Date Night ideas While Staying Safe from the Corona Virus.
The silver lining to this pandemic is that couples are staying at home together with an opportunity to turn a scary time into a fun opportunity for growth.
Before we dive into my “Top 40 Date Night Ideas To Do During COVID-19”, I want to share a tip with you:
TIP: During this time of uncertainty, keep an “attitude of gratitude”. You were looking forward to so many things…weddings, birthday parties, vacations. And now instead of being “stuck at home”, let’s shift our thinking to being “safe” at home. Those events will come again. And we can have fun looking forward to and planning them again! That’s the mindset we should have!
Lift your spirits and make some memories.
Indoor Date Night Ideas:
1. Throw a two-person party!
Make a fancy dinner together, make a pitcher of sangria, dress up, put on fun music, get out the fancy dishes, and go all out! Maybe make it travel-themed and make Mexican food, Italian food, French cuisine, etc.
2. Order from a local restaurant!
Have a picnic on the floor or a party on the couch.
3. “Chopped” Challenge cooking competition
The challenge: You can only use ingredients that are in the house to make your meal. Maybe you have to create a pizza with only toppings in the house?!
4. Interior Design: Home-improvement projects
We painted and finished a wood wall in our basement, so do something you’ve always wanted to. Clean, do house projects, give an old piece of furniture a new look.
5. Decorate the house for an upcoming holiday: Easter
Make the ultimate Easter egg hunt inside or outside (or both!) for your partner with fun prizes inside each egg.
6. Watch movie trilogies or the entire season of something…
Watch ALL The Lord of Rings, ALL the Star Wars, the entire season of something. Watch a movie marathon of a certain actor
7. Clean your closets out and make a donate pile
Clean out those closets! And make it fun!
8. Go through your old yearbooks, or old photo albums, or watch old home movies together!
I did this at a girls weekend recently and we laughed so hard reading the messages and looking at old pictures. It’s guaranteed laughter and a great way to learn more about your significant other!
9. Do a puzzle or game together
Play board games, play Truth or Dare, play a card game (Gin Rummy is a good two-person game), or make up your own game. Don’t have many board games? Play “Would You Rather” or try this! You can find fun questions online or make up your own and put them all in a bowl. Write down your own answer to the question and then guess out loud what you thought the other person wrote down. No cheating because their correct answer is already written down!
Some questions to get you started during your cute couples night in:
- What is my most prized posession?
- What is my greatest fear?
- If your partner could choose one thing of mine to get rid of, what would they choose?
- If we were on a road trip, what is my go-to snack I grab at a gas station?
- Where would my dream vacation be?
- What is my least favorite food?
- Who said “I love you” first?
- What is your favorite thing about your partner?
- What would I eat and drink at my perfect dinner?
- Where is my favorite restaurant?
- What is my favorite color, movie, actor, band/singer, friend, etc.
10. Read the same book and have “coffee and book club meetings”
Read the same book or read books you want to individually and come together to discuss. Ask good questions.
11. A Year In Review.
It’s always so fun to go back and remember all the things that have happened in the last year. Write the down and reflect on them if you want!
12. Teach your dog a new trick
They’ll love it. You’ll love it.
13. Video game marathon
Guitar Hero battle, anyone?
14. Have a tasting party
Pick any theme: whiskey, wine, ice cream, cookies, chocolate, whatever and lay out a bunch of different options. Or do a blind taste-testing party!
15. Have a karaoke contest!
Make a fun playlist for your evening and start singing.
16. Perfect a recipe
My husband would choose a salsa recipe or a new meat/ribs/steak recipe to try on his smoker.
17. Do something creative:
Paint and sip, make early Mother’s Day gifts, make jewelry, do woodworking…whatever fills your creative spirit.
18. Pretend you’re at a super nice hotel
Think fuzzy slippers, robes, spa day, massages, breakfast in bed, foot scrubs, light candles, etc.
19. Connect:
Have a conversation that isn’t about work, stress, the kids, or to-do lists. Pick one of the other 39 things on this list. 🙂
20. Learn your Love Languages, personality type, or strengths
Speaking of connecting, take the free quiz online to find each other’s Love Languages. Learn your Strengthsfinder Top 5 Strengths, take the Myers Briggs personality type test, or read about your Enneagram number personality type. Get to know each other’s “why”.
21. Do something nice for someone:
We live beside a man in his 90’s. Maybe we could offer to get him groceries or ask if he needs anything. Find a safe way to volunteer in your community — and check with that organization first.
22. Do something that’s been on your to-do list for a long time:
What’s on my personal list? Write a will, learn a new language, creating a gallery wall of the canvas photos I’ve always wanted to print, read the 17 books on my night stand, do more yoga, go on a 25-mile bike ride, finish the Shutterfly book I started from all the photos of our wedding, start a Shutterfly book for our son’s 1st year with all those photos, write letters to our grandmothers — and keep interviewing them as I collect their childhood stories so I can write them into a book someday. The list is never-ending. But that’s me. I’m a #1 on the Enneagram, remember? 🙂 So, do your hobby…do your thing…do your list.
Online Date Night Ideas:
23. Look forward to something!
Plan your dream trip, research the vacation you want to take someday, look up the next concert you want to go to, make camping plans for the fall, make your bucket list, design your next tattoo…whatever makes you excited for the future, plan it, start it, do it.
24. Learn to dance!
I suggest this to my engaged couples who are struggling right now because they just had to postpone their wedding days. Do something “extra” for your wedding, like learning their first dance!
25. Have an online date night with friends
Have a virtual happy hour, play Pictionary together, do “Minute to Win It” games…have fun! Social isolation doesn’t mean friend isolation.
26. Tour a museum online
There’s some cool stuff to see in the Louvre.
27. Look into family history stories
Find out where you’re from and look up those stories! Ask your family about their history and memories.
28. Do fun exercise and work out together
Do yoga, find a hilariously old workout video, get on YouTube…whatever!
29. Support small businesses
My friend Sarah owns Mama Peacock jewelry and sells necklace-making kits! Buy a couple and make some early Mother’s Day gifts!
30. Learn a new hobby online
Learn guitar, knife skills, sewing, knitting, how to change a tire, whatever you’re in to!
31. Date night online yoga class
On Friday nights, Prairie Soul Yoga in Brookings hosts online date night yoga class! Log on and get bendy.
Outdoor Date Night Ideas:
32. Cruise Against Corona (organized in Brookings)
Gather your friends, but stay in your cars. Cruise your old stomping grounds together and wave, honk, and laugh!
33. Plant a garden
Your future self will thank you in the fall when you’re harvesting all your goodness.
34. Go fishing
That’s my dad’s perfect idea of social distancing.
35. Go on a walk, bike ride, or run together
Train for a 5K together!
36. Do a photo shoot outside
Are you a nerd like me and love to take pictures with your nice camera? Collect nature shots and play with lighting, etc.
37. Games outside
Set up an obstacle course, mini golf course, croquet, bean bags, and more!
38. Have a picnic under the stars
Grab a blanket, those snacks you prepared and some wine, because you can stargaze as you enjoy your time together! Really ambitious?! Make an outdoor movie screen and watch movies/Netflix outside under the stars!
39. MY FAVORITE: Do a scavenger hunt battle with your family and/or friends!
This is my FAVORITE idea and I can’t wait to try it! I love it because it’s a combination of indoors, outdoors, and online. Get the teams together on a video call to explain the rules. The goal: Take as many photos of the things on the list as possible! (a photo of a squirrel in a tree, a penny from 1993, take a selfie doing a yoga pose, a motorcycle, take a photo of you laying on a beach towel pretending like it’s summer, etc.. Give yourselves 1-2 hours and winners have to show their photos at the end of 2 hours to “prove it” when we join back on the Zoom call! Whoever got the most on the checklist wins! You can stay at home or jump in the car to get some of the answers. Even kids love it because it’s kind of like “I spy”! The graphic is above. Feel free to print it and use it!
DRUMROLL PLEASE….
40: Add your favorite beverage to any of these suggestions!
Bring the wine, beer, whiskey, coffee, tea, fruit-infused water…whatever you’re into…along to any of these activites! Of course, no drinking and driving. Be safe and have fun!
Before I set you free, here’s another tip for you and your loved ones:
TIP: There is such a thing as too much together time. Take breaks and then come together again with your significant other/roommates/family/friends so you can be your best self. Take what you need to come through this pandemic with gratitude and optimism!
Check out the KELO interview of Renee explaining these date night options! It can be so much fun!
https://www.keloland.com/keloland-living/at-home-date-night-ideas-during-social-distancing/
For even more ideas, check out these ways to celebrate your original wedding date if you sadly had to reschedule!