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For those of us who have children have you ever tried to involve your children in your hobby? Let me illustrate with my experience so far.

I have a teenage daughter who will not even look at this stuff and is embarrassed that her daddy plays with toys but my 9yo daughter is very artistic and has joined me in the painting side of things. It has been a joy to see her painting up models and really getting into color schemes and she now loves dry brushing. She thinks it’s magical the way the paint starts to appear on things. This summer I plan to start teaching her how to use an air brush.

The reward for me with this involvement is that this past year she was watching me paint up my Ultramarines she got into the idea of having her own army so I talked her through what kind of army (Marines without hesitation despite showing her more "girly" things like Eldar) and settled on a chapter name - Emperor's Princesses. She came up with her own color scheme (Purple and Pink) and she now has a Dark Vengeance starter force with some extra odds and ends assembled and painted.

I then decided to go another step and asked her if she wanted to play a game and she lit up and said yes. So we have now played a handful of games. She seems to be enjoying herself but gets very upset if I have any vehicles in my army because she had an almost comically awful time trying to knock out a Rhino of all things in her first game.

So, with the long winded story behind me, my questions to other parents are - Have you introduced your kids to your hobby? Is there an aspect that they enjoy to do over the others? How successful have you been in getting your kids to enjoy the hobby with you? Do they go so far as to play with you?

What are some of your tips to get kids to want to play/paint/collect? Do you have war stories to share about your kids and the hobby experience? These questions can be extended to those who have tried to get younger siblings or family members to join in on the fun as well.

While I'm not a parent, I did help run a local school's 40k club for a while. It was for kids aged 9-11, and we were a little overbooked at 15 kids per session. Of course most of them were there because they wanted to be, so it wasn't hard to get them into gaming and painting, but a couple seemed to be thrown in by their parents as an alternative to after-school babysitting, or just to be with their friends, and so we had to try and get them to enjoy the game.

It's suffice to say that the staff at our nearest Games Workshop did not help - we brought all the kids up to the store for a game, and they had cleared out the store all ready to get the kids going. As soon as we said they hadn't brought any money, they lost interest and the event was very half-heartedly run. Yes, I guess it's complementary to buy something, but the kids had already bought lots and were planning to buy more in the future.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic there. With our kids I suppose it was a case of them being amongst others who showed interest. Watching other kids get so excited and enjoying the game eventually was too much for those not participating to sit on the sidelines and watch, and they had to take part themselves. Some found they didn't like gaming but we kept them painting and they enjoyed that. A couple did lose interest and left the club though.

I think the key thing is... Warhammer 40,000 is a hobby, and if your first attempts to get a person interested in it doesn't work, they aren't likely to be forced into it. 40k isn't for everyone and if your teenage daughter really doesn't like it after playing a game, I doubt she ever will. But that's great to hear that your younger daughter is enjoying it with you!

Getting kids into it itself is not particularly hard the worst part is explaining the cost of all the things they want to your relatives while they give this "What have you done to me?" face. I had a younger cousin years ago who thought of me as cool and wanted to do anything i did so they were always looking at my models and asking about them. I sat down and explained about different armies and who they are which they really liked and i had some spare models of Space Marines which they really liked from the old boxed set many unpainted so they could paint some and take them home and eventually they got their own and asked me to show them how to play. Didn't last sometimes it just doesn't they lose interest or the expense is too much to deal with,lots to read etc. My other experience is through a friend of mine who i used to play against his younger sister always wanted to watch us play and she wanted her own models so my friend helped her pick some out and we assembled them so she could learn how to paint them eventually she wanted to play with us so we tried some simplified games and she got really hooked. I'm pretty sure she still plays and paints models though not been in contact with that friend or her for a while.

I think it can be fun to have a sibling or child to teach and play with but sometimes it never works out. My Brother is very different to me i was always more into collectibles and models. RPG's and stuff and he was really into sports especially Football so had no interest in Wargames and all that. Kinda sucks about that GW event i guess in the end it's a business and if they are clearing the store for an event they expect to make money in place of the business they lose but really the way to get people hooked is to engage them. My local GW the manager is pretty kid friendly from what i saw even if they aren't going to spend money there and then he'll talk about the different games and the armies then give them a quick demo game if they are interested maybe finish off if they have time with painting a model. They often come back with parent + wallet in tow it's all about the sales pitch of getting kids into it. Push the interesting parts the stories and world,armies etc and show plenty of models they'll either really get excited or look at you like you're a nerd

simplify the rules, simplify the units (make vehicles squishier for starters), and simplify your armies. As you play more games introduce more things. Also let her win a few games so she gets the taste for blood

I introduced my younger brother to 40k (he plays Tau) years back. Now that he's in his mid-teens he's actually got some models together.

His next purchases are going to be a Firebase Support Cadre and a horrible FW Riptide variant. I sometimes lie awake at night, wracked with guilt about the monster I created...

The biggest thing is scraping together enough money. Once they've got that sorted, it's easy enough to do, especially with a sizeable local scene like we have.

I guess I'm a bit curious too, seeing as I got two sons and would like to see them try a game (in like 5 years or so - they're still babes).

Like someone mentioned earlier, baby stepping a lot sounds wise. Just start out with some infantry, like a squad vs a squad.

I also think some interesting terrain would help set the stage along with an interesting narrative. Would get the imagination going I reckon

I'm not a parent (only 19 here), but I've found that it will vary from person to person.
I've watched the local store owner teach people from as young 7, and he does a good job.
Your local store might be a good choice, if that is an option.

Some people might need to win some games to get "the thirst". Some might not mind either way.
I've also seen some people in their teens taught with as little as 100 - 200 pts of models, whereas others (about 10 years of age) with 1500 point armies.
It depends on their attention span (obviously), their willingness to play, and how much they can handle. It's easy to be overwhelmed with 40K's half-assed written, and many rules.
You might want to try a few hundred points of infantry. Sure, Marine vs Marine footslogging might be a tad unexciting, but it's a start.
Move to vehicles & infantry, or let them have vehicles and you take none.
If it helps, "forget" to shoot a unit or two every now and again. Or "forget" to move one.
Remind them to move and shoot.

Give them the rulebook open on the reference page (or print one for them) that tells them what they need to hit (shooting and combat) & to wound.
Maybe a quick-reference of their army special rules, like ATSKNF, their Chapter tactics (if any).
Make sure they're aware of things that seem "obvious" (like pre-measuring, asking about YOUR rules, Wargear, etc)
If they enjoy reading, let them sit down with the rules and read them while you paint.

If a game is taking a while, or they seem to be losing focus/interest, ask them if they want to take a break for a bit. Get a drink, go outside to stretch your legs and get some fresh air.

Hope this helps.

First off, please get pictures of Emperor's Princesses, thats so freaking adorable. Second I would suggest starting small, 750 point games might even be pushing it. maybe let your daughter choose what you play? or maybe the two of you can team up against one of your willing buddies (be sure to thank them). Nothing bonds better then the Emperor's Princesses teaming up with their collective fathers and kicking someone's butt!

My son is 5 and I've already started getting him into the hobby. I gave him 3 DV chosen models, a brush and let him use my paint. He had a blast painting with me and in my opinion anything you can do with your kids and both have fun is going to be a positive experience for you both. My son loves to play with my models. Sure things can and will break but dice he's 5 so when I drop my models mid game with another adult it do more damage then he ever did. We've had 8000 points of 4 different armies all out on the floor playing with them like they were transformer or GIJoes. One of the greatest joys of a parent is seeing your child like they toys you do, cause you know you'll always have someone to play with.

Even if she doesn't end up digging playing the game often, if you can paint together you can always enjoy the converting, building, painting aspect of the hobby together.

I don't have anything useful to add, but I did wanna mention that story is adorable. Get that little lady some tanks of her own

My son (soon to be 9) has always liked my models. I have given him a few from each army. So he has some crimson fists space marines, some tau,and some orks.. He now has his own 5000 point mostly painted grey knight army! And is slowly slowly learning.

The teenage daughter (14 y.o.) of my play buddy really liked to look at our games. then she started to paint his minis, and now he bought big Necron Battleforce for her. She picked her army herself and determined to play with us!)