After a long day of work, car pooling, and errands, what most dads (and moms) would like to do is to finally sit down, maybe read the paper or watch TV. But we're lucky to be raising kids in a new era, one where dads are far more involved in their children's daily lives than in generations past. And so they brush off the fatigue to play a game of catch with their kids, coach a soccer team, or curl up in bed together and read a good book.

And you know what? All that extra time pays off. A large study that included 17,000 babies and spanned 50 years found that children of hands-on fathers grew up to be generally more successful, including a higher IQ and a better social standing. Researchers interviewed 5,700 of those original babies at age 46 to see if how they were parented affected the way they interacted with their own children.

I tell my husband all the time that our girls are so lucky that he's a hands-on dad. He's as likely to play a rousing game of Pretty Pretty Princess with our three-year-old as he is to take our kindergartner out to hit a few balls off a tee. He shrugs it off -- why would he be any other way? But as a person who spends nearly 100% of her time with her children, I can see how much his interest in their lives bolsters them, and bonds them together despite the hours he spends away with work.

Quality time doesn't need to be complicated, but if you're a dad looking for some new activities for you and your children to enjoy together, About.com has great list of links.