10 Creative and Fun At Home Date Ideas
These 10 at home date ideas will take you out of your dating funk and give you a fresh perspective on how to switch up your routine.
Whether you’re stuck at home because of a global pandemic, you’re an introvert, or you desperately need a date night but you can’t watch one more show without wanting to poke your eyeballs out, these 10 date ideas will help save both you and your eyeballs.
Do you ever ask your significant other what they want to do for date night (or day dates) and they respond with any of the following: “I don’t know”, “I’m not really sure”, or “I don’t care, whatever you want.”
Gee, thanks babe. Isn’t it just the best?
Coming up with new, creative ideas on the spot can seem overwhelming (especially for the person brainstorming ideas), which makes it easy to fall into your routine of doing the same thing over and over each week.
10 At Home Date Ideas
1. Make a Bucket List
Sit down with your partner and brainstorm the places you want to go together. This could include a retreat you’ve had your eye on for a while, that beautiful location you recently saw on a travel show, or relaxing on a beach with a tropical drink in your hand.
Plan what you want to do while you’re there, and write it all down. Once it’s all mapped out, put it somewhere where you’ll see it daily. This will keep it fresh in your mind so you can jump on any deals you see to make your bucket list a reality.
To take it one step further, dress how you would for a night out there. Make dinner with ingredients used in that culture, put on their music, and cook together while drinking whatever would be local to that country or area.
2. Wine Tasting at Home
There’s no need to go to a bar or a winery to enjoy a wine tasting, just create the experience at home instead. If you don’t drink wine, you could also do this with beer. If you don’t drink alcohol, you can do a kombucha tasting.
Head to the store and buy a few different varieties of whatever it is you’ve decided on. Pour the different varieties into glasses, and put the bottles away.
Mix them up on the table, so you don’t know which is which and take notes of the different flavors that you taste, then rate them from 1-5 of your favorite to least favorite and discuss your notes and favorites after.
What else would be at a wine tasting? Cheese and crackers or fruit? Include that too. The more realistic it is, the more fun it’ll be.
3. Picnic in the Living Room
Open a window to allow some fresh air to come in, lay a blanket down, make whatever food or drinks you’d typically take to an outdoor picnic, pack them in your basket, and head to the living room.
Because you’re at home, you have the chance to make this really cozy. Think lots of pillows and an extra comfy blanket.
If space allows, you could also do this in your backyard or on a balcony or porch.
4. Have a Cook Off
If you and your partner love a little friendly competition, you can have a cook off where you cook the same meal, but see who’s dish tastes better in the end.
It’s a great way to get creative. Plus, you’ll feel like you’re on Chopped, except you’ll be in the comfort of your own kitchen (and you won’t lose $10,000 if your dish doesn’t win).
5. Game Night
Game nights are big at our house. Whether it’s a board game, a dice game, or a card game, there’s so many options. It’s fun to do something that doesn’t involve technology (unless you need to check on a rule), and provides enough variety that it keeps you engaged.
Game nights are great for inducing friendly banter and competition. Some of our favorite games include Backgammon, Cribbage, Farkle, and Phase 10 (cards or dice) to name a few.
6. Go Virtual House Hunting
Whether you’re actually looking to buy a house or not, it’s always fun to look and dream about what you want your dream home to look like and to get ideas so that when the time comes, you’ll have a clearer vision of what you do and don’t want.
7. Indoor S’mores Party
Make s’mores indoors. Preheat your oven to 400ºF. On a baking sheet, add graham cracker halves, with halved marshmallows, cut side down (so they stick to the graham cracker and don’t roll around).
Bake for 3-5 minutes, but keep a close eye so they don’t burn. You want them to just turn golden. Take out and top with chocolate of choice and another marshmallow-graham cracker half.
To really set the ambiance: eat them by candlelight and tell stories or reminisce about past memories.
8. Glamping Indoors
When you’re used to camping outdoors, indoor camping is basically glamping (glamorous camping for you newbs).
You can set up your tent, sleeping bags and the whole shebang. Unlike real camping, you have the comfort of sleeping with a real pillow, not getting eaten by bugs and you can pee in a real toilet. (It’s the little things.)
If space allows, you can also do this in a backyard, but taking it indoors creates a whole new adventure.
9. Recreate Your First Date
Recreate your first date, but at home. You can make dinner together, and over dinner ask each other interesting questions that you may not know the answer to or have never talked about before.
This is a great way to divert from the everyday questions of “how are you?, how was your day?,” etc., and dive deeper below the surface.
Card games such as We’re Not Really Strangers, Big Talk, or Convo and Chill help spark ideas when you’re not sure where to start or need guidance.
10. Watch Home Videos
Watching home videos is so entertaining! This is something my husband and I did recently, and it’s such a great mood booster.
Any date that includes some deep belly laughing is a good date in my book. Plus, it allows you to see a glimpse of how your partner grew up. Sharing a piece of home is a great way to bring you closer together, and also lighten the mood.