Fun at home date night ideas.
With two under two, at home date nights are our go-to right now. These are our very favorite date ideas for at home date nights.
Spending time together at home can often feel redundant as you turn on your show once again and sit on the couch not talking to each other. This list of dates will get you and your significant other out of the rut of boring date nights and bring fun and excitement back to your time together.
Each of these dates can be done once the kids go to bed or anytime you just want to stay in for date night. We like to do our at home date nights at least once a week after the kids go to sleep.
It’s so nice to spend time quality together without paying for a babysitter and staying in comfort of your own home.
What we love about these dates is that they are budget friendly and don’t take much prep work ahead of time. They are perfect for busy parents who just want to spend some quality time together.
Here are our top at home date ideas:
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Wine/Cheese/ Chocolate Tasting
What’s more fun than doing your very own tasting at home!? Choose your favorite wines, cheeses, chocolates, beers, coffees or anything else you and your date love and do your own tasting.
There are plenty of tasting sheets for notes and placements of food/drinks to make it feel like a true tasting.
We had so much fun doing a wine tasting for an at home date night. We got the note sheets, and different kinds of wine and took notes like we were at a real wine tasting. It was a perfect date night to have at home because we didn’t have to worry about how much time we were spending on each one and we got to talk and laugh together the whole night.
Make sure to include some new flavors, you might even find a new favorite!
Supplies: wine tasting placemats, beer flight mat, chocolate tasting journal, cheese log book, coffee tasting journal
Movie Night With Themed Snacks
Add themed snacks to your typical movie night to turn it into a fun date night! Any movie you watch can be paired with fun snacks or even a meal. Think spaghetti for Lady and the Tramp.
My husband and I had a fun date night at home where we made caramel apples (below) and watched Harry Potter for a fun fall date. (Find more fall date ideas here.)
This date night idea is perfect because you get to cozy up on your couch and enjoy great food without leaving the house!
Movies with themed food ideas to get you started:
–Tangled: Angel hair pasta
–Ratatouille: Various cheeses, ratatouille, bread, charcuterie board, macaroons
–Hercules: Chicken hummus bowls
–Lady and the Tramp: spaghetti and meatballs, cannoli
Supplies: Food to go with your movie, movie
Paint Night
Have a paint night together! This super simple date night is perfect for all skill levels.
Pair with a drink of choice and snacks for a complete evening. My husband and I love to watch Bob Ross videos and paint along with him. You can find his videos on YouTube or on most streaming services.
Painting together is fun because you end up with a piece of artwork to remember the night by.
You could even frame your painting when you are done!
Supplies: paint brushes, acrylic or watercolor paint, canvas or paper
Board Games
Board games are a great way to spend an evening at home with your date. There are so many to choose from! It could even get competitive and bring some excitement to the evening together.
There are so many different kinds of games to choose from, try a few to find the one you like best.
Grab your favorite snacks and drinks and get ready to have some fun playing games!
Two person game ideas: UNO, cards, Jenga, Mancala, Phase 10, Ticket To Ride, Azul, Yahtzee, Dutch Blitz
Supplies: Games, snacks, and drinks
Caramel Apples
Make caramel apples! We loved this date night because we got to put whatever toppings we wanted on the apples. We decided on mini M&Ms, peanuts, mini chocolate chips, and marshmallows for our topping choices.
I used this recipe to make the caramel because it is so simple. We didn’t want to spend much time prepping for this date, so this recipe was perfect.
We cut some apples into pieces for dipping too. I used fuji and granny smith apples.
Supplies: toppings of choice, apples, and ingredients for caramel
RELATED: Romantic Fall Date Ideas from the Experts
Adventure Challenge Couples Edition
The Adventure Challenge Couples Edition book is filled with 50 fun and exciting dates to try! This book is a blast! These dates are spontaneous and they give you something to do for date night that you wouldn’t normally do together.
The way this book works: You are given minimal information about the date (cost, time, and helpful hints; such as location), then when you have decided which one to try, you scratch it off to find out what it is. Next: do the date!
We love all of the adventure challenge books, they add so much to the time you get together.
Give it a try with your significant other for your date night at home and make sure to take some pictures to put in the book. Memories are about to be made!
Supplies: Adventure Challenge Couples Edition
Adventure Challenge Bundles (these are much cheaper than purchasing the books individually)
–Naughty and Nice Bundle $69.98 (Couples Edition and the In Bed edition)
Purchase each book individually: $99.98
–Table for Two Bundle $69.98 (Couples Edition and the Dinner Date edition)
Purchase each book individually: $99.98
–The Wife Bundle $74.97 (Couples Edition, Mini Dates, and Connection Cards)
Purchase each item individually: $104.97
–The Honeymoon Bundle $74.98 (Travel, Quickies (In Bed), and Connection Cards)
Purchase each item individually: $84.97
Cooking Competition
Choose a dish, or course (appetizer, main, side, or dessert) and find out who can make it best! This one can be done using just ingredients you have on hand, or with more planning you can purchase specific things ahead of time.
Adding a bit of competition can make the mealtime more fun and gives you something to eat on your at home date night.
My husband and I like to do a dessert challenge because it gives us something delicious to eat after the kids go to bed.
Supplies: ingredients to make food
Stargazing
Cozy up outside with blankets and pillows and stargaze! This is a great at home date night because all you need to do in go in your own backyard.
It’s easy to bring all your blankets out and cuddle up together under the stars.
Taking time together in the quiet of the night as you listen to the crickets, and look at the stars, is one of the most romantic at home dates I can imagine.
Supplies: blankets, and pillows
Learn a Dance
Turn your living room into a dance floor! Where better to learn a new dance than at home? The perfect place to laugh and have fun dancing together.
Embrace the embarrassment and the hilarity of watching each other learn to dance.
Fun dances to learn:
-Waltz
-Two step
-Line dance
-Swing dance
-Country dances (boot-scootin’-boogie, electric slide, cupid shuffle, cotton-eyed-joe, etc.)
Supplies: music, tutorial videos
Spa Night
Spend time relaxing with a night dedicated to just that. Start with a bubble bath, then do facemasks and a massage.
What a perfect way to detox from the world and connect with each other.
Think about what you love most about the spa, the ambiance, temperature, music, cucumber water, tea, and of course the massage, facial, and foot soak. Try to replicate these features as best as you can in your own home.
I love to make cucumber lemon water. Simply slice up a cucumber, squeeze some fresh lemons and put them into ice cold water and let rest for about an hour. Now you have a refreshing drink for your spa night!
Supplies: bath robes, face masks, organic lavender massage oil, Epsom salt and bubble bath
Plan a Vacation
Planning a dream vacation is so much fun! Decide where you would love to go together and start researching the kinds of things you would want to do there.
The vacation can be real or simply a dream, but either way you will have fun planning it together as if you’re actually going someday.
Find the best restaurants, sights, hotels, coffee shops, and must-do’s in the area and make your itinerary.
To make it more interesting, pick separate places and pitch your ideas to each other to find out whose vacation you would prefer to go on.
Supplies: computer or phone with internet
Make Bucket Lists
Find out what each other’s bucket list items are! Maybe even plan ways to check a few off!
A bucket list is a list of the things you want to experience or achieve in your life.
If you are married you could make a list of things you want to experience together as you spend the rest of your lives side by side.
If you choose to make individual lists, you get the chance to learn about what’s most important to the other person and understand who they are on a deeper level.
Supplies: pen, paper, bucket list journal
Video Games
If your husband is like mine, he would love it if you joined him to play video games! This is an easy at home date night because all you need is a video game and a cozy spot on the couch.
Even if you are not into video games, there are games that are easy to understand and fun to play together.
Playing video games together gives you the chance to complete challenges or compete against each other to find out who has what it takes to win. The games that require you to work together (like It Takes Two) can help strengthen your communication skills and patience with one another.
Who knew video games could help your relationship?
Fun video game ideas for date night:
–Fortnite
Supplies: Video game, blankets, snacks
Find Out Which Restaurant Does It Best
Dinner is taken care of in this at home date night! Decide what kind of food you want to sample and gather that food item from multiple restaurants to find out which place does it best.
We decided to find out which restaurant makes the best burger, so we went to four different restaurants around town and bought their most basic burger. Once we had them all, we brought them home and tried them blindfolded.
Rating them each on a scale of one to ten, we were able to determine which restaurant makes the best one. The answer may surprise you, I know the one I choose was not what I was expecting!
This can be done with any food!
Food ideas to try: sushi, ice cream, burgers, chicken, fries, pizza, milkshakes, pastry’s, pie
Supplies: the same food item from multiple restaurants
Bonfire
Gather up your s’more essentials and make a fire in your backyard!
We have a firepit in our backyard and we love to make a fire and spend hours talking under the stars as we listen to the crackle of the fire.
This date is perfect for when the kids go to bed because it’s usually just getting dark by then, which means it’s a good time to start the fire.
Bring blankets and cuddle up next to the fire.
Supplies: s’mores ingredients, blankets, fire
Which date is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!
kirbi
Excellent ideas – I love the learn a dance idea!