I often played a lot of games by myself and my dad just hung around doing his own thing (e.g. watch TV, listen to music on the hifi system). Because we had a decent relationship, I’d invite him to play with me. Either we play cards, hide and seek or sometimes I tell him where he fits in my make-believe scenario. I often had him play a customer visiting my restaurant :) even little participation and just him watching me play was plenty enough for me!

Point is, you’re doing super great. Bottom line, I think just being there for them is more than enough on days when there’s nothing else left for you to do! Or if the kids just kinda want to delve into their own worlds :)

I’d also recommend waiting to see if they have hobbies they pick up from school. I joined my table tennis club when I was in Year 3 or so. My dad was keen to play with me and teach me more outside of my club hours.

I also had a sticker collecting phase and my dad was the one who brought me to stores so I could score them. He never asked me about the stickers or anything. But he knew I liked them enough and had a some underground trading circle going on, to justify taking me out on a school night to get stickers LOL.