I've given my 10 year old son his own copy of Moldvay Basic. He's been working on a dungeon and is slated to run it this weekend for me, my wife, and his kid brother.
Awesome I played the FASA Masters of the Universe RPG with my 6-year old son a couple times already. Now he keeps asking me (while looking up at the giant bookcase filled with RPGs), "how old will I be when you teach me to play Dungeons and Dragons?"
So, how long are you going to wait? If they're old enough to read, they're old enough to play, right?
I started shaking the dice and "playing" at 5 years old. Yoy can always talk them through and help maintain the character sheet.
Who says the kids need a character sheet? I don't recall having one when I started. Then again, my uncle simplified most of the game by replacing most of the dice rolls with trivia questions.
Welcome to SIGPUP.* I'm thinking this year will be the year my son get's a crack at it. He and my daughter have played in D&D games, board games (Descent), and mini games (Battle Masters, HeroScape). You see pics of them at game days and such over at TheRPGHaven in a couple of threads where Mark has links to pics. My daughter's interest in D&D is fading a bit, but his remains. And they might be jointly running a Heroscape or Battle Masters game at the next Game Day. * The Society to Increase the Gaming Population Using Procreation.