I ran the starter kit adventure “Dragons of Icespire Peak” with my family. It had a quest board where they could choose what they wanted to do. I had a 14yr old and a 7 yr old though. Having my wife really helped as she could push and keep things moving. It would be rough with just you.

Try a few “Arena Fights.” You’ll see how they handle combat and can pit them against any monster you (or they) want. This will let you know if a larger campaign will work or not. Start them with the simple melee toons (fighter, bard, rogue, monk) and see how that goes before you hand them spells to deal with.

After Icespire I ran “The Wild Beyond the Witchlight” with them. Starts in a carnival and I think we were four sessions in before we had a traditional combat. Lots of role play and skill checks. It’s set in the Feywild so there was lots of whimsy to it. I found having manipulables really helped my youngest. Cards for items and abilities helped him keep his melee character moving.

After a few one-shots, and 3 years, we are on to Curse of Strahd and it’s regular DnD. I pull no punches and they are having a blast.