Nine Date-Night Ideas to Try While You’re Stuck at Home

Photo via Getty Images/Ridofranz

Your usual date-night haunts might be out of the question for now, but that only means it’s time to get creative. Read on for nine adorable indoor activities to do with your partner (or roommate or anyone else you’re stuck inside with) that are guaranteed to keep the fun alive.

Sweat it Out

Missing your regular couples’ gym sesh? Lace up your sneaks and queue up an online workout class to try together. YouTube is one obvious place to turn, but several local fitness studios and trainers are also offering livestream classes in lieu of their regular sessions.

Start a Scavenger Hunt

Your favorite childhood birthday-party activity is surprisingly fun as an adult, too. Hide clues throughout your home and send your partner on a hunt for a hidden treasure—exactly what that might be is totally your call.

Enjoy a Culinary Evening

Rifle through your grocery stockpile to see what ingredients you have on hand, then choose a recipe you’ve never tried before to make together (in person or separately over FaceTime if you’re apart). Alternatively, break out of the norm and try experimenting with what you can whip up together sans recipe. Bonus points if you ditch the sweatpants and enforce a dress code for the sit-down meal to follow.

Learn Something New

Have you both always wanted to learn a new language or become better drawers, but never had the time? You do now. Set aside an evening and head to YouTube or another site like Skillshare to take a lesson together.

Camp Out

Gather together all of your coziest pillows, sheets, and blankets, and build a fort in the living room. (We might suggest hanging some string lights, too.) Then grab some snacks, adult beverages, and a board game or a puzzle, or turn on your favorite podcast, playlist, or film.

Ignite Friendly Competition

Take your mind off things by diving into another world entirely. Grab your Nintendo Switch, PlayStation controllers, or your computer mouse and spend a few hours with your sweetie and your joint game of choice. Suggestion: Try Stardew Valley, a soothing adventure game with simple graphics where you’ll develop a farm and live off the land while learning tasks such as harvesting crops and milking cows. There’s also a multiplayer mode that allows two players quarantining in separate homes to play within the same world.

Get Cultured

Although going out might not be in the cards, an evening of unparalleled entertainment awaits with the click of a button. Take in a comedy special on Netflix, where you’ll find a wealth of performances from top-tier comedians, including New England-raised folks such as Seth Meyers and Adam Sandler. Or if a contemplative museum date is more your speed, head to Google Arts & Culture, which allows you to travel through galleries from across the globe, including our own Museum of Fine Arts.

Pamper Yourselves

Self-care has never been more essential than it is right now, so don your bathrobes and slippers, slather on face masks, and pour each other a glass of bubbly (or whatever you have at home). Pro tip: Light a candle, dim the lights, and put on some spa music for added ambiance.

Plan Your Future

One healthy way to cope amid the uncertainty: reminding yourselves that there will be a time when things return to normal, even if we don’t know exactly when that will be. Sit down together and make a bucket list or vision board featuring goals and experiences you want to have as a couple in the years to come, whether that includes planning to adopt a puppy or thinking about where you’d most like to vacation next.

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