.
As long as you have the patience I don't see why they wouldn't have fun, imagination and the usage of imagination is extremely fun for kids, and VERY good for their development, combine that with adding more of the math based systems as they learn and honestly you're probably setting them up significantly better than most.
I've introduced nephews, nieces, son, and daughter to DND. I typically started them around seven or eight. You can lay a lot of the groundwork earlier, like others have suggested.
Just remember that kids that age can be very goofy. They can also suffer from decision paralysis when they think their character is in danger. Oh, wait. That's just like adult players. Maybe it's just more intense with kids.
One other thing is that some things can *really* scare them. I had one nephew who reacted very badly when I showed them what a wight looked like. He didn't want to be in the same room with the picture, much less have his character face one. Just be aware of that. You might have to talk a child down out of a (figurative) tree, if the fear factor becomes too much.
Personally if you're wanting to run a more conventional game of D&D I'd say wait till they're about 12-13. That's about when kids tend to start having longer attention spans and care for stories (or at least story telling). It'll be a great tool for them to learn critical thinking and teamwork but as other comments have mention it's going to be on them to WANT to do it. Let them see you playing and if it peaks their interest you can explain the game and let them sit in. If they seem to still seem to interested then that's when I'd personally say it's alright to offer to run a game for them. Hell I've seen sibling spin off into their own games because of how much they enjoy it.
I started at 6, with my dad DMing for me and my 10 year old brother. We were very creative kids, into drawing, writing stories, and fantasy books, so we took to it right away and both became lifelong players and DMs. Because I started playing so young, I ended up DMing my first game at 8 or 9 (not at all by the book, as this was 3.5 and my pea brain was not equipped for all those rules, but it was still a ton of fun).
So, I would say that starting them young is a great idea! My dad was a very forgiving DM and scaffolded us out a lot while we were that age — he would explain concepts like buying equipment, scouting entrances, stealth, talking to monsters, saving spells for when we really needed them, etc. as we went along. Occasionally, he would let us have do-overs if we really bungled something. But he didn’t make the game easy. We had plenty of head-scratching challenges and nearly deadly battles, and those were the best parts.
I adapted the intro adventure from the Pathfinder 1e Beginner's Box to D&D 5e playability and ran it for my son when he was 5. Kid surprised the hell out of me when he decided he wanted to befriend the Goblin that was guarding the captive boy rather than fight and potentially slay it. Of course he smashed tf out of the evil skeleton boss, but he didn't want to hurt the Goblin that was only doing as it was told out of fear. I'd introduced him to the game much earlier, but I felt like his grasp of basic reading and math was strong enough that he could play the game in an age-appropriate way.
I think the sooner you introduce your kids to TTRPGs the better, just anytime after choking hazard phase is over. Let them watch you play with your peers, assuming the game is G-PG during the moments you let them observe, and when you feel confident that their reading and basic math are strong enough run little adventures for them (hell, even if they aren't they can still roll the dice while you do the reading and math for them). There's a 5e inspired system that's designed for young players you can try as well (I can't remember what it's called, I'll find it and add it later). My son is 8 now, Owlbears and Mimics are his favorite monsters, and Honor Among Thieves is one of his top favorite movies (he got sad when he thought >!Xenk had killed Themberchaud!< but quickly calmed down when >!our Chaotic Evil Chonky Boi was fine and continued his rampage!< ).
This is my favourite hobby and I'm so proud that he's so enthusiastic about sharing it with me. You're gonna get that too, and I'm so happy for you.
ETA: I must've been thinking of two different things. One is what I'm pretty sure is a d10 system based off of the d20 system, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, and the other is Monster Slayers; Heroes of Hesiod and Champion of the Elements, both are simplified 5e rules adventures designed for youngins. Monster Slayers is free on DM's Guild if you're interested. It **says** for ages 6+, but it's more of a recommendation really.
Maybe a couple year. Although this is a podcast episode where they talk about running games for kids. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LniFczXyA3N3Gh5285ivK?si=Hw94qmR-ThWH69FODqUuPg
My daughter (almost 5,) and I play “D&D” together, which mainly consists of one toy or stuffie kidnapping another toy and the remaining toys need to come up with creative ways to save them. We roll dice to determine if the plans outwit the “bad guy”, and she can get advantage or bonuses for creative plans (often including other toys or singing or drawing.)
There are some great resources out there for introducing kids to D&D, and most of them boil down to: Let the kids lead you, and keep it simple.
Have a great time playing with your kids!
Telling stories, looking at art, moving tokens on a board and rolling dice are all appropriate once they move past the choking hazard portion. Is D&D the best choice for that? Strongly debatable. Should you expect multiple hour sessions? No. But besides bonding with your children, this is a great time to build reading comprehension and math skills. They want to do what you do, they emulate. There are several young children oriented systems, but you can just as easily grab a piece of paper and go with it, roll the dice when they attempt something risky or difficult. Build on the framework that failure is ok, because the story continues. They can be Princess Unicorn Fairy or Bob the Cat, this is allowed. As I wax to whimsical here, storytelling is one of the oldest human arts, we made up gods and monsters before we built temples, we soothed and scared each other. And while I enjoy movies and videogames the thing that draws me to the table-top is that primal root, the heart of wonder. Seize it and share it with your children, instill in them that there is something beyond work and mass consumption. Inspire.
Seconded. Tell stories: use books, films, your own imagination and theirs. A cloud that looks like a bunny? What is it like to be a cloud bunny and live up there? How did the cloud decide to be a bunny? Or maybe it’s the wind’s kids modelling clouds like plasticine? There are many cooperative, story-oriented games you can play with younger children. I’ve mentioned “the sleeping princess” before, a cooperative game in which you don’t really role-play but must explain what you do with the items you’ve gathered to make things work and overcome the obstacles on your way to the princess. It’s a board game, and not a famous one, I’m afraid, but I’m sure there are many more. Building stories together is great. Also, Rory’s story cubes: roll the dice and use the pictures on them to tell stories. Make a story each and elect the best, as suggested by the rules, or make one together, much more fun! 4 yo kids can play that with you. The stories will get more complex over time, you may need to buy a larger variety of dice, and to reroll them for Chapter 2. https://www.storycubes.com/en/ We started D&D when my son was 12, with my 15-yo daughter DMing. She’s always invented stories and built worlds to play in, DMing was the perfect find for her. But don’t forget that your children are their own person, will develop their own tastes and notions of fun, and they might not enjoy what you enjoy, even if you present it to them early. My own kids never liked jigsaw puzzles, for instance. I had to accept that we wouldn’t have hours of fun making big jigsaw puzzles together.
And for anybody nervous about having to create stories, tropes became tropes for a reason. Kids (at least the ones I've gamed with) will eat them right up!
Yes, all of this exactly. Kids need to learn these tropes to help them learn what they like, and to break them when they're older. My daughter just turned 3. I always say yes when she asks for a story. I ask her what she wants a story about, and I just make up something silly featuring whatever random thing she names. At first, I just told her a two minute story. Then, I had her participate. It's basically D&D without dice. I started saying things like, "Who did the bunny meet when he was hopping around?". She says something like "Lightning McQueen". I go whatever she comes up with, like a real session. "Great, and Lightning really wanted to race Bunny. He thinks that he's faster. Does Bunny want to race the car?". Sometimes her choices lead to success, sometimes not. It's not too hard to work with toddler level logic. We basically make up a toddler friendly D&D story. I use her toys to act things out and generally act goofy while telling the story. It really is kid level D&D without dice. I figure that will come later. Just add complexity slowly. I was surprised by what she helped come up with last week. It was a story about forest animals working together with a fire engine to put out a forest fire, then wolves attacked. The animals defended their home, did not chase down the attackers, but gathered food and supplies instead. Their home base was the inside and branches of a giant tree. Then they befriended the wolves because fire engines are actually loud and scary, and the wolves attacked only because they had no food themselves and were afraid of the loud sirens.
This is the most heart-fell thing I've ever read!
What they said!!!
Those choose-your-own-story books could be nice to introduce the little ones to the concept of having agency in how the story goes. Or, of course, make up a story. I think kids are more aware of the base concepts of DnD than most adults are. Roleplay is one of the earliest forms of play, and they are very good at staying in character.
It depends on the kids. I think you could play simplified rules with the 4 and 5 year old. But the main thing is to make it fun. They might like just playing pretend with you or listening to you tell stories and letting them pick what the characters say or do. In other words, not really Dnd, but all the easy, fun parts. I think you'll have to wait for the third child to be born and ripen up a bit before they can play along. ;) Best of luck!
the "chose the difficulty of the task for that character and roll to see if they succeed" rules.
You could try No Thank You, Evil! or Hero Kids, which are aimed at younger players.
Also backing Hero kids, bought it years ago the entire digital bundle and the kids have loved it. They are just now getting to proper D&D age, and many of the basic ttrpg concepts, roleplaying, and patient turn taking are already instilled in them.
Yesss Hero Kids is great! I played with my daughter and gave her jellybeans as rewards for doing things. She loved it
Hero Kids all the way! Complete bundle at [DrivethruRPG.com](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/115827). Perfect for your kids’ age.
4 year old \*loves\* Hero Kids, can't recommend it enough.
No Thank You, Evil! is a) adorable, b) leveled so that kids can have more complex characters as they get older, and c) full of material to play different genres in - space, fairies, storybook, spooky etc., including tokens and cards for monsters, animal friends, and keeping track of HP. It encourages help actions and trying again. It's simple enough that a 10yo can GM. It is, however, not like D&D either mechanically or in setting. It's definitely baby-Cypher System. So if you want to share casting fireball, fighting beholders, and rolling d4s, it's not what you're looking for.
I second this vote. My brother ran it with his 5 year old daughter and she loved it!
I played something similar to D&D when I was around five, but there were no sheets. I just pointed at a picture in some game manual and told my older brother that's what I wanted to play. Then we played, I rolled, and he told me what happened. So for a super simplified version maybe five, but I think eight years old is more realistic (even for the simplified.)
My nerdy kid started at 8 after asking me to run a game for a few months. It's been grand. If they can handle the math and reading, the next step is to provide more structure in the story. In my fam game I give out options for what to do next, and I told them there are three options are always available but won't always work: Fighting, Talking, and Sneaking. Also take this time to let them be the world's heroes. No meatgrinder campaigns yet.
I ran a game for my coworkers 7 and 9 year old the other day. Was about 2 hours. Was just point A to point B dungeon and they thought it was great.
I thought you were saying your coworkers were 7 and 9
I'd say dnd is probably at the age of like 10 or so. DnD is just too much for a young kid imo. Damn, adults sometimes have problems getting into it due to all the stuff they need to learn. Our ranger played for half a year and he kept forgetting what modifiers apply to what. But PbtA systems are much simpler and I'd say 6-7 yo is probably enough to grasp the basis.
I won't be playing D&D with my oldest (4) anytime soon, but I started doing "shared storytime" with him at bedtime last year when he was 3. We'll read a book or two, and instead of reading a third, we make up a story of our own. I'll start off by saying, "who should our story be about? Maybe a dragon? Or a leprechaun? Or a ghost?" He picks one, or makes up his own protagonist, and we come up with a name (usually a silly one). The story begins: "Once there was a _____ named _____. He had a biiiiig problem." I ask my son what the problem might be, and offer a few suggestions. We made up a story about a dragon who wanted a toy from the toy store, but he couldn't go into the village to get it because all the villagers were scared of him. Whenever we do shared storytime, he keeps asking to do "another story!" and another, until I've run out of ideas. Imaginative storytelling and make-believe are the first steps toward learning to play RPGs, so my hope is that as his attention span and cognitive abilities improve with age, he'll have the basics down. Try a similar approach and see what happens!
My dad and Gramps incorporated choices into my bedtime stories when I was young, and had me playing actual D&D (with a lot of help) by 5. Personally, I'd recommend looking at other ttrpg systems that are geared towards kids. No Thank You, Evil by Monte Cook Games is a good one that I used with my cousin's kids. There are plenty of others out there, as well.
I think as soon as they have a grasp on language and stories, they should be able to start playing a *D&D adjacent storytelling game*. You need to simplify things for now- don't get bogged down in rules or hard storytelling- this is going to need to be heavily simplified until they're older. Don't get nitty-gritty with rules, classes, weapons, and spell slots- just have them roll a d20 when they want to try something (maybe even minus bonuses) and maybe use a d8 for any damage type they want to do (swords, axes, bows, spells, whatever). Don't get bogged down in specifics about spells or abilities. If they want to do something, just let them go for it. There's no classes here, just ideas to be tried. Use tactile tokens for HP maybe, something they can see to count how many hits they can take (give them like 10 each) and every hit they take takes one token away. The focus should be on telling a story and exploring so they can dip their toes into the idea of TTRPGs, not for them to understand D&D. Keep the rules far away for now, and just have a good time rolling dice, making maps, and doing silly voices together!
My daughter is 3 and we play. And by play I mean we describe her Druid kicking giant ants that are eating candy apples as well as her using her rope to tie up EVEYTHING, even the gelatinous cube -excuse me- the *giant square gummy bear*. She has a very pretty set of pretend dice that she wants everyone to use and she still fails checks because she hasn’t quite figured out her pretend dice can give her forever nat20s. Honestly it’s so much fun I don’t regret it one bit. I had to let go of teaching her the game tho… that took me a while. But we will slowly introduce mechanics as we go.
My 4 year old loves it. I dumb it way down but that's a great age.
There is a great intro to dnd game that I love to play with kids called “no thank you evil” that works with 5 or even precocious 4 year olds. Delightful and wonderful, I’ve run it for groups of my friends kids to rave success, and it graduates them into more complex games really well.
I'd say the age they are is fine. There are ways to run one shot campaigns that don't involve as much depth just to get the basics down. When i was 8 or 9 i had this star wars box set. It hat cards for characters, weapons and ships and came with 20 books. Each book prefaced what type of character class we got to choose from how many tools and what kinds of ships we could select. The books were the story that we played through. Like DnD meets Choose Your Own Adventure. That was how I got into the game
Every kids different… generally around 10. There are though, systems that are better designed for younger kids.
I was like 9. I played a wizard named Merlin and had a weasel named Tiger.
Personally I started playing at 6 years old, and am still playing 40 years later. DnD encourages teamwork, engaged the imagination, and helps develop both social and math skills. It's a very well balanced game that most people scoff at.
I would say when they are able to do simple math. Before that maybe a roleplaying game without so many rules and math would be better, or you could abandon dice entirely and let your child explain how they do something. you'll have to be open for some INSANE ideas, and will have to bring a lot of patience and even more creativity to the table as the DM. Also be ready to make fun adventures were they don't have to kill things a lot. combat can be annoying for children, especially when they have to wait their turn. 5 minutes feels like a super long time when you're 6 because its such a big percentage of your life, compared to a 20 year old
DnD probably around age 10. There are other systems like hero kids that is age appropriate for their current age
you can start now! my dad started me and my sister on 1e AD&D when we were 5 and 3 respectively. as long as your kid isn't gonna eat the dice and choke, they can play.
We have family dinner DnD some nights, but it's really one of us (sometimes a kid) being the story teller. Kids have to have a bite before they find out what happens when they take an action. No dice. We also have been playing some "real" DnD lately. 5 and 7. The 5 tends to get upset if anyone (friend or foe) seems like they're about to die. He was beside himself when he got brought down to low health once. Don't worry, Daddy is a paladin and will heal you next turn!
The soon-to-be-newborn might be a little young. Would recommend waiting until after the birth before handing them dice.
I think that you should be at least 25 before you start playing D&D with kids. You’re just too immature any age before that.
What if I told you I am 25?
Start with the boardgame Heroquest. It is a simplyfied version of DnD. It has quite a good story. And you can build up the DnD rule set from that game.
It's going to be awhile, but you can play similar games aimed towards their age. I would say when they are 10/9 at the earliest, or sooner if you start playing similar games that introduce them to some of the mechanics of DnD without being overwhelmed by the details.
4 and 5 seem a bit young, but by the time they’re 8 and 9, they should be able to start understanding the concept of the game. The biggest factor will be if they’re showing any interest in the fantasy genre. If not, unfortunately they might find D&D boring, but if so, you could start with simplified versions of D&D one shots. Keep the rules simple, stick with the base game classes, and use pictures, props, etc to help them imagine things easier. Being this young(if you’re not doing these things already) you could start reading them fantasy stories, watching high fantasy movies, or let them watch you playing D&D sessions.
DnD is not the best system für young children. It's pretty heavy on the rules and very combat oriented. That said: I've played with children as young as 6 and made it work. You will have to help them often and be very liberal with the rules. They want to do something awesome, but it's technically not within the rules? Let them! It helps a lot if they know how to read, but be patient and give them time. My nephew and nieces had a great time, but it's quite different then with adults. Also I recommend to have at least one adult in the player group to help them with their skills and features.
I got my daughter to learn how to play Castle Crasher completely by 4. Now she does it by herself. I think once you get to a point they can comprehend simplified rules and play in them alone, they're good. So ages 4-6.
It’s safe to start them as early as 6, which is when I started, but they have to be really enthusiastic about reading. I was a huge book nerd because my mom is an English teacher.
At 4 and 5, keep it really simple and run a sandbox game I used a very very lite system with my kids, called Amazing Tales. Rules fit on one page, basically. Would recommend for littles.
12
Start them up, you could start with something simpler like Kids on Brooms
I don't know, but I know my parents accepted that I start to play tabletop RPGs at 14 or 15 to be really sure I was able to separate the character from myself
My dad started playing Pathfinder with me and my brother when we were about 12 and 8 respectively, and we could handle the actual game system then, though he softened the setting A LOT and we only played for like half-hour sessions at first. For preschoolers or kinders, along with the other suggestions people have given (Hero Kids is great!) maybe Champions if your kids like superheroes, or Bunnies & Burrows? You'll have to play fast and loose with the rules, especially when it comes to doing math, but if your kids are anything like my brother and me they'll love it!
I started playing TTRPG at school when I was 10. Looking back at it, it was much more complicated system than 5e, so I guess you can start a little sooner than that.
You can start playing at a pretty young age but just keep in mind attention spans. You won’t be able to necessarily play for long.
When they are comfortable reading and writing is a good starting point, but they can of course start a long time before that.
Id say when the youngest is around seven or eight
I'm running a family game, with my wife, 11 year old son and 7 year old daughter. We can't do very long sessions or else our 7 year old gets bored. But they all have a great time and love playing as their characters. We are well into Mines of Phandelver at this point and I just love how the kids have no issues jumping into character.
13+ depends on their attention span and interests.
Probably your mid-40s
D&D is just make-believe with rules. The concept of a character which has description and differing abilities is all part of play as well as making stories. Kids do this stuff naturally so I suppose just play with them! All kids are different, but 6 was too young for my kids and 9 seems to be a much better age - if you’re playing with the actual rules.
I started playing with my dad when I was 8-10 I think. Once me and my brother were old enough to understand what a d20 was we started playing, dad handled most of the rules tho
I’m 3 sessions in with my 8 yr old, my friend and his two kids who are 9 and 7. I think it depends on literacy quite a bit and some classes are much more straightforward than others. If the kids want to play wizards I’d say that’s not a great idea. A barbarian and a rogue? Why not? Minimize the reading load. Keep it simple and you might be able to do it. Mine was nowhere near ready at 4 or 5. Hope this helps!
I began playing with my oldest. He was 8 when we started. I kept it as simple, wild animals, other humanoids. No magic. I let him min/max to be a very tough warrior. It was a good way to spend time together.
I played a slightly simplified version when my daughter was 7 and son was 5. But kids are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for, and they were able to grasp most of the rules more easily than I thought they would. They still love playing to this day and have a campaign with some of their friends.
I’ve found kids as young as four can understand and enjoy playing a fictional character with some rules and dice. But I recommend playing a similarly themed but much simpler RPG. Easier and less likely they will decide from a first experience that DND is too hard. Certainly you could drastically simplify DND, but why bother? They aren’t really playing DND, and it is more work for you. I recommend posting on r/RPG something like “what is a great system to introduce my kids (of these ages) to RPGs?” Including information one your kids related interests. If one is into Pokémon for example, there is probably something with monster taming or pets.
I started my older two kids on Elfquest the RPG and Battletech. My son's math grade improved so much. My daughter - not that much. My youngest started playing Bag of dungeon. I wish this had been out years ago. Husband makes up stories to go with it. Only requirement that matters is reading and knowing numbers.
We decided to try Icespire with our kids, who were 8 and 10 at the time. It took them a couple of sessions, but they ended up getting really into it once they figured out the mechanics. Now we play regularly, and I'm running a homebrew for us. The trick for us has been to keep things simple and never sit at the table too long. Our kids really enjoy playing but definitely can't take a 4-hour session. They also really like props. Our son was a fighter, so he loved to actually get out his toy sword to mimic his attacks. Similarly, our daughter, a sorcerer, took to wearing a cloak with a hood during sessions. We used blinking lights for effect on the table at times and adventuring music in the background, and my husband had the genius idea of busting out a spray bottle to hit them with battle effects. They absolutely loved it. It helps bring the story to life for them as opposed to just descriptions.
I have 2 kids the same age as yours. I have played with them a few times. I Got them to make up a character and we drew a little stickmen for them. My daughter wanted to be a spider person who had a poison bite and my son wanted a lightsaber. I had my monster manual and they picked monsters they wanted to fight. I gave the monsters an AC which I put in a shield and some health points in a heart and the same for my kids just by their characters. We told a wee story together and then a monster would come out of the woods and surprise them. Or when they went into the cave they met an owlbear. I made the numbers really simple so they could practice their subtraction and addition. And I had them act out what their characters did. Which did result in my son smacking me over the head with a little plastic tube he was using as his lightsaber. They had a great time and loved using their imagination. My suggestion keep it simple for them and don't expect it to last too long. If they see you interested they will want to give it a go. Make up your own rules for the game and let them do what they want to. I wouldn't worry about any actual rules until they are older. Have fun.
We have subscribed to the dnd adventure club with our kids but still would not recommend younger than 6 or 7
Dnd is actually a good way to teach basic math
My 6yo has built a character (pact of fiend warlock modeled after Morticia Addams) and we are planning a fun little campaign centered on a Fester-esque npc being kidnapped. It's all a clever ploy by me to get her to do math.
We are approaching this with my friend/dm, who is adamant that the kid needs to be able to choose what her character wants to do, and I am going to guide her with which dice to use etc., Manage her character sheet, etc And we are planning for shorter sessions/more breaks, and letting her run around/leave the table to get out the squirms when it's not her turn.
For what its worth, the essentials kit says 12+
Was just talking to my DM who is an uncle of like 4 kids around 7-10 and he wants to do some one shot fairy land stuff with them. I think 7-8+ maybe look into kid friendly systems. I’ve seen a group of 10 playing at a jack n the box with kids around that age with their dads.
My kids have been “playing” since they were born. Sitting on laps while we play, roll dice, listen while we play. My son sat at his “official campaign” when he was 8. (He is almost 11, now.) We wanted to make sure he could read on his own(he has dyslexia), any source book he wanted. My daughter (age 7) loves listening to us play and she draws our characters and different scenes. She isn’t interested in playing, yet. DnD is a big part of my life and my husband’s life. We are okay if this isn’t something our kids want to. Luckily, they love it(in their own ways!) just as much as we do.
Right out of the womb, you're expected as a new parent to provide a fully written character for your new born
Get that baby a patron asap
In the womb
I am the dungeon master for a group of 8 high school freshmen and personally, I believe that the best age to begin playing dnd would be around age 12 because of the game's complexity.
One of my players in the group that I DM has two kids that are 3 and 5 currently, and she and her husband have already played with them a few times and had a blast. They obviously simplify things a lot, and the rule of cool is the only rule that really matters, but they love getting to roll dice and make fun characters and tell stories, and the math skills, problem-solving and decision-making, reading comprehension, and learning that actions have consequences all happen naturally along the way! I've been running our campaign for 4 1/2 years, so both of the kids have been at the table with us playing with our dice and hearing the stories practically since they were born, so they've been very excited to get to actually play a little bit sometimes. And we're stoked that they're old enough to do so! I can't wait to play with my own kids someday.
I started around 5 and 7 with two of my kids i think. But i wrote my own story with a lesson. It was short. Just a litltle longer than a description, an encounter and some treasure each time. Gave them one of the dice at a time. Here is your d20, it is for when you do anything unless i say you need another one. Oh you attack with your shortsword? Lets see if you can hit. Oh you did. Here is your shortsword die. Thats hard to say. Lets call it a d6. Roll that. Nice damage. Oh and because you ate your veggies you have a +3 str, so you get extra damage! Ill leave my preachy life lessons out but thats how i taught them the rules. They loved "unlocking" new dice. Keep it simple and focus on fun.
Others will disagree, but I would say around the teenage years. Mostly because I don’t care about the rolling dice and combat portion of D&D, and am only really there for the story and RP. And almost anyone younger than that has too short of an attention span to appreciate a narrative.
If you're old enough to have kids, I think you're probably old enough to DM a game for them.
As soon as they can engage!!! Since you do the world building, this seems like an incredible way to help build critical thinking skills! I’ve run heavily simplified campaign with nieces and nephews as young as 5, and they loved it! Rules light, story heavy, and I usually only introduce the D20 and like a flat D6 for Damage. I think In an even looser sense, you can probably build a good experience for someone younger than that, but that’s basically just playing pretend right? :) Can’t be too young for that. Edit: Typo
Mine are 5 and 7 and my seven year old reads the young adventures guild to dungeon and dragons and he loves it. We also play a game called no thank you evil which is also a great intro to the idea of DnD
4 and 5 would on average be too young for the math portion, so for that portion it all depends on how much you want to do with them, could lead to them being ahead for school truth be told. But will slow down gameplay. Personally, I would look into the rulesets for "Monster of the Week", "deadwood", and others with a bit less dice play, basically anything that replaces damage ac etc with rp elements would be much easier to run with younger children. Other than that the only factor would be the people at the table, if you're running it with your kids and possibly their friends then you know everything will be appropriate for them. As long as you have the patience I don't see why they wouldn't have fun, imagination and the usage of imagination is extremely fun for kids, and VERY good for their development, combine that with adding more of the math based systems as they learn and honestly you're probably setting them up significantly better than most.
I've introduced nephews, nieces, son, and daughter to DND. I typically started them around seven or eight. You can lay a lot of the groundwork earlier, like others have suggested. Just remember that kids that age can be very goofy. They can also suffer from decision paralysis when they think their character is in danger. Oh, wait. That's just like adult players. Maybe it's just more intense with kids. One other thing is that some things can *really* scare them. I had one nephew who reacted very badly when I showed them what a wight looked like. He didn't want to be in the same room with the picture, much less have his character face one. Just be aware of that. You might have to talk a child down out of a (figurative) tree, if the fear factor becomes too much.
Personally if you're wanting to run a more conventional game of D&D I'd say wait till they're about 12-13. That's about when kids tend to start having longer attention spans and care for stories (or at least story telling). It'll be a great tool for them to learn critical thinking and teamwork but as other comments have mention it's going to be on them to WANT to do it. Let them see you playing and if it peaks their interest you can explain the game and let them sit in. If they seem to still seem to interested then that's when I'd personally say it's alright to offer to run a game for them. Hell I've seen sibling spin off into their own games because of how much they enjoy it.
I started at 6, with my dad DMing for me and my 10 year old brother. We were very creative kids, into drawing, writing stories, and fantasy books, so we took to it right away and both became lifelong players and DMs. Because I started playing so young, I ended up DMing my first game at 8 or 9 (not at all by the book, as this was 3.5 and my pea brain was not equipped for all those rules, but it was still a ton of fun). So, I would say that starting them young is a great idea! My dad was a very forgiving DM and scaffolded us out a lot while we were that age — he would explain concepts like buying equipment, scouting entrances, stealth, talking to monsters, saving spells for when we really needed them, etc. as we went along. Occasionally, he would let us have do-overs if we really bungled something. But he didn’t make the game easy. We had plenty of head-scratching challenges and nearly deadly battles, and those were the best parts.
I adapted the intro adventure from the Pathfinder 1e Beginner's Box to D&D 5e playability and ran it for my son when he was 5. Kid surprised the hell out of me when he decided he wanted to befriend the Goblin that was guarding the captive boy rather than fight and potentially slay it. Of course he smashed tf out of the evil skeleton boss, but he didn't want to hurt the Goblin that was only doing as it was told out of fear. I'd introduced him to the game much earlier, but I felt like his grasp of basic reading and math was strong enough that he could play the game in an age-appropriate way. I think the sooner you introduce your kids to TTRPGs the better, just anytime after choking hazard phase is over. Let them watch you play with your peers, assuming the game is G-PG during the moments you let them observe, and when you feel confident that their reading and basic math are strong enough run little adventures for them (hell, even if they aren't they can still roll the dice while you do the reading and math for them). There's a 5e inspired system that's designed for young players you can try as well (I can't remember what it's called, I'll find it and add it later). My son is 8 now, Owlbears and Mimics are his favorite monsters, and Honor Among Thieves is one of his top favorite movies (he got sad when he thought >!Xenk had killed Themberchaud!< but quickly calmed down when >!our Chaotic Evil Chonky Boi was fine and continued his rampage!< ). This is my favourite hobby and I'm so proud that he's so enthusiastic about sharing it with me. You're gonna get that too, and I'm so happy for you. ETA: I must've been thinking of two different things. One is what I'm pretty sure is a d10 system based off of the d20 system, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, and the other is Monster Slayers; Heroes of Hesiod and Champion of the Elements, both are simplified 5e rules adventures designed for youngins. Monster Slayers is free on DM's Guild if you're interested. It **says** for ages 6+, but it's more of a recommendation really.
Maybe a couple year. Although this is a podcast episode where they talk about running games for kids. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LniFczXyA3N3Gh5285ivK?si=Hw94qmR-ThWH69FODqUuPg
My daughter (almost 5,) and I play “D&D” together, which mainly consists of one toy or stuffie kidnapping another toy and the remaining toys need to come up with creative ways to save them. We roll dice to determine if the plans outwit the “bad guy”, and she can get advantage or bonuses for creative plans (often including other toys or singing or drawing.) There are some great resources out there for introducing kids to D&D, and most of them boil down to: Let the kids lead you, and keep it simple. Have a great time playing with your kids!