When was the last time you and your spouse, or significant other, had one on one time; like a date? And I don’t mean when you two were folding laundry together, or that other time when the kids fell asleep in the car and you could have a conversation.
Sure, anytime we can have an uninterrupted conversation with our spouses is awesome and beneficial for our relationship it is not quit on the same reconnection level as a date night.
Reconnecting with our spouse, or significant other, is paramount to keeping your friendship and spark alive. But sometimes it is hard or impossible to find that time, or the funds, to have a romantic night of reconnection.
When the budget is tight, or you have kids but no baby sitter, or there is a pandemic happening, a creative, yet romantic date night at home is the perfect solution.
I have come up with 29 date nights ideas that are full of fun, romance, and the opportunity to reconnect all from the comfort of your home.
All of these date night ideas can be done while the kids are tucked safely in bed.
Recipe for a Great Stay at Home Date Night
Preparing for a romantic night in with your partner doesn’t have to be stressful.
You can decide in advance which date night you would like or you can leave it to chance by putting all of the ideas in a Date Night Jar and choosing one.
No matter which date night theme you choose, you will need to do several very important things:
Date Night Dress Code Ideas for Both of You:
What kind of date night is it? The stay-at-home date theme you choose will help dictate the clothing attire.
Sleepwear: Cute, Nice Pj’s for a cozy night in.
Comfy but Cute: Nice lounge wear, for a comfortable, yet romantic date.
Dress up: Pretend you both are going out to one of your favorite restaurants- or one you would love to go to. Wear the clothes you would wear on a traditional date, an outfit that makes you feel amazing.
Throwback outfit- Recreate your first date outfits, it can be fun to remember how it all started.
Set the Mood
Clutter adds stress and your date night is supposed to be relaxing.
No need to do a deep clean, unless you really want too, but do take the time to tidy up and declutter the rooms you will be using.
Add a few candles here and there to add a little mood lighting.
Create a playlist, or allow Youtube Music or Spotify to help you set the mood of the evening.
A Few Days in Advance
Gather up your date night supplies and get organized with a plan.
Having an idea of how the night should go and having all the supplies you need will help the night go smoothly.
Nothing will kill a mood more quickly than having to run out to the store for a last minute must have item.
My last minute, lazy girls tidying hack:
Loose paper-bills type clutter- laying around? Throw that stuff in a box. It will still be come what organized, but out of sight out of mind for a few hours and you just saved yourself some declutter time.
Backyard-Outdoor Date Night
1. Outdoor Games
Those same outdoor games that are great for parties can be a lot of fun for the two of you too.
A little competition and trash talking can be a lot of fun.
Two of my favorites are:
Corn hole- of which I am not very good but enjoy the challenge- and Connect Four-backyard size- I am good at, lol!
If you are looking for a few more idea:
Yardzee- giant version of Yatzee (so fun!).
Backyard Bowling- challenging, and you can move it inside if the weather is bad.
2. Stargazing with an App
Lying down, staring at the stars with the one you love is a great way to slow down, enjoy nature, and each other.
A little rusty on your astronomy? Not to worry, apps like SkyView Lite help.
Download SkyView Lite to your cellphone or tablet and it will identify what you and your spouse are seeing in the night sky.
3. Bonfire and S’mores
Our fire pit has paid dividends!
Whether it’s a portable fire pit or a fancy paver fire pit, fire-pits are a warm toasty way to reconnect with your SO.
Light that firepit up, grab something to drink, your s’mores kit, enjoy the night air and reconnecting.
Bonus points, if you are a couple that can cook their meal on an open flame.
4. Night Time Picnic
I am a fan of a date night home in the backyard.
I like the quiet and the slow down it provides.
A night time picnic in another way to embrace simplicity and romance.
Grab a couple of candles, a picnic blanket, your favorite beverage, and a meal, head to the backyard and enjoy a starlight picnic.
Indoor Date Night Ideas
Some of these date night ideas can be combined to make one amazing date night.
5. Get Crafty
Communicating with each other why you create something together will encourage focusing on one another and your date.
Don’t worry about having to collect a lot of supplies, many different crafting kits are available to help take the stress out of prepping for your fun date.
Popular kits are:
6. Online Painting Class
Bring Sip n’ Sketching home for a unique and fun date night.
My husband and I have attended several painting and drinking classes and they are fun. We discovered two things, neither of us is destined to be an awesome painter but we had a great time trying.
To make your date night easy, here is a list of online painting instruction that will take all of the thought out of planning your painting party.
Painting Party
For $4.99 a month, you get access to their library of beginner to advanced painting instruction videos. As well as narrowing down your choice by category.
They also give you a list of supplies that you will need, wine not included. :p
Skill Share
Skill Share offers classes on just about any skill you would like to acquire, including painting. When you sign up with Skill Share you’ll receive a free 14 day trial of Skill Share Premium.
If you love succulents, this How to Paint Water Color Succulent class looks awesome.
With reviews like: “This class was a lot of fun! At first I was intimidated since I haven’t done cacti without sketching, the teacher’s approach makes it very easy to follow. Instructions are easy to understand and is a class that you can paint along with her.”
This might just be a contender for one of my stay-at-home date nights!
Paint by Number Kit
The beauty of a paint by number kit is its simplicity.
If you don’t want to bother with an instructor, and you would like to get straight to painting and conversing, yet making something cool, a paint by number kit is an awesome way to go.
Amazon has many different paint by number options to choose from, along with different skill levels.
7. Dream up and Plan Your Dream Vacation
The rules for planning your dream vacation are there are no rules!
Bust out your computer and explore the beautiful beaches of Fiji, the ski slopes in the Alpes, or whatever floats your boat.
Put together an itinerary and price that dream vacation!
Who knows, this fun little date idea may show you that your dream vacation might be able to be made reality.
8. Personality Test
Take a personality test and learn even more about each other.
My husband and I have done this. It was so insightful and fun for both of us.
Tried and true personality tests used by psychologist to help people understand themselves better are:
16 Personalities:
16 Personalities is one of the most popular online personality tests. 16 Personalities covers psychology’s “Big Five” personality traits- openness to experience, extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
This personality test will give your insight into your strengths and weaknesses, romantic relationships, workplace habits and more.
Truity:
Truity has several different personality tests; their Enneagram quiz comes highly recommended.
What is an Enneagram, you ask, it is a personality assessment that unveils patterns in how individuals see the world and how they manage their emotional response to that perception. It then filters those results into 9 personality types.
The Enneagram personality assessment is very popular with entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and influencers.
For more fun and a lot of laughs:
Wizarding World
Whether you are a die hard Harry Potter fan, or you really, really like the movies (guilty!), you and your love will have a great time finding out which Hogwarts House you belong to or what your Patronus is.
I’m a Ravenclaw and married to a Gryffindor, if anyone is asking. 🙂
Spirit Animal
Curious to see if you or your other half have a spirit animal? This quiz will help you figure that out.
9. Learn Something New, Together
One bonus to having a stay-at-home date, the more shy partner can feel free to try something new, like dancing.
Learning a new skill or trying something new gets the creative juices flowing as well as the communication.
Youtube is a great place to learn something new:
10. No Lights Date Night
Make your date night extra romantic by turning off the lights and using the glow of candle light for the night’s activities.
11. Theme Night
Give the night a theme! There are so many theme ideas to choose from.
For example:
- Favorite Sports Team
- Make or order in, your favorite bar foods that you love on game day,
- Wear your favorite sports team
- Watch your favorite championship game.
- Country theme, like Greece-Everything from drinks to dessert is only Greek.
- Favorite color theme
Date Night Fun and Games
12. Murder Mystery Box
Love a good murder mystery or just a good mystery? Sharpen your communication skill while you two try to stop a killer.
Hunt a Killer will deliver your murder mystery right to your door completely ready for you and your significant other to start sleuthing!
13. Two Person Games
Competition can be fun, funny, and a little bit sexy even if it’s trying to win at a game.
I love games and I love competition. If you two feel the same, a game night would a perfect date night in.
There are so many more games for two- other than just checkers, which I love btw.
Yahtzee- One of my favorite games, a mix of chance and strategy.
Connect Four- For such a simple game, it is a challenging game of strategy.
Bananagrams- Race against each other to make word grids, it is more challenging than it looks!
Battleship- A classic!
Uno- If you are more into cards.
Jenga- Give it a twist by imposing that the loser complete a challenge like doing a plank or maybe something a little spicier; after all it is YOUR date night.
Two of a Kind- Designed by DateNightPros, this game for couples who are having a date night at home. Full of laughs, competition, and intimacy.
14. Conversation without Kids
I love my kids. I’m positive you love your kids. But do you find they creep into date night conversations, kind of taking it over?
While talking about the kids doesn’t need to be off limits, the purpose of the date night is to reconnect with one another.
Our Moments and The Ultimate Game for Couples are full of fun, some serious, not cheesy, questions which will have you two talking about one another and not the kids, or fur-babies, for a bit.
Grab a couples conversation starter games and use it to help get the conversation back on you and learning more about each other.
15. Indoor Bowling
Love bowling but can’t make it to the bowling alley?
Grab an outdoor bowling set and bring it indoors!
16. Play a Video Game Together
Playing video games together can be a lot of fun and a new way to communicate with one another.
Don’t have a favorite video game? Check Redbox, and rent an “old school” game like Mario Cart or another that you use to love from way back in the day; bringing back great memories.
Stay-in Date Night from the Couch
17. Throwback Movie Night
For a date night the stirs up good memories, have a movie fest that represents the time line of your relationship. Starting with the first movie you saw together, moving to other cinematic milestones in your courtship.
This never fails to bring up conversation of good memories for my husband and I.
18. Concert
Unable to get to an in-person concert, no fear, for a music loving couple there are online options.
Yes, you can absolutely surf Netflix for concerts that have already aired and Austin City Limits is also a great choice.
For live streams and virtual concerts, Billboard has got you covered.
Looking to discover some new artist, ensembles, or some of your older favs, check out Stageit.
Bonus to a concert from home, no line for the bathroom!
19. Museum Tour
Don’t let the inability to travel keep you from exploring.
Google has partnered with over 2500 world renown museums and galleries to bring you virtual tours.
A museum tour from the comfort of your couch guarantees that you can enjoy sampling the world’s finest history and Art at the British Museum while enjoying all the food and drink you want.
20. Foot Massages
Take turns giving each other foot massages.
Foot massages can be such a sweet, relaxing thing to do for your significant other.
Are you afraid you may give Monica like massages? Here is a video, by a licensed massage therapist showing you how to give a simple, stress relieving foot massage that your partner will love!
Date Night In, the Kitchen
21. Cooking Class
Don’t let a date night in keep you from exploring your culinary talents, together.
Food & Wine has put together an extensive list of online cooking classes starting at the price of FREE.
22. Popcorn or Ice Cream Bar
Add a little fun and adventure to your dessert or movie snack, by creating a popcorn or an ice cream bar.
Pinterest is full of yummy inspiration to help you have a mouthwatering snack session.
23. Themed Beverage Tasting
Looking to try a new adult beverage, or just intrigued by the seasonal offerings? Incorporate that into a themed tasting for your date night.
Many grocery stores now allow you to put together your own 6 pack variety pack.
Themed alcohol drink ideas:
- Winter Beers
- Octoberfest
- IPA
- Ciders- personal fav.
- Rosé themed
- Regional beverages
- Independent Crafters
24. Favorite Restaurant
Make your indoor date night even more special by ordering take out from your favorite restaurant.
Do you two have a steak house that is special to you? Order from them!
Got a sports bar that holds a special place in your heart, get it to go.
25. Mystery Cocktail
This is a job for Pinterest!
For this date idea, raid your liquor cabinet and make new cocktails using what you have.
26. Homemade Pizza
Homemade pizza made just the way you want it.
Enjoy some bonding time making pizza from scratch.
My favorite is Margarita Pizza, and I have a super easy pizza dough recipe here. It is my families go to dough and pizza recipe.
Dough Hack: *Save yourself a little time and grab already made dough from the grocery freezer or fridge section.
27. Wine Tasting
You don’t have to be a sommelier to have a great at home wine tasting. Food & Wine has done the work for you.
Food & Wine has an extensive list of virtual wine tasting. Some of them will even ship a kit to you. All you have to do, is drink and think about whether you really taste notes of chocolate in that Merlot.
28. Date Night Jar
Too many ideas to choose from?
Why not invite the element of surprise by choosing from a jar full of date ideas?!
You can get creative with this, a few days in advance decorate a jar, fill it with date night ideas, and pull a date from the jar.
Viola, fate has spoken!
29. Double Dating, Date Night-in
For so many reasons, it can be challenging to get together with friends for a double date. Thank God for the virtual get togethers.
Initially, I had some hesitation about how fun a virtual double date would be. I learned with great friends, an open mind, and a good internet connection your crew can come up with a double date night that is a great time full of memories.
Some of my favorite ideas for virtual double date are:
Online game or trivia- Game Night Pros has games to play virtually with friend.
If your group enjoys Cards Against Humanity, try All Bad Cards. It’s free and you can play against a bot, if you want to make the game more challenging.
Virtual Wine or Beverage Tasting with Friends
Order the same wine kit or grab the same beverages from the store and compare notes.
Make or Order the Same Meal
A new way to have dinner with friends.
Which Date Night at Home Will You Choose?
Life can get busy. Sometimes different circumstances like tight finances or a new baby can keep us from getting the opportunity to prioritize our relationships and reconnect with our significant other.
A date night indoors- or in the back yard- may not sound as sexy and exciting as going out, but with a little creativity and willingness to prioritize each other, a date night at home can absolutely be a fun, and magical time to reconnect with the one you love.
What are your most memorable or creative date nights? I would love to hear them. Please drop a comment below.
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