I made something like this for Paul years ago, and I'm making it as a stocking-stuffer gift for a couple I know and love. But I thought I'd spread the word now, anyway, because (a) I'll probably forget to if I wait 'til after the holidays, and (b) what I'm DOING with this list is way cooler than just the list itself. :)
Anyway, they range from cheap and cheesy to upscale and expensive, so spread them out. But here are enough date nights for almost two YEARS of weekly dates for you and your spouse, compiled from various sources and my own experiences, listed in no particular order other than that's how I thought of them:
1. Comedy club—fill out some mad libs, watch Brian Regan on Netflix, and eat Laffy Taffy while sharing the jokes.
2. Camp-in—complete with fort-building, oven-s’mores, foil dinners, and stargazing…
3. Tattoo night—either henna or stick-on, spend a night giving each other tattoos.
4. Vanilla Pudding fingerpaints! Mix small portions of vanilla pudding with food coloring and smear on paper plates or graham crackers. Eat your art!
5. “Love is” collage/shadowbox—cut out words and pictures, or find things around the house that help complete that sentence. Make a collage or shadowbox of your answer!
6. “Spin the bottle”—with lots of questions inside…whoever it lands on has to pick out a question and answer it truthfully, no holds barred!
7. Childhood night…go to the park, play with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, etc.
8. Dollar store date—give a spending limit, and you each buy something for your date (games, snacks, art, etc.)
9. Puzzle—put together a 1000 piece puzzle
10. Sunrise breakfast picnic—pack together breakfast foods in a backpack and go for a morning walk/hike…unpack a picnic and watch the sunrise! (Good for SUMMER)
11. Penny wishes—take a roll or two of pennies to a fountain and make wishes loudly as you throw the pennies in!
12. Picture scavenger hunt—create a list of unique things to find, then take your camera out and go snap photos of them!
13. SOUND scavenger hunt—similar to above, except with sounds (you can use a tape recorder or just a camera)
14. Picking fruit—visit a pick-your-own orchard or patch and pick fruit together, then go home and eat ‘em, can ‘em, or try a new recipe!
15. Playdoh Pictionary—pretty self-explanatory, and HECKA cheap.
16. Family mission statement/motto—take a night to create a family mission statement or motto for the year.
17. Make a romance calendar—write down fun date nights on a calendar, spacing out the more expensive ones. Also write down little romantic things to do for each other at least 2-3 times a week (google ideas if necessary). Post your calendar and write sweet notes to each other throughout the week all over the calendar.
18. Candlelight cereal dinner—a classic, cheap spin on a romantic dinner.
19. Commercial/ad filming—especially good for a group date, couples work together to create 30-second commercials for everyday objects already at home, using digital cameras. OR, you could design a magazine ad using an image-editing software. Make it a contest between couples and have a small prize at the end!
20. Dinner and movie, revisited—still do dinner and a movie, but have it in an unexpected place—like having pizza delivered to your park’s gazebo and watching a DVD on a portable player or laptop in a garden.
21. Bookstore date—visit http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/2009/05/bookstore-date.html for full details and even a printable!
22. Wii sports, etc.—a super-easy date night for any time of the year
23. Themed dinner—pick a kind of food, like Chinese, and either learn to make a few recipes or just order in. BUT, the fun here is finding authentic music to play in the background and some nice, cheap décor. Then watch a movie related to that theme.
24. Zoo for two—again, visit http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/zoo-for-two.html for full details.
25. Trip to vegas http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-happens-in-vegas.html
26. Willy wonka night—watch one of the movies and play candy games, like see-who-can-suck-up-more-M&Ms-into-his-bowl-with-a-straw, or clear-koolaid-quarters, or chubby bunny, etc.
27. Pizzeria date night—make chef’s hats for each other and then make your own mini pizzas and old-fashioned sodas
28. Balloon portraits—all you need are some balloons, permanent markers, and if you REALLY want to get creative you can use yarn, googly eyes, pompoms, etc. Make a beautiful piece of art by making funny caricatures of each other using the balloons as heads.
29. House Hunting—even if you’re nowhere near ready to go buy a new, expensive house, dress up and hit up open houses for properties on the market. Pretend you’re quibbling over where to put the loveseat, etc. Then go out for dessert.
30. Iron chef—you can really make this your own, so I won’t go crazy with explanations.
31. Art museum—check out the local art museum or an art exhibit at a local library or coffeehouse. Go buy some pastries and discuss what you saw.
32. Paint-your-own-pottery—it doesn’t have to be very expensive, if you paint little trinkets instead. OR use this date night to double as a gift-making night for someone whose birthday is coming up.
33. Prom for two—get dressed up, corsage and all, and decorate the living room. Prepare a playlist or CD of your favorite romantic songs, and a few really danceable ones, and boogie all night long!
34. Popped balloon dares—in teams or individually, have random dares hidden in different balloons. Each person has to do whatever is said inside the balloon he or she popped! (You can make this really crazy, really romantic, or really simple and fun…)
35. Family tees—come up with a family slogan or logo, then buy some cheap T-shirts and make matching tees for the whole family!
36. Paper genies/fortune cookies—regain a bit of control over your destiny by making your own paper genies/fortune tellers like little girls did when we were kids, or learning to make your own fortune cookies (recipes are all over the internet).
37. Roller skating/ice skating—simple and classic, especially if one or both of you have never been.
38. Host your own poetry night! The sillier you get with this, the more fun it will be—make bongos, dress up like beatniks, serve cheese and crackers and sparkling cider. Guests can bring poetry they’ve written or just their favorite poems of all time.
39. Singing telegrams—SO FUN! Write a little singing telegram for someone you both know…and DELIVER IT!
40. Snowman contest—if there’s snow on the ground, have a snowman building contest. If there isn’t, use ice cream to sculpt your own snowmen and then EAT the beautiful creations!
41. Host a decade party—dress up and find music from the 40s, or 70s, or 20s. Serve authentic appetizers and treats, play games of the era, or watch a hit movie from the time.
42. How to host a murder (invest!)—get a few couples together and have everyone pitch in a few bucks for one of these games. They really are SO fun, especially if everyone gets into character! Make sure to have some munchies that fit the scenario you wind up with.
43. Board games on the bed—play board games like you do often enough, but do it on the bed with rose petals and chocolates scattered about and sparkling cider in hand!
44. Sketch your dream house—use graph paper to sketch a layout of your dream house—this could span into several dates if you get as detailed as Paul and I do! (SIDE NOTE: Paul just found this website where you can do this online for FREE and save your work! Check it out at
http://homestyler.com/)
45. Spa date—grab some massage oils, take a bubble bath, or do whatever it is you need to do to relax. Have cucumber water and a veggie tray to nibble on.
46. Cook a new recipe together!
47. Babysit for another couple so they can have a night out, and prepare games for the kids!
48. Check out local paper or college websites for free or cheap upcoming concerts or shows, especially at universities
49. Feed ducks/birds at a local pond with a loaf of bread
50. Look through family photo albums/yearbooks, and discuss best/worst moments of childhood, high school, and now.
51. Service scavenger hunt (group date)—create a list of 15-30 possible things to do for others (wash a window, load a dishwasher, vacuum a room, take out the trash, etc.), then split into couples and go to nice neighborhoods and see who can accomplish the most tasks in a certain amount of time. Have the people sign for proof!
52. Going out to dinner, with a twist—once in town, flip a coin repeatedly to turn right or left and after 7 flips eat at the closest place…or close your eyes, spin in a circle, and point to the place you want to eat. This is nice when you want a no-hassle dinner date and still want it to be a little spontaneous.
53. Service week—pick a person you know to do kind things for all week long, and do them together. OR, have a little trinket that indicates a service has been done, and take turns doing kind things for each other, leaving the trinket (like a service “tag, you’re it!”)
54. Indoor luau—or outdoor if you want. Hawaiian haystacks and learning to hula could be in order…or just hula hoop contests and limbo.
55. Stargazing—in a sleeping bag, with hot cocoa nearby.
56. Time capsule—create a “time capsule” with mementos, notes to each other, tapes of you both talking about your life together, and photos. Seal it up (you can even use a Tupperware container and hide it in your pantry), with the promise to open it up every year or every 5 years and add something to it each time.
57. Make your own stationery together—buy some cheap cardstock and fold it like a card, then decorate the front with paints, crayons, markers, or pastels and hairspray—then use them as note cards or thank-you cards for the next year!
58. Taste test—this is pretty fun, but depending on what you pick it could get a little pricey. It doesn’t have to, though. Blindfold each other and take turns feeding each other spoonfuls of different kinds of peanut butter, or different brands of cookies, etc., and finally decide once and for all which one is your favorite!
59. Revamp a free calendar—you know those calendars that banks and hospitals give out that you probably never really use? Use ‘em! Make your own artwork or make a collage of photos of the two of you for each month, and then just cover up the picture in the calendar with your own!
60. Cards—build a house with a deck of cards, then play some Go Fish or other favorite card games.
61. Goofy picture stories—cut out various pictures of people and objects from magazines, then glue them onto pieces of construction paper and write a story, using those images as the illustrations!
62. Create a love website for just the two of you (check out weebly.com), with pictures, quotes, funny memories, poems, or anything that just screams YOU. Make sure you can both update it and check back often!
63. Make a vase of flowers (Kleenex/tissue paper carnations, or handprint tulips with your favorite things about each other). Place the flowers in a visible spot to enjoy all week long.
64. Heart attack someone…or yourselves!
65. Letter-writing night—write a few letters to long-lost friends, family members, neighbors, or whoever. Who DOESN’T like getting friendly letters in the mail instead of just bills?
66. LEGO date night—get out the kids’ legos (or go buy a starter set for about $10) and build things together!
67. Go to a game center nearby and waste some quarters on arcade games, or splurge and play laser tag like a preteen with a vengeance!
68. Family feud—you can either go all-out and make your own for a group date, or you can just play for free online with your sweetie. Either way it’s sure to be a blast!
69. Plan a surprise un-birthday party for a mutual friend! These are WAY fun. Even make a cake and have small (handmade or dollar store) gifts to give them!
70. Blindfold miniature golf—go putt-putting, but at each hole you take turns being blindfolded and led by the other to that perfect swing!
71. Alphabet scavenger hunt—either take your cameras and go find the actual alphabet letters around you (this is all the rage right now), or go out on the town and try to find something small and free for every letter of the alphabet (you’ll probably have to get creative with some letters).
72. Plan your ideal vacation together, even if it’s way expensive and you won’t be able to take it for a decade. Just daydreaming together and planning an itinerary and travel arrangements can be a fun date! It’ll also make the trip more possible.
73. Make lovey-dovey gifts (like a coupon book or anything from here: http://loveactually-blog-ideas.blogspot.com/2010/03/lovey-dovey-gifts.html) and then use them ALL in the next week!
74. Memento frame—have old ticket stubs, little charms and toys, or other tiny knick-knacks that you’re holding on to but have no idea what to do with them? Use a little tacky glue to collage these and other items that represent the two of you onto a dollar-store or goodwill wooden photo frame! Then put a corny picture of the two of you inside and post it by your bedside.
75. Mood-boosting picnic—research stress-relieving foods and make a picnic out of them…eat them in an unusual place, like a parking lot or spread out in a food court.
76. Progressive dinner—either with your friends at their houses, or at cheap restaurants, eat appetizers in one place, the main course somewhere else, desserts somewhere else, and then drinks somewhere else.
77. Beach date—play on the beach together! If you don’t live near a beach, have an indoor beach party (buy some cool shells at walmart and get a beach ball to play around with…or go play in a sand box!).
78. Kites—learn how to make your own kite by googling cute ideas, then go fly them on a windy day and watch your work soar!
79. Go for a guinness book of world records (or try to beat one already in place)! Even if you can’t come close, it’ll be a great memory!
80. Alphabet night—theme dinner and a movie or other activities around a letter. For example, P: pizza, popcorn, pudding, Pride & Prejudice, wearing pajamas.
81. Google the nearest drive-in movie and GO! Bring your own cheap candies and popcorn from WalMart or even a picnic dinner.
82. Paint rocks with acrylics and glue in different formations for a mod art sculpture for your home!
83. Greeting card date—go to a local store with an aisle of greeting cards and try to find the funniest, cutest, weirdest, saddest, biggest, etc…
84. The price is right—go to a local store and take turns playing the price is right with items in each aisle, keeping track of how much they’re off and who comes closest without going over each time. The loser buys winner a soda or smoothie.
85. Give something out to people on the street—you have to play it safe, so no homemade goodies or people probably won’t take them. Make tissue carnations, or wrap up candies with a happy note, etc., and go to a heavily-trafficked place downtown, passing out the goodies ‘til they’re gone. Laugh together over dessert about the different reactions you got!
86. Learn something new—take a pottery class or some other class together (social dance, etc.)…it may be a little more pricey, but once or twice a year that’s okay!
87. Buy a model car/jet/plane and put it together…together.
88. Wander a cemetery together, trying to find the oldest person…or just the oldest gravestone! Take note of names you like, names you hate, etc. Discuss your own family history.
89. Pictures of YOU—come up with a list of strange places for the two of you to have your picture taken (like the dairy aisle of the grocery store, or in front of a scandalous bar or club) and have a stranger take a picture of the two of you in each place. Print the pictures off and scrapbook or collage them!
90. Go pick outrageous outfits for each other from goodwill (set a spending limit), then go grab milkshakes out on the town all dressed up!
91. Cheap theater—check out the local theater (esp. high schools, or children’s theater!) for entertainment at a fraction of the cost of…well, the good stuff. ;)
92. Garage sale/flea market—browse a few of these and pick up a gift for each other under $2. Haggle if you need to!
93. Pot luck dinner party—have friends and family over, and assign each person to bring one type of food (dessert, sides, bread, etc.) Everyone also brings a small object that symbolizes them or one of their hobbies, and you have a little show-and-tell!
94. Teach each other your specialty (maybe boys teach about car stuff, girls teach about crocheting, etc.). Sharing your interests and hobbies will make your appreciate what the other person knows!
95. Read to and play with children in a local hospital (call ahead to okay it).
96. Funny stories (you really need 3 or more people here, preferably a lot more!)—fold a piece of paper accordion style all the way down. One person writes a simple sentence in the top rectangle. Then the next person draws that sentence out in the rectangle right below it, folding down the words so only the picture can be seen, and passes it on. The next person writes a sentence depicting what they see in the picture, then folds it down and passes it on, etc. It’s like telephone, but on paper! Read the stories aloud!
97. Sightseeing your own city (or a nearby one)—don’t worry about a vacation—take a STAYcation! Be extra touristy as you see all the sights, taking pictures and gawking at everything.
98. Yearbookyourself.com, elf yourself, or other hilarious online adventures—free and FUNNY.
99. Clue charades—you have to act out the who, where, and with what, and the other person has to guess. Even FUNNIER is if you brainstorm a bunch of these and put them into three piles to pick from, so they might not match—you might have Mickey Mouse, on the moon, with a water pistol.
100. Mall date—walk the halls of your local mall, riding rides, sharing a small treat, window shopping, and acting like a smitten teenager again!
Tell me if you try any of these and they are a success! Of course, there are several date nights NOT on this list, too...if you have a favorite cheap date to share, please do! I always need fresh ideas! (Even after 3 YEARS of date nights, you start recycling them after a while).
