Earlier this week, I posted on Instagram asking all of you what type of content would be most helpful for me to create to aid your date night routine over the next few months. The overwhelming majority of those who responded wanted more at-home date night ideas. As we’re heading into the colder season and after almost nine months of doing this at home thing more often than not, I think we could all use some fresh ideas.
You can find all of the at home date night content I’ve posted here on Davis County Dates by clicking here. You can find even more at home date night ideas on our sister site, A Prioritized Marriage, by clicking here.
I often get asked how to make an at home date night different than any other night of the week. The good news is, I have a lot of great tips to help you out with that too! Click here to read my full blog post on the topic.
13 At Home Date Night Ideas
Order takeout
Probably the most obvious and simple things to do for date night at home. Support your favorite local businesses by ordering takeout from them! A lot, if not all, restaurants are still offering some sort of curbside or no contact pickup. Instead of sitting down with your food in front of a movie, sit down across the dinner table from each other and imagine you’re eating out. You could even go so far as to plate your food after you get it home, so you’re not eating from takeout containers and it feels more like a date.
Participate in the Utah Taste Off
Each week, The Utah Taste Off puts together a take home taste off kit filled with a variety of yummy local goodies. They’ve put together kits with things like sweet rolls, salsa, hand pies, and soups. You have to preorder your kit so they know how many to prepare for, but on the date of the event, you drive to the pickup location and they’ll pass your kit through your car window. Then you take the kit home, enjoy all of the food, and vote on your favorites to participate in the statewide event! Click here for more details about The Utah Taste Off at home events.
Create your own at home taste-off
There are some taste offs that The Utah Taste Off just won’t be able to host. Like the best french fries, or local burgers, or milkshakes. They wouldn’t travel or reheat well the way that their take home kits are set up. But you can do them on your own at home! One idea would be to host a hot chocolate tasting, with various flavors from your favorite brand or the same flavor from various brands. (Stephen’s was well stocked in a wide variety of flavors at my local grocery store this week.) Or click here for more ideas to host your own taste off, along with printables to help you out, provided by The Utah Taste Off.
Purchase a subscription box
Date night subscription boxes are one of my favorite ways to plan date night at home, because you don’t really have to do any of the planning! I’m going to subscribe to a few of my favorite date night subscription services for the next few months. Those date nights will just show up on our porch each month and we just have to open them up and use them. Click here for more on the benefits of subscription boxes for date night as well as links and discounts for some of our very favorites.
Start a book club with each other
A lot of couples I know, enjoy reading books together. Some read self-help or non-fiction books, others enjoy fiction. One couple I know reads the same book, at the same time and then they have a mini “book club” once they’ve finished. I think a book club, just the two of you, could make a really fun date. And it could provide a fun opportunity for a mini date one night each week. Or even one big date each month after you’ve finished reading. Click here for more tips to help you start a book club together!
Learn to dance
If you’ve always wanted to learn to dance together, but haven’t been able to get your spouse on board with an in person class or felt too self-conscious to take one yourself, why not learn at home? There are a lot of great, free dance tutorials on the internet, as well as some paid courses you can participate in from the comfort of your home. Pick a dance you want to learn and spend a few date nights practicing together. When we’re all able to go out again, you can show off your new skills on the public dance floor.
Host your own ‘Chopped’ competition
One of the “fun” parts of staying home more is creating meals out of whatever you have at home. Plan a date night in the kitchen together and create a meal from only what you have in your house. Plan to make a specific type of food (tacos, pasta, breakfast) and get creative with the ingredients you have on hand. Or find a recipe you want to make and substitute the ingredients you don’t have with other things from your pantry.
Have a nerf gun war
You know that popular picture that floats around social media from time to time? The one with the nerf or squirt gun and a note from a spouse letting their partner know that they’re hidden somewhere in the house or the yard with another one, and the war is on? Do that!! One thing we found was really fun was turn pieces of our couch into our fort on opposite sides of our living room, and shoot away! You could also chase each other around the house, or the yard on a warm day, having a lot of fun and friendly competition. Pull out Mr. and Mrs. Smith to watch after you’re done.
Build a fort and have a picnic in it
Grab every blanket in your house and build the biggest fort you can! Leave your fort up for days and make so many activities, with your family and with each other, seem more adventurous. “Pack” a picnic with foods that you have in your pantry and eat a meal together in your fort. While you eat, talk about more lighthearted things in life. You could even bring in a few books and read together in the comfort of your little hideaway.
Set up a romantic dinner
Pretend you’re going out to your favorite date night restaurant, but do it at home! Set your table up fancy with candles and all. Use your best dishes and fancy glasses, dim the lights and turn on some music in the background. You coud cook a full meal together, grab something easy from the store, or pick up your favorite takeout. Set everything out nicely on your plates and enjoy being together and talking. Click here for more tips for setting up a romantic dinner date at home.
Record your love story together
Have you ever written down or made a video of the two of you sharing your love story together? I think it’s really fun to hear both sides of the story, and see how the two of you connect when you tell it. Pick a piece of your story to record together, set your cell phone up somewhere it can see you both and hit record! Share the story of your first date, the first time you met, when you said I love you, your engagement, or even just a memorable date. You and your kids will love looking back on the video for years to come. Click here for more ideas to help you record your love story together for date night.
Explore your music libraries together
If you’re looking for a relaxing at home date that encourages connection, this is the date night activity for you! You will be surprised by the things that you learn about your spouse. And how much the music you listen to connects the two of you as a couple. Click here for a full post on how to make the most of your music library exploration date.
Make a mural together
Do you remember growing up, when your mom would layout those long sheets of paper on the floor and let you color to your heart’s desire? This is what you want to do! You can order craft paper like that in rolls off of Amazon for a really decent price. Pick from colored pencils, crayons or markers and work together to create a beautiful picture. This activity could cover a couple of different date nights, as you roll you picture up and come back to finish it later.
I hope these ideas, and the others I linked to in the beginning of the post help you come up with some unique ways to keep your date night habits alive at home over the next few weeks and throughout the coming season! At home date nights provide unique challenges, but when you find a way to make them work in your relationship, you’ll start to love them maybe more than you love your date nights out!