Playing With Your Kids: How Shared Interests Build Unbreakable Bonds

“Your kids won’t remember the toys.
They’ll remember the moments you built together.”

💬 The Power of Play (Most Men Forget This)

As fathers, we often think leadership is built in the serious moments — the discipline, the lectures, the routines, the responsibilities.

But some of the strongest bonds you’ll ever build…
happen on the floor.
In the grass.
In the lounge room.
In a pillow fort with bad lighting and better memories.

Because play isn’t just fun.
It’s connection.
It’s presence.
It’s the way our children learn what we love — and feel brave enough to show us what they love too.

🏰 My Story: How History Became Our Thing

One day, I introduced my son to a world I’ve always loved — history.
But instead of handing him a boring textbook, I met him where childhood actually lives:

On the floor.
In the imagination.
In the chaos of creativity.

First came the Lego castles.
We sat on the carpet, bricks everywhere, building towers and walls and tiny little drawbridges that barely worked but felt legendary.

Then came the pillow forts — entire kingdoms in the living room.
Blankets draped over chairs, cushions stacked like castle walls, me crawling around pretending to be a dragon while he defended the keep with a foam sword.

After that, we took it outside.
We played soldiers in the yard — not war for violence, but war for adventure.
Strategy, teamwork, bravery.
He learned that history isn’t just dates… it’s stories of courage.

And at night?
We’d read kids’ history books with pictures of knights, explorers, Romans, samurai — the kind that make a young mind light up with imagination and pride.

That became our thing.
Our ritual.
Our bond.

And it taught me something powerful:

“Kids don’t fall in love with your interests because you tell them to —
they fall in love when you invite them in.”

🎯 Why This Matters for Every Father

When you share your interests with your kids — and enter theirs — something magic happens:

• They see who you are.
• You see who they’re becoming.
• They feel chosen.
• You feel connected.

Kids remember the father who got involved, not the father who just watched.

They remember:

The dad who built the fort.
The dad who put the Lego pieces together.
The dad who pretended the hallway was a medieval battlefield.
The dad who read books with voices and passion.

When you step into their world, they learn to trust yours.

🛡️ Let Them Into Your World — and Walk Into Theirs

Every father should have “a thing” with their kids:

It could be:

• Lego builds
• Backyard adventures
• Reading together
• Cooking
• Drawing
• Kicking a ball
• Video games
• Music
• History
• Martial arts
• Fishing
• Craft projects

It doesn’t matter what it is.
What matters is that it’s yours together.

Because those shared interests become the glue of the relationship.
The place they’ll run to when life gets hard.
The memories they’ll talk about as adults.
The stories they’ll pass down to their own kids.

🔥 The WarDad Lesson: Presence Creates Legacy

Your kids don't just need a protector.
They need a playmate, a teacher, a guide, a safe place.

Playing with them today is shaping who they will become tomorrow.

Your presence teaches:
Confidence
Safety
Love
Imagination
Connection
Curiosity
Legacy

Play isn’t a distraction.
Play is the bridge that builds lifelong closeness.

“Lead your home with strength.
Shape your home with love.
But build your home with play.”

⚔️ Take Action Today

✅ Build something together — Lego, a fort, a model, anything.
✅ Ask your child what they love — and join them in it.
✅ Share something you love — stories, skills, history, hobbies.
✅ End the day with a simple line:

“Today was ours.”

💬 From Ash — Founder of WarDad

Some of my favourite memories with my son aren’t big events — they’re the small adventures we created together.
Lego castles, backyard soldiers, pillow forts, reading cool history books at night.

I want him to grow up remembering that his dad didn’t just teach him…
I played with him.
I entered his world.
I shared mine.

Those moments are our legacy — built one brick at a time.

⚔️ The WarDad Way:

Lead with strength.
Connect with presence.
Build with play.

By Ash Sarracossa