Let’s be real, with COVID still on the loose and kids being well, kids, married couples need date nights more than they ever have before. Even though COVID has put a damper on outdoor activities, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a little creative and use some of these stay at home date night ideas to reconnect with your partner.
If you’ve been cutting back on spending because you’ve had to cancel a vacation or you’re not eating out as often, maybe use this time to splurge a bit more than you normally would.
Heck, even once COVID is a thing of the past, you can still use these same ideas to reconnect with your partner in a more intimate way as well.
Netflix and chill is always an option, but if you’re looking for some creative and easy stay at home date night ideas, keep on reading!
35 of the Best Stay at Home Date Night Ideas
1. Cook your Favorite Meal Together
This is kind of a no-brainer, but get crazy with it. If your favorite meal is something you’ve literally never made yourself, just go for it together! Hopefully one of you is a good cook; otherwise, play it safe and maybe just do take out at your favorite restaurant!
For us personally, we’ve been saving a bit of money since we are staying home more so if we have a stay at home date night, we like to splurge a bit.
2. Play a Game Together
Somtimes a little competition is all you need to make a stay at home date night fun!
Best Card Games for Two Players
- Uno Dare
- Standard Card Deck (you can play war, speed, strip poker, etc.)
- Skip-Bo
- Timeline
- Codenames Duet (side note: we play the standard Codenames at almost all family gatherings and recently just got Codenames Disney which is also awesome!)
- Exploding Kittens
Best Board Games for Two Players
- Monopoly
- Scrabble
- Jenga
- Chess
- Wavelength
- Bananagrams (another family favorite of ours!)
Best Conversation Starters for Couples
- Our Moments: 100 Conversation Starters
- Love Language Card Game
- The Ultimate Game for Couples
- SERVD – His & Hers
- Realizations Card Deck
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3. Spend a Night in the Backyard
Spruce up the backyard area a few weeks before your stay at home date night and plan on eating your dinner outdoors. If it’s cold, get some blankets and snuggle up while just hanging out together in the fresh air. Sometimes just being outside in your own backyard will give you the change you needed to feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
4. Splurge on all your Favorites for your Stay at Home Date Night
I would say this has to be one of my favorite stay at home date night ideas! Literally, just go shopping together and buy all your favorite things. This could be your favorite chocolate, wine, journal, game, face mask, etc., and just enjoy the shopping experience together!
Once you get back for your stay at home date night, go through all your goodies and enjoy them together!
5. Plan a Gift Exchange
Seriously, how fun is this? It doesn’t need to be Christmas or your birthday to get a little extra material love from your partner. Plan ahead and decide to buy something you know the other one has been wanting or something super special that shows them how you care.
Make an effort to put some thought into this and show your partner you’re thinking of them. Be sure to wrap the gift and add a card to it with a nice note!
6. Take a Personality Quiz Together
Here are 8 awesome personality tests you can take with your partner to better understand them as a person. It’s one thing to take these on your own, but it’s completely different taking them together with the purpose of using the information gained to better your relationship.
Some of these can even be used in the workplace setting to work better with your peers so this is a win, win for both of you!
7. Set up a Spa Night Together
There’s really nothing better than just relaxing together. Massage one another, take a bath together or do some fun face masks while listening to some relaxing music to set the mood.
- Face Masks
- Bath Bombs
- Candles
- Lavender Bubble Bath
- Massage Oil
- Robes – Women and Men
- Slippers – Women and Men
8. Have an Indoor Picnic
I do these all the time with my daughter and we love them! It brings me back to my childhood when we’d get to eat dinner and ice cream sundaes on a blanket while watching TGIF (did I just super date myself??) every Friday night.
Pick a movie or tv show to watch together and eat your dinner and dessert picnic style in the living room.
9. Rewatch Your All Time Favorite TV Episodes
Luckily, my hubby and I share the same favorite tv show (The Office, duh!) so it’s easy to pick exact episodes we can agree on watching together. We both have our favorites and each one brings back memories since we’ve seen all of the episodes together at some point.
This is a great way to share your favorites with your partner and get a little insight into what they like.
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10. Go For a Long Walk Together Holding Hands
Not only do some couples need to slow down together, but some need to be reminded of phyical touch and how important that is in a relationship.
Don’t you want to be that super cute, old couple that walks hand in hand down the street together? I know I do.
Force yourself to hold hands the whole time and see what an impact that can have on the type of conversation that comes up.
11. Cook a Meal from Another Country Together
Pick out a meal from another country neither one of you have ever had, go shopping for all the ingredients together and then cook it!
Sometimes trying new things together can be fun and exciting.
12. Cuddle, Duh!
What stay at home date night would ever be complete with out the ultimate cuddling session? Whether you choose an indoor picnic, outdoor camping session or a basic couch cuddling session, you can’t go wrong with relaxing and just being in the moment together.
13. Workout Together
I mean, this isn’t my first choice, but my hubby loves to workout so this is a good option to do something he loves while “hanging out” together.
However, this really is perfect for the couple that likes to workout, but may have to split up kid duty and can’t always work out together. There’s something different about having someone to workout with even if you’re both doing different things.
I recently got these booty bands and they are awesome! The bands are thick and wide so they don’t roll down your legs! If you’re not a huge fan of intense workouts, these will still give you that burn, but can be added to a simple squat routine.
14. Watch a Movie You’ve Both Never Seen
Check to see if there’s any new movies that got released since a lot of them are going straight to rental on your tv now. Make it a movie night with popcorn and snacks and cuddle up on the couch!
Not being able to go to the movie theater has been killing me so this stay at home date night idea sounds just as fun as a regular date night!
15. Work on a Project You’re Passionate About
If there’s a project you’ve both been wanting to tackle, but you just haven’t had the time (ahem, kids), make that your stay at home date night!
What better way to spend time together than working on something you’re both excited about and want to get accomplished. This could be something super simple like cleaning out the garage, building a piece of furniture, sewing a quilt, whatever!
16. Surprise Your Partner with a Playlist that Reminds You of Them and DANCE!
Remember back in the day when you used to download your favorite songs and burn them onto a CD so you could give it to your crush? So crazy how times have changed!
It sucks that there’s no physical CD anymore, but the thought is still just as meaningful. Make a playlist ahead of time, turn it on and just start dancing with your partner in the kitchen while making dinner! Let them know that all the songs remind you of them.
17. Splurge on a Cocktail Making Night
How fun is this cocktail making set? It even comes with basic recipes for some classic cocktails.
You can even have a competition and make eachother’s favorite cocktail and see who makes it better!
18. Buy a Date Night Subscription Box
Date night subscription boxes are so popular now and there are so many different fun choices to choose from! There is literally a box for every couple no matter what you’re into and they are the perfect stay at home date night option!
Here are two of the best date night boxes you can enjoy at home. The best part is, you can do it once or as often as you like!
19. Legit go Camping in Your Backyard (Smores and all!)
Pull out the tent, inflatable mattress, and smores kit because it’s time to go backyard camping for your next stay at home date night!
For me, there is just something about sleeping outdoors and waking up to the sunrise. I usually feel refreshed and sleep pretty well even if it’s on the ground.
Even this small change of where you sleep can make all the difference in a stay at home date night. End the night with hanging out around a fire pit and falling asleep snuggled up outdoors.
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20. Try an In-Home Paint Night
They have virtual paint nights now! How freaking fun and creative is that???
There are options to do a LIVE instructor led class or you can get all the materials mailed to you ahead of time and you’re granted access to a pre-recorded video. Either option is awesome, but the pre-recorded is great if you don’t want to be held to a timeline.
Search for a paint night business in your local area as sometimes they have pick up only options!
21. Write Down 25 Things You Love About The Other Person and Share!
This is so simple to do and yet can provide so much value to your relationship. Take a few moments to remember why you love each other and use the time to thank the other person for just being who they are.
22. Anyone Say PUZZLE???
Usually, puzzles take forever. This gives you time to have some great conversations and slow things down a bit.
Every single time my hubby and I have done a larger puzzle, we get super into it and we don’t even know where the time went. Before we know it, it’s midnight and we’ve just had an entire conversation we would have normally missed out on had regular life happened.
Pick out a puzzle together ahead of time! We love Disney so we recently completed the one below and it brought up so many memories of our Disney trips!
- Disney Villain Puzzle
- Friends Puzzle (just got gifted this one, it’s up next!)
- The Office Puzzle
- Planet Puzzle
- Harry Potter Puzzle
- Star Wars Puzzle
23. Just be Lazy Together
Sometimes as parents we just don’t get enough sleep. Wait, I’m sorry, did I say sometimes? Shit, it’s all the time. We don’t sleep.
Soooo, although some couples won’t understand this, this may be exactly what the doctor ordered for some of us and could be the perfect stay at home date night idea!
Don’t do anything. Order your food in, lay on the couch, watch a movie, and go to bed early for once!
24. Plan Your Next Trip Together
How fun would this be? Pick your next family destination and during dinner pull out the laptop and start planning!
Even if you aren’t planning on traveling anytime soon, it doesn’t hurt to start dreaming about your next big trip and looking into what it would take to make it a reality! If anything it will start to get you motivated to start saving up for your next trip together!
25. Challenge One Another to a Bake Off!
How fun would it be to re-create a Pinterest baked good??? Have you ever seen that baking show, Nailed It? Do it! It’s hilarious.
This would be so fun. Choose a baked good item for eachother that you have to recreate in the kitchen. Send pictures of your epic fails to your friends and family so they can vote for the best Pinterest fail!
26. Do a Craft for your Kids Together
Our kids are always doing crafts for us so why not do a craft for them during your next stay at home date night?
Pick out a craft ahead of time (maybe holiday related if that’s relevant) and spend some quality time together during your stay at home date night doing something for your kiddos!
I know our daughter loves when we decorate for all the holidays, even the small ones, so even a small project like that would be fun to do together.
27. Learn Your Love Language Together
Have you ever taken the time to learn your partner’s love language? It’s a simple and quick test that will give you some insight into how your partner perceives being loved and how they express their love.
Take the love language test and buy the book to understand more in-depth how to leverage this in your relationship!
Knowing one another’s love language is so important because it will change the way you see how they love you and you may need to adjust how you are showing love to them based on what they need.
If your partner likes physical touch, but you are constantly showing love by buying them gifts, you can probably save some money while at the same time showing them love in a way they actually appreciate.
Knowing your love languages is a total game changer in any relationship!
28. Have Movie Night Under the Stars
This is such a cool idea and actually not too expensive to have on hand for the kids. You can even use a thick canvas sheet to make the movie screen and any projector you may already have. The projector below even comes with a screen for the best price, but you need to tie it up somewhere.
- Movie Screen
- Inflatable Screen
- Projector (this one comes with a screen, but would need to be tied up. Great price though!)
29. Candlelit Hot Tub/Pool Time
If you have a pool or hot tub why not take advantage of it while the kids aren’t around? I don’t know about you, but the pool and hot tub make me so nervous when the kids are around that I don’t’ fully enjoy myself.
When it’s just me and the hubby I can relax and not worry about where the kids are at all times.
We have these awesome floating lights you can just throw into the pool or hot tub at night and then turn on some music and just chill. It’s the best time.
30. Make a Couples/Family Bucket List
We all have dreams and ideas for what our future will hold, but rarely do we deliberately write it down together as a couple.
For a clever stay at home date night idea, brainstorm bucket list ideas you’d like to do as a couple or family and start a list.
Each year you can look back on that list and make goals for how to accomplish your new bucket list!
31. Have a Video Game Competition
I’m not always into video games, but put old school Mario Kart in front of me and it’s on!
Find a video game you both like or are at least a little competitive at and play best out of rounds. To make it fun, maybe add some prizes for each round. Massages, gifts, or even doing the dishes for a week should work!
- Check out this list of the 10 Best Video Games for Couples
32. Read a Book Together and Talk about it
There’s nothing more fitting for a stay at home date night than reading a good book. Plan ahead of time and read a few chapters out of a book so you can discuss it together.
Pick a book you’ve both been meaning to read or something that’s a quick read. Choose a start date and read the entire book or a certain amount before your stay at home date night. Then talk about it or debate it over dinner!
33. Build a Fort like Kids
Because, why the hell not? I have so much fun building forts in the living room and then cuddling up watching a show and falling asleep in a “new” place. Even waking up the next morning is so much more fun in a fort!
34. Make some Epic Tick-Tok Videos Together
Ok, pllllllllease do this and tag me! How fun is it to watch a couple having a good time together and being goofy? Parents make the best Tick-Tok videos and although I haven’t mastered it myself, it’s such a great idea!
Find a video you think is hilarious and try to recreate it together. Don’t forget to have fun and don’t take yourselves too seriously! That’s where the magic happens.
35. Watch the Sunset (or Sunrise) Together
When’s the last time you stayed up all night talking like the old days and didn’t realize how long you’d been on the phone? Remember how you felt just chatting about life and dreaming together?
Do that. And then watch the sunset together and enjoy the moment. Just you two, there, while nature is doing it’s thing.
If you’re not tired (not sure how this is ever possible) stay up all night or wake up early and have a cup of coffee together while watching the sunrise. Better yet, go for an early morning drive so you can see it really well together maybe even somewhere special.
What to Wear for your Stay at Home Date Night
Ummm…this is easy. Whatever the hell you want.
Do you want to go full-on fancy? If so, I would definitely recommend either keeping it cheap and going for something you already have in your closet or splurge and pick out an entirely new outfit! If you pick new outfits, keep them a secret until your stay at home date night!
If you are feeling straight exhausted, keep it cozy and simple. Go for loungewear and be as comfortable as possible.
What you wear may depend on what stay at home date night idea you go with. If you’re working out, clearly workout clothes are your best bet. If you decide on making a fancy dinner, maybe dress up together!
The best part is, this is your stay at home date night and you have full control over what you want to do together!
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