Listen up, dads — playing with your kids could help them do better in school.

A study led by the University of Leeds found that children do better in school if their dads engage in activities with them like reading, drawing, singing and telling stories. 

Researchers studied 5,000 mother-father households in England and logged the test scores of 5 to 7-year-olds.

Their study used a data sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, which collected data on kids born in 2000 to 2002 as they grew up.

Researchers discovered that 3-year-olds whose dads played with them had higher test scores when they turned 5.

Similarly, it found that dads who interacted with their 5-year-olds more helped their test scores when they turned 7.

The study found that a dad’s involvement with their kids improved their grades in school regardless of the child’s age, gender, ethnicity or the family’s household income.

Moms who engaged with their children had more of an impact on their social development than on their grades.

“Mothers still tend to assume the primary carer role and therefore tend to do the most childcare, but if fathers actively engage in childcare too, it significantly increases the likelihood of children getting better grades in primary school,” said Dr. Helen Norman, a research fellow at Leeds University Business School, who led the study. “This is why encouraging and supporting fathers to share childcare with the mother, from an early stage in the child’s life, is critical.”

Researchers suggested that dads take as much time to engage with their kids as possible and found that even 10 minutes a day could improve a child’s educational experience.

They also recommended schools take down both parents’ contact info and involve dads in school activities whenever possible.

“Our analysis has shown that fathers have an important, direct impact on their children’s learning. We should be recognizing this and actively finding ways to support dads to play their part, rather than engaging only with mothers, or taking a gender-neutral approach,” Dr. Jeremy Davies, head of impact and communications at the Fatherhood Institute, who co-authored the report, said.

Dads shouldn’t be treated as an “afterthought” in children’s development said another study author.

“This study shows that even small changes in what fathers do, and in how schools and early years settings engage with parents, can have a lasting impact on children’s learning. It’s absolutely crucial that fathers aren’t treated as an afterthought,” said co-author Andrew Gwynne MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood.

The age of a dad could also play a part in a child’s development. One study found that older dads have more intelligent sons.

Another study found that stay-at-home dads swan future female breadwinners.