A few years ago, I wrote about How I Date My Husband. We had little kids and it made sense to be intentional about finding ways to stay connected when we couldn’t find—or afford—babysitters. Now that our kids are older, we are still finding ways to connect throughout the week.
We love home dates because it eliminates the need to go out, spend a lot of money, and leave the kids at home. As an added bonus, doing date night at home helps us during social distancing!
5 At-Home Date Ideas
Porch Dates
I dream of being the beautiful family in a magazine with a home in the country, and everyone eating a healthy meal on the back porch together. In reality, sometimes it’s just nice to sit on the front porch or the deck with my husband and a drink for some overdue conversation. It is easy to plan a Porch Date—you only need something to drink and maybe a snack too.
Pro Tip: Instead of discussing schedules and kids’ school happenings, we use the Card Deck app from the Gottman Institute. It’s free and has lots of fun (and steamy!) questions!
Movie Nights
Many evenings find us sitting on separate couches as we watch The Office. Watching familiar TV or movies is how we unwind. However, we have found that if we intentionally pick a movie together, stack the pillows in bed or sit together on the couch, and grab a snack, it feels more like a date.
Pro tip: Pick the movie before date night so you don’t find yourselves scrolling through Netflix for 30 minutes. Time for date night is precious!
DIY or Home Improvement Projects
We have found during our social distancing weeks that there are things that need to get done around the house. We have also tried to find some fun things to work on together. We have watched old home movies, planted gardens, and set up a gym area at home. While none of those things would be on my top 10 for exciting date nights, it feels good to work on a project together and accomplish something.
Pro tip: We don’t recommend trying something new home improvement ideas for date night unless you are very skilled in that area. For example, my husband and I know we do not assemble IKEA furniture well together.
Game Nights
After the kids go to bed, we love playing Yahtzee. We started keeping track of wins/losses in 2002 on our honeymoon and the score is pretty close 18 years later! I think the reason we like this game is that there’s a tiny bit of strategy but we don’t have to concentrate very hard. Also, we are a bit competitive with each other to keep things fun!
Pro tip: There are a lot of great games that don’t take long to play and are quick. Think of old favorites like UNO, Skipbo, Battleship, etc.
YouTube Nights
YouTube is full of great date night ideas! Here are some favorites:
- Line Dancing and Ballroom Dancing Tutorials
- Documentaries
- Yoga Tutorials (Check out Yoga with Adrienne!)
- Cooking Classes
- DIY Home Improvement Projects
Finally, when we’re stuck for ideas, we turn to Adventure Challenge: Couple’s Edition. This was a Christmas gift and we have had fun with spontaneous date ideas from this book.
We hope that you have found some ideas that you’d like to try at home. What are your at home date ideas?
