Try these twenty-seven at-home date night ideas to reconnect with your spouse!
Valentine’s Day is coming up!
I’ll be celebrating my 7th Valentine’s Day with my wonderful husband this year, and we are planning some ideas for our at-home date night.
For couples with kids, getting out of the house can be tough (and sometimes impossible!).
I’m always a little neurotic when it comes to trusting other people with my children, so we don’t really let anyone babysit.
I think that’s just who we are though – we love being with our children, and taking the time after putting them to bed to connect over a meal, a movie, or a bowl of popcorn without being interrupted.
We usually have the most fun together on our fun little dates at home.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I know many couples with kids, like my husband and I, will be looking for some easy and affordable stay-at-home date night ideas!
So here are 27 At-Home Date Night Ideas…
At-Home Date Night Ideas
Romantic Movie Night In
Pick out a sweet, romantic movie you both can watch together!
Maybe it’s something you’ve been wanting to see -maybe it’s just something other than Paw Patrol or PJ Masks. Cuddle up on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn (or ice cream!) and enjoy each other’s company in the simplest date ever!
Pretend There’s A Power Outage
My husband and I love playing this game!
You simply turn out all the lights, round up some candles, and feel your way through the room.
Laugh, giggle, and maybe bump into a wall or two before finding your way to one another.
You can also get creative and try to pop marshmallows into each other’s mouths by candlelight.
Lots of good times and giggles ahead with this idea!
Camp Out Under The Stars In The Backyard
You don’t have to drive out to the desert to witness the beauty of the stars together – just bring along your baby monitor and step into your backyard.
You can cuddle up in the back of a truck with some pillows and blankets, or sit in some lawn chairs and make some gooey s’mores together.
There are also sparklers!
You can create your own fireworks ;).
Swing On The Kids’ Playground Together
This is a great way to go back to those childhood years ;).
If your kids have a swing set, take full advantage and squeeze your bottoms into the swing seats!
Swinging together is so relaxing, and invites you both to talk freely about anything.
Titanic Painting
Who could forget the infamous scene where Rose poses for Jack like one of his French girls?
Make sure the kids are tucked in, strip down, and let your husband paint/draw you!
Bring Out The Board Games
Instead of game pieces, try using chocolates or sweets.
And feel free to make up your own rules when it comes to game rewards or consequences.
Use your imagination!
Revisit Your Honeymoon
I don’t mean for you to fly back to Hawaii or drive back to the Outer Banks, as nice as that sounds!
Instead, try to recreate the honeymoon atmosphere (or reinvent it, if it wasn’t that great).
Hang up string lights, light candles, and lay rose petals in the bath…
Fill Up A Note Jar
This date takes some preparation, but is (basically) free and can make a great date night in!
All you have to do is take a week, or a few days, and begin writing things down that you love about the other person.
Put those scribbles in the jar, and open a bottle of wine you have resting on top of the fridge so you can read them aloud together!
Keep in mind that the things you write can be huge things, or they can be everyday things.
Like the way your husband always remembers to text you once he’s gotten to work to let you know he’s safe, or how he winks at you every time he grabs your hand to hold in public.
Make Sushi Together
Did you know they make sushi rollers?
Because they absolutely do!
Grab one of them on amazon, grab some supplies (after looking up the necessary ingredients for whatever kind of roll(s) you want to make together), and make a sushi dinner together.
For the night of this date, think about feeding the kids their own dinner, and then putting them to bed before making your sushi dinner so you can have fun together alone.
Our kids go to be at 8:00, so that’s a pretty late dinner, but still leaves us plenty of time to order pizza if we fail at rolling up the sushi rolls ;).
Blind Taste Test
Grab some random items from your fridge (maybe 10 or so) and arrange them on the kitchen counter.
Wrap a blindfold (you can even use a t-shirt, tie, etc), and begin a blind taste test! See if you can guess what’s been put in your mouth.
You can even blindfold him while you dig in the fridge so he can’t see anything you’ve brought out, and vice versa.
Have Fun With Whipped Cream
Does this one need explaining?!
Scavenger Hunt
This one takes some planning and works best if it’s a scavenger hunt for one person instead of both of you, but consider setting one up for your spouse!
It can be really fun, or really ‘fun‘ – that part is up to you!
DIY Coupons
Create ‘coupons’ for your spouse to redeem for favors, chores, etc.
They can be for free back rubs, ‘you win this argument’, or even ‘you can sleep in – I’ve got the kids’ coupons!
Ice Cream In Bed
Make your favorite bowls of ice cream, and eat together in bed!
Karaoke/Dance Party
This one is as easy as pulling up your ‘Just Dance’ game on an XBOX and dancing together!
Wine Tasting
Pull out some wine bottles, and taste away! See who can get the most guesses right, and get a little tipsy while you’re at it.
Unplug Your Devices For Some True One-On-One
This one is hard to do but absolutely necessary from time to time.
While social media and our electronics hold a very high priority in our lives – there’s nothing more important than your family.
Reconnect with each other by turning off the TV, pop your smartphones in a drawer, and just be together.
Strip Poker
If you’re any good at poker, give this idea a go!
Build A Fort
You watch your kids build blanket and pillow forts – now it’s your turn!
There’s something truly magical about laying in a blanket fort – the rest of the world just disappears.
That can’t happen at a public restaurant – and that’s why this is my favorite date night idea at-home!
Grab some chairs from the kitchen, drape some blankets over them, and lay underneath your fort together.
Embrace your inner child with this one, and just have fun!
Exchange Massages
Whether it be an intimate type of massage or a gentle back rub, this is a great way to pay each other attention!
Star Gaze Together
How many constellations can you find?
Spend time tracing the stars with your eyes as you reconnect under the night’s sky!
Take A Bath Together
Fill the tub about 1/2 way with hot water, add in some essential oils and rose petals, and you have a romantic date night in…the tub!
Start A Fire
This can be in your fireplace or your backyard – try roasting marshmallows, drinking wine, and talking about your day!
Midnight Feast
Stay up late and make your own FEAST, together!
Chow down on your favorite grub, and enjoy cooking together with this date night idea.
Play “Would You Rather?”
Here are some ideas of questions to ask each other…
1. Would you rather have more money or more time?
2. Would you rather hit the pause button on your life or the rewind button?
3. Would you rather have super strength or mind control?
4. Would you rather spend an entire day with your mother-in-law or spend a day with your father-in-law?
5. Would you rather know every secret your spouse has or are some secrets better left uncovered?
6. Would you rather live in the 1930’s or the 1980’s
7. Would you rather live in perpetual summer heat or perpetual winter?
8. Would you rather go camping or go to Las Vegas?
9. NEXT BABY: Would you rather have a boy or a girl?
10. Would you rather stop using the internet or stop using deodorant?
11. Would you rather be completely hairy all over or completely bald?
12. Would you rather be three feet or nine feet tall?
13. Would you rather be the funniest person everyone knows or the most attractive?
14. Would you rather be in jail for 10 years or a toxic relationship for 20?
15. Would you rather be unable to lie or unable to speak?
16. Would you rather be able to see into the past or into the future? 1
7. Would you rather pee yourself in public or shit yourself in private?
18. Would you rather lose your eyebrows or your eyelashes?
19. Would you rather have an extra hour of sleep or an extra hour of alone time? 2
0. Would you rather have another baby or another pet?
21. Would you rather spend the day on the beach or in the mountains?
22. Would you rather eat Italian food or Mexican food for an entire year?
23. Would your rather relive your high school years or college years?
24. Would you rather live without the internet or without A/C and heat?
25. Would you rather your shirts be always two sizes too big or one size too small?
26. Would you rather be famous for athletic skills or/acting?
27. If you had to re-do our wedding, would you rather do it bigger or smaller?
Nerf Gun War!
Chris and I have Nerf fun wars maybe twice a week, with the kids!
We have yet to have wars with just me and him though, so I’m excited to try this idea out together with just the two of us!
Load up on Nerf gun darts, and have yourself a war!
Snowball Fight
If there’s snow outside, grab your baby monitor and head outside to have yourselves a snowball fight!
And if there isn’t any snow, grab the kids’ stuffed animals, or instigate a good ol’ fashioned pillow fight ;).
(with baby monitor nearby 😉 )
What are some things you and your spouse do for a date night in? Tell me in the comments below!