The Best 100 Date Night Ideas for Parents—Even When You’re Exhausted
After our fourth child was born, my husband and I didn’t have a date night for nearly a year. Which sounds like it could be a recipe for marriage problems.
Because couples who never take time away to be alone tend to feel disconnected. They might start snipping at each other over small things. They might forget why they started on this wild, chaotic parenting journey together and begin to feel more like roommates than life partners.
Research shows that says date night is an important ingredient for a healthy marriage—in science speak, they call it shared recreation.1Harasymchuk, C., Walker, D. L., Muise, A., & Impett, E. A. (2021). Planning date nights that promote closeness: The roles of relationship goals and self-expansion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(5), 1692–1709. According to the The Date Night Opportunity report, wives who had regular date nights were 22 percent more likely to report being “very happy” in their marriage, and husbands were 20 percent more likely to.2National Marriage Project. (2023). 2023 Date Night Opportunity. The University of Virginia. Plus, spouses who experience frequent date nights were 28 percent more likely to report that divorce “was not at all likely” in the future, compared to spouses with infrequent date nights.
Date night is especially important when you have kids—because how else will you get to have an actual conversation with your partner without someone asking for help with homework, interrupting to tell you about the coolest thing ever in Minecraft, or screaming so loud you’re sure the neighbors will call the cops on you?
And yet, even though my husband and I had been skipping date night for a while, and even with four kids to wrangle, we felt more connected than ever.
Because we did something different than date night.
But First, Here’s the Problem With Date Night
If you don’t have family in town, “date night” is synonymous with “hire a babysitter,” and that can get awfully expensive. Dropping 50 to 100 bucks just to get time alone with each other stings a bit, especially if you’re on a tight budget.
Even if you do have family in town, they have their own lives to live and aren’t going to be available just because you happen to be in the mood for a date night.
But that’s not even the biggest problem with date night.
After spending all day feeding four hungry mouths, refereeing sibling squabbles and mediating emotional outbursts, running errands to keep stocked on toilet paper and more food for those hungry little mouths, and and and…
As parents, by the end of the day, we’re done.
But date night means right when you’re at your most spent, you have to get all gussied up and be on your A game with your partner. When all you really want is to throw on your comfiest pair of jammies, grab a pint of pistachio ice cream, and zone out to the latest episode of The Voice.
As Parents, We Have to Get Creative
My husband and I found an alternative to date night that doesn’t cost 100 bucks, doesn’t have to happen when we’re at our most exhausted, and still leaves us feeling all lovey-dovey.
During that first year after our youngest was born, instead of date nights, we did lunch dates.
We were able to have an entire conversation without being interrupted. We could make googly eyes at each other without the kids walking up and asking, “Why does your face look so weird?”. We could even indulge in actual swear words instead of “fudgesicle,” “poop nugget,” and “son of a biscuit eater.”
If you’ve never considered a lunch date before, you might be intrigued by the idea, or you might be wondering how that could possibly work for your situation.
But Whatever You Do, Do Something
If a lunch date isn’t feasible for you, that’s okay! In this article, I’ve compiled the best date night ideas for parents.
It doesn’t matter which date night idea you try, but it does matter that you try—and make it something new. Research shows that connecting one-on-one is essential to a healthy relationship,3Harasymchuk, C., Walker, D. L., Muise, A., & Impett, E. A. (2021). Planning date nights that promote closeness: The roles of relationship goals and self-expansion. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(5), 1692–1709. but for the biggest boost to your bond, novel experiences are key.4Aron, A., Norman, C. C., Aron, E. N., McKenna, C., & Heyman, R. E. (2000). Couples’ shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(2), 273–284. Parker-Pope, T. (2008, February 12). Reinventing Date Night for Long-Married Couples. The New York Times. Repeating the same date night once a month can become a mundane routine and won’t deliver the same increase in relationship satisfaction.
And I can tell you from personal experience that making time to try out something new on date night—even when you’re busy and exhausted—will pay off.
Here’s What Date Night Can Do For You
After being together for well over a decade, my husband and I are just as into each other as ever. But when we go through a stressful period and don’t make time for a date night (in lunch form or otherwise), the disconnection creeps in, sucking our patience dry and souring our tone of voice with each other.
So when that happens, I pull up this list of parent date ideas that I’ve been keeping on my phone, and we pick something to try.
Even if all we have is a few minutes to spare for our date, we walk away feeling reconnected. Like we’re a team. A team that just so happens to possess a special talent for using impromptu hugs and kisses to gross out their teenager.
What to Do About Childcare
If we’re talking about date nights for parents, we need to address the (expensive) elephant in the room: Babysitters can be pricey, and finding a reliable sitter can turn into a project and a half.
Here are a few creative ways to handle childcare so that you can make space for regular date nights with your partner:
- When you both work outside the home: Meet up for a day date during work hours. Schedule a “doctor’s appointment” if you need to—what your boss doesn’t know won’t hurt ’em!
- When one person works and the other stays home with the kids: If your kids aren’t in school, ask a fellow stay-at-home parent if they would be up for a swap. You watch their kids for an hour and a half, they watch your kids for an hour and a half—and you both get a much needed boost for your relationships without springing for a sitter.
- If your kids have quiet time: If you’ve got a quiet time routine in your family (or if your kids are still napping), co-opt that time for your couple connection time.
- If your kids are in school or daycare: Schedule a day date while the kids are away. Or if you can’t afford an hour or two, set your alarm a little earlier and get ready as fast as you can to give you 15 minutes of bonus time. Then drop your child off earlier and meet your partner for a quick date, even if it’s just to grab coffee and sit outside while you chat and sip.
- If you live near family: Don’t be afraid to ask aunts and uncles, grandparents, or other extended family to watch your child so you can reconnect with your partner. As a bonus, your family member will get some quality time with your child, which will strengthen their relationship.
- If you belong to a gym: Some gyms provide on-site childcare as one of their perks. You can drop your kids off, do a group class or work out together, then unwind with snacks before it’s time to pick up the kids.
- Look for a parents’ night out: Search for a parents’ night out program in your area so you can drop your kids off for a couple hours. These will typically be run by a children’s museum, a gymnastics spot, your parks and recreation department, or a local church.
- Hire Mister Rogers to babysit: Set your child up with some guilt-free screen time and find a quiet(er) nook of your home to enjoy some time together, just the two of you. (My husband and I have also been known to sneak outside to the porch or backyard!) And don’t be afraid to explain to your child what’s happening and why: When you’re in a relationship with another person, it’s important to have time together, just the two of you. They might as well start learning about healthy relationships now!
- If none of that will work for you: If you’re as tired as I am at the end of the day, you just want to collapse into bed after you tuck your kids in. But if you can manage to stay up 10 to 15 minutes extra after the kids are in bed, you can still connect with your partner in a meaningful way. To help you stay awake, you can plan ahead with a coffee in the late afternoon at least six hours before you plan to hit the hay.5The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2013, August 1). Sleep and caffeine. Sleep Education. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, you could also try an after-dinner family walk around the neighborhood because physical activity can help you stay awake.6Osborn, C. (2023, September 15). How to Stay Up All Night. Healthline. Another option is to kick off your date with a healthy snack that isn’t too sugary, like apple slices or banana with nut butter, carrots and hummus, or a handful of trail mix. Your body’s digestive process will help keep you awake a little longer.7Peters, B. (2023, May 31). How to Stay Up All Night and Avoid Feeling Sleepy. Verywell Health.
- If shift work makes dates tricky: Any time you and your partner are physically in the same space at the same time, you can make up any kind of date you want. Try a coffee date, a pint-of-ice-cream date, or a let’s-lie-in-bed-for-10-minutes-because-we’re-both-exhausted date. (All of which you’ll find in the list below!)
Related: 20 Quick + Powerful Ways to Reconnect With Your Spouse Right Now {Printable}
100 Fun Date Night Ideas for Parents to Make You Feel Closer
Below, you’ll find a list of the best date night ideas for parents to bring you and your partner closer together, even when you’re busy and tired. You’ll feel more connected and ready to tackle whatever tantrums, sibling fights, or mealtime battles come your way.
To put together this list, I scoured every article and Reddit post I could get my hands on, talked to friends and family to hear about their favorite dates, and surveyed the more than 100,000 readers in this community—then I compiled all the most-loved ideas into one epic list. And if getting a babysitter isn’t feasible, you should know that this list includes oodles of at-home date night ideas for parents.
You can treat this list as a bucket list and make your way through each date idea, checking each one off as you go. Or you can bookmark this page in your browser and circle back to it any time you need a fresh date night idea.
Pro tip: If you want to make sure date night happens, the absolute best way to do that is to add it to your family calendar. For example, you can make it a recurring monthly entry, such as the first Friday or Saturday of every month. Then when you see it pop up on the calendar for that week, use this list to plan what you’ll do together.
But First, a Warning
If you don’t often get time alone together, your date conversation might turn into figuring out what to make for dinner, reminding each other about appointments you need to make, or talking about the kids the whole time.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. If that’s what you want to talk about, then you’re making the most of your time together.
But if you want to foster a meaningful conversation about what’s on your minds and hearts, my go-to favorite is to ask one of these conversation starters for couples during your date. These magic questions for couples are inspired by the latest research on how you can make your relationship last.
No Childcare Required: The Best Date Night Ideas for Parents
Here are all the best at-home date night ideas for parents that don’t require a babysitter.
1. Meet for lunch.
When the chaos of parenting life is dragging you down but adding “schedule a date night” to your to-do list stresses you out, try meeting your partner for a quick lunch date instead. And the best part is when you move your date to the daytime, you can still end the day with your comfy jammies, pistachio ice cream, and Netflix queue.
My husband and I have been meeting up for lunch dates for years, and as our work and home routines have evolved, so have our lunch dates.
For example, we’ve grabbed lunch at a restaurant, met at one person’s office to eat leftovers we brought from home, or had dates in our car while we shared sandwiches. Or when one of us was a stay-at-home parent and the other was working, the working parent would drive home for lunch during the day.
As another option if the weather’s decent, you can find a nearby park with a picnic table. If you have kids in tow, send them off to play while you eat.
- Cost: Free if you eat leftovers; $20-40 depending on the restaurant
- Where: At home or go out
Related: 150 Conversation Starters for Couples That Will Make You Feel Closer Than Ever {Printable}
2. Sneak off for breakfast.
Wake up a little earlier than the rest of your crew so you can have a few minutes alone when your home is quiet. Here are a few ideas for how to make a breakfast date feel special:
- Work together to make something yummy for yourselves that you don’t usually get to have, like pancakes, bacon and eggs, or a coffee cake fresh from the oven. (My trusted source for the yummiest recipes is Smitten Kitchen.)
- Grab a new kind of coffee from the store and try it together for the first time. If you want to really go all-out, you can get this fun coffee subscription box† where you can sample new roasts and find a new favorite. Kind of like a wine tasting—but with coffee and delivered straight to your door. If you prefer tea, they also have a tea-of-the-month club that I can personally recommend.
- Make a couple breakfast plates and climb back into bed together for breakfast in bed. If you’re worried about getting crumbs in bed, you can lay a picnic blanket down first.
- Set up a breakfast grazing board with cheese, fruit, and toast with jam.
- Send one person out to pick up breakfast tacos, donuts, or breakfast sandwiches, then bring them home so you can enjoy them together.
If you have any goodies left over after your breakfast date, you can share them with your child and make their day, too.
- Cost: Free if you eat at home; $10-20 depending on what goodies you get
- Where: At home
Atlas Coffee Club Subscription Box
With this monthly gift box, you can sample a wide variety of roasts and find a new favorite. Kind of like a wine tasting—but with coffee and delivered straight to your door. If you prefer tea, they also have a tea-of-the-month club.
3. Go head-to-head.
After the kids are in bed, embrace your inner child and bust out a board game or card game to play together. You can go for a lovingly cutthroat vibe or try a cooperative game where you work together.
These are my favorite games to play with my husband, and they’re also popular with the families in this community:
- 7 Wonders Duel: This is the ultimate two-player strategy game. Your goal is to develop your city’s civilization and build the Wonders of the World. The game takes just 30 minutes, and every game delivers a fresh challenge.
- Forbidden Island: In this cooperative game, you work together to collect treasure before the ancient island you’re on sinks into the ocean—plus you have to rescue your whole team off the island with a helicopter before you sink with the island. Even though I know it’s not real, my heart races every time we get to the end of this game!
- Ticket to Ride: In this game, your goal is to figure out the best routes to travel across America by train. This game, paired with a favorite night-time beverage, always relaxes me after a long day of kid-wrangling.
- Azul: This quick brain puzzle of a game with gorgeous art is the perfect choice for a cozy night with a cup of tea or cocoa. You’re a tile-laying artist, and you’re hired to build a mosaic fit to decorate the king’s palace. You score points for the tiles you lay and for using a variety of colors.
- Quiddler: If you enjoy word games but don’t have the mental bandwidth to start a game of Scrabble right before you go to bed, this game is the perfect fit for you. Each card in your hand features a different letter, and the goal of the game is to use those letters to create words. Creating words scores points, and the person with the most points at the end wins. And if you need a shorter game, just play fewer rounds.
For more awesome game ideas, check out our recommendations for the best family board games.
- Cost: Free if you use games you already have; cost varies if you pick up a new game
- Where: At home
7 Wonders Duel
“My teenager played this at a friend’s house and came home raving about it, so I surprised him with a copy for his birthday. Now our whole family is HOOKED. The genius of this game is that every time you play it, your strategy has to shift based on the hand you’re dealt. So it never gets boring. It’s a family favorite for us!” – Gabriela
4. Climb back into bed.
On a weekday when you both get home from work, school, or whatever daily commitments took you away from home, climb into your bed and cuddle together for a few minutes.
This quick date works as a sort of reset button to help you unwind from the stresses of the day. And after a few minutes of shared quiet, you may find that it feels easier to open up about what’s on your heart.
Side note: This is one of our go-to strategies for connecting with our kids after school, too.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
5. Start a buddy read.
Pick a book you’re both interested in reading, then take turns reading a chapter to each other every night before bed. Most people love being read aloud to, but unfortunately as adults, we don’t get to experience being on the receiving end of that very often. (And if you’re doubting this, just look at how the audiobook industry is booming!)
If you pick a romance or a book with a romantic subplot, you might even get an extra jolt of inspiration in that department.
But if reading aloud isn’t a good fit for you, you can still pick a book you both want to read, then talk about what you’ve read every night before you go to bed. It’ll be like your own two-person book club!
If you need a recommendation, one of our favorite buddy reads has been The Anthropocene Reviewed because the chapters are short and easy to read, but they still made us think without taxing our (already exhausted) brains.
- Cost: Free if you get the book from the library; $5-30 if you buy a copy to keep
- Where: At home
The Anthropocene Reviewed
“What Green is really telling us with these unexpected stories about Sycamore Trees, Canada Geese, and Dr Pepper is how much there is to love in the world and why that love is worth the effort.” — NPR
6. Pamper yourselves.
Heading to an actual spa for a couples massage and a foot bath may not be practical, but you can create an at-home spa night on your own for much cheaper. All you need is one or two special supplies, such as a bath soak or bath salts, foot masks, face masks, massage oil, and so on.
Then take turns pampering each other. You can give each other a massage (head, foot, or otherwise), prepare the bath for one person and hang out and chat while they relax then swap places, or giggle at how silly you both look wearing a sheet mask.
If you enjoy this date night and want to make it a regular occurrence, you can pick up heated foot spas for two so that you can relax while you enjoy a movie. (A friend of mine got two of these foot spas for her and her husband, and she loves them!)
- Cost: Free if you already have spa supplies; cost varies depending on what you buy
- Where: At home
7. Go around the block.
While your kids are otherwise occupied, head outside with your honey for some fresh air and a walk around the block. All it takes is a few minutes, and you’ll finally be able to have a conversation without getting interrupted 27 million times. Plus, the physical activity will boost your feel-good endorphins and help you handle the stresses of parenting life even better.8Mayo Clinic. (2022, August 3). Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
For a lovely twist on this parent date idea, turn your walk into a nighttime stroll under the moon and stars. To plan your nighttime strolls for when it will be a full moon, you can automatically add the phases of the moon to your Google Calendar.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
8. Make something yummy.
Work together to make a special treat like muffins, cookies, or cupcakes. Not only will you get to spend quality time together in the kitchen, but you’ll also get to enjoy the delicious manifestation of that time well spent. And as a bonus, you’ll delight your child when you share the finished treats with them. (If you need ideas, my trusted source for the yummiest recipes is Smitten Kitchen.)
If you go the cupcake route, you can add to the fun by getting creative with the frosting. Channel your inner baking competition contestant and see who can decorate the best cupcake.
But if baking isn’t your bag, you can make a special treat like these next-level Rice Krispie treats or whip up a batch of homemade ice cream.
Or if sweets don’t do it for you, you can work together to make a special dinner. After the kids are in bed one night, find a recipe for something you’ve never made before, like homemade pizza, sushi, homemade pasta, a recipe from another culture, or a meal your kids would never eat. Then pick a weekend afternoon when the weather is decent, send your kids outside to play, and dive in together. If you’re making a recipe from another culture, you can play music from that area while you cook to add to the ambiance.
- Cost: Free if you use ingredients you already have; cost varies if you need supplies from the grocery store
- Where: At home
9. Reminisce together.
Make a special snack or drink, then cozy up on the couch together to look through family photo albums or your wedding album, or just flip through the albums on your phones. Seeing cute pictures from when your child was younger, snapshots from family vacations, or weird photos of your elbow you didn’t know were there (thanks, kid!) will naturally bring up a few stories.
As a bonus, if you don’t yet have any physical family photo albums, flag your favorite photos and send them off to Shutterfly to get printed. Your child will love looking through a photo album of family memories, and the photo album makes for a great present for grandparents, too.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
10. Embrace your creative side.
Create something together. Not only will you have fun doing something different together, but creating art has also been shown to impact health by reducing stress and anxiety, increasing positive emotions, and reducing the likelihood of depression.9Clear, J. (2015, December 23). Make More Art: The Health Benefits of Creativity. The Huffington Post.
For example, you can:
- Color in grown-up coloring books (this one’s my personal favorite, and the artist has a whole series of gorgeous coloring books)
- Watch a how-to-draw video and follow along together
- Set up a makeshift photo booth by hanging a sheet and gathering props, then take silly photos of each other
- Braid friendship bracelets for each other
- Build your own mini golf course around your home or yard using items you already have, like plastic cups, cardboard boxes, mason jars, PVC pipe, and so on
- Print out some favorite family photos and make a scrapbook together
- Bust out your kid’s watercolors and paint—even if you can’t draw well (hello, that’s me!), you can create abstract lines and patterns with watercolors that still look lovely
- Find a DIY project or craft that looks fun, grab the supplies, and do it together—like a mosaic photo frame, a tie-die kit, homemade soap, or a clay pottery kit for two like this
- Get one big blank canvas and follow a step-by-step painting tutorial video to create something together—for a ready-made kit that even non-crafty couples rave about, check out the date night kits from Painting to Gogh
If you’d rather head out for your joint creative session, you can sign up for a class at an art or pottery studio.
- Cost: Free if you use supplies you already have; cost varies if you need supplies from the store
- Where: At home or go out
11. Schedule a Do Nothing Day.
Pick a weekday when your child is in childcare or school and take the day off work and other obligations. Forget the errands you’ve been meaning to run, throw your to-do list out the window, and schedule absolutely nothing.
On your Do Nothing Day, you can climb back into bed and read in the peace and quiet, take your time lingering over breakfast with an extra pot of coffee, or bake something yummy. You can pick any other parent date idea from the list, or just go with the flow and see what feels fun in the moment.
Whatever you decide to do, take your time and enjoy being together because this isn’t about marking something off your to-do list.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
12. Stretch your brains together.
Think of something you’re both interested in learning about, like dog training, photography, cocktail mixology, floral arrangement, cooking, calligraphy, and so on. Then make a plan to learn about it together. You can take a virtual class on Skillshare or Masterclass, find an in-person class, or just binge a bunch of YouTube videos.
You’ll keep your brains sharp because research shows that regularly learning something new is one of the best steps you can take to keep your own brain healthy as you age.10Harvard Medical School. (2021, February 15). Train your brain. Harvard Health Publishing. Plus, the shared experience of learning together will make you feel closer. And you might even discover a new favorite hobby!
- Cost: Free if you use YouTube; cost varies if you find a class to take—Masterclass is $10 a month, and Skillshare has a free 30-day trial
- Where: At home or go out
13. Share your tunes.
Whatever music you’ve been loving lately, play that for your honey. Then swap and listen to what they’ve been enjoying. Share your go-to workout song, the song that lifts you up on a bad day, or one with lyrics you love. For sweet love songs to share without making each other gag, check out our epic list of The All-Time Best Unknown Love Songs: 70+ Underrated Love Songs.
Research shows that listening to music together strengthens your bond and make you feel more connected.11Savage, P. E., Loui, P., Tarr, B., Schachner, A., Glowacki, L., Mithen, S., & Fitch, W. T. (2020). Music as a coevolved system for social bonding. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44, e59. Side note: If you don’t yet have an “our song,” it’s not too late! Deciding on one together now can promote intimacy, positive emotions, and shared memories down the line.12Harris, C. B., Baird, A., Harris, S. A., & Thompson, W. F. (2020). “They’re playing our song”: Couple-defining songs in intimate relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(1), 163-179.
To keep the fun going, you can listen to new releases from your favorite artists, check the charts to see what’s most popular (my husband and I always have fun listening and laughing about how out-of-touch we are with what’s popular), or explore brand-new-to-you tunes (we use the Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify).
For a fun variation on this date night, you can think back to all the songs you listened to when you were first dating, then make a playlist of those. Then any time you want to reminisce about the early days of your relationship, you have a ready-made playlist!
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home or anywhere, like if you have a few minutes in the car together
14. Cozy up on the couch.
After the kids are in bed, pop in a movie and host your own movie night for two. To make your movie night extra special, you can plan ahead with some fun snacks (maybe a new flavor of popcorn?) and/or drinks. Then add in a cozy blanket to snuggle up under, and you’re set.
If you need ideas for movies, check out our list of the Top 10 Romantic Comedies You’ll Fall in Love With. Every movie on that list also has my husband’s stamp of approval, including About Time, which became an all-time favorite for us both. (See below for the trailer!)
If the weather’s decent, you can also turn your couples’ movie night into a backyard movie night. All you need is a projector and a white sheet or a screen to project on, plus a blanket to spread in the grass or outdoor chairs. Bonus points if you roast marshmallows over a backyard fire pit. (Friends of ours have this fire pit, and we love sitting around it and chatting!) By the way, this is the outdoor projector I got for my husband one year for Father’s Day, and we use it every week during the summer.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
15. Eat early—or late.
Set your kids up with some guilt-free screen time and plan to eat an early dinner, just you and your partner. To dampen the sounds of kids being kids, you can eat in your bedroom or on your porch. If you have a backyard, you can also turn your dinner date into a picnic. All you need is a big blanket—this is my family’s favorite picnic blanket because nothing soaks through, and it’s easy to clean off.
If eating dinner early isn’t feasible, you can snack during the kids’ dinnertime to tide you over, then plan to enjoy a quiet dinner together after the kids are in bed. If you’re too knackered to cook, order takeout as a special treat and get it delivered. Then for a proper date vibe, turn out all the lights and have dinner by candlelight.
And if neither of those options will work, a fun twist on this parent date idea is to include your kids. Move a small table into a room you don’t usually eat in, like your living room, plus two chairs. Tell the kids you’re having a date night, and pretend you’re showing up to a restaurant. You can get dressed in fancy clothes, and your kids can be the host and wait staff. We’ve done this a handful of times, and our kids love it, plus we get a few moments to finish a conversation for once.
- Cost: Free, unless you opt for takeout
- Where: At home
16. Puzzle it out.
After the kids are in bed, set up a card table in your bedroom or clear out a corner of the floor, then tackle a big jigsaw puzzle together. This is one of our favorite ways to connect because puzzling is calming, plus it’s easy to pair with a nighttime beverage like a cup of tea or glass of wine. And while our hands are busy, the conversation ebbs and flows naturally.
If you don’t already have a puzzle, our favorite puzzle company is Ravensburger because their puzzles are well-made and never have those pieces where you’re not sure if they fit together or not.
- Cost: Free if you already have a puzzle; $10-30 if you need to pick one up
- Where: At home
17. Listen to a podcast.
Find a podcast that’s just for the two of you, and listen together every time there’s a new episode. If your kids are too loud, hole yourself up in your bedroom and tell them you’re folding laundry. Odds are, they’ll skedaddle.
But this is important: Listen to new episodes only when you’re together. If one person jumps ahead without the other, the other person might feel left out, and it will no longer be a shared experience to bring you closer.
If you need ideas for a new podcast, some of our favorite podcasts to listen to as a couple are This American Life, Hidden Brain, and Freakonomics.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home or anywhere, like if you have a few minutes in the car together
18. Count the stars.
After the kids are in bed, head outside to count stars and pick out constellations. You can use a stargazing app to help you, or you can wing it.
If you don’t know any constellations, that’s okay. Embrace your playful side and invent new ones, then explain them to each other.
You can also plan ahead and check to see if there are any upcoming meteor showers, then schedule your stargazing date night around that.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
19. Solve a mystery.
If you and your partner like to watch or read whodunnits, put on your detective caps and solve a mystery together.
I’ve played the Hunt a Killer games and Unsolved Case Files, and they were both lots of fun.
If you find that you love the experience, you might try a mystery game subscription box like from the Mysterious Package Company.
- Cost: $30 for a game; cost varies for subscription boxes
- Where: At home
20. Make a sundae bar.
Pick up your favorite ice cream flavors and candy for toppings, and set up an ice cream bar for two. You can invent your own new combinations, or invent one for your partner that you think they’d like.
One of our favorite ice cream night concoctions is one we borrowed from a local ice cream shop: The Lawless Walrus. Start with chocolate ice cream, mix in Oreos and waffle cone pieces, then top with fudge. Divine!
- Cost: $10-30, depending on how many ice cream flavors or fixings you get
- Where: At home
21. Stroll down memory lane.
Grab a nice sheet of paper for each of you, set a timer for 15 minutes, and jot down as many favorite memories as you can. You can reminisce about moments you’ve shared together, memories of your kid, or even your own childhood memories. Research shows that couples who reminisce together tend to be more satisfied with their relationship and feel warmer and closer to their partner.13Majzoobi, M. R. & Forstmeier, S. (2022). The relationship between the reminiscence of relationship-defining memories and marital outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 14(1), 7-27.
Alternatively, you can make a list of specific things you appreciate about the other person.
When the timer goes off, you can swap papers to read what the other person wrote, or you can take turns reading your list aloud to each other.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
22. Browse the shelves.
Visit a locally owned bookstore and browse around together, checking out the staff recommendations and the bestsellers. Alternatively, pick out books you think the other one would like, then sit down and read the jacket copy for all the books and pick your favorite to bring home.
If your kids are in tow, visit the library and bring them along. Take turns staying with the kids while one person goes to pick out a book for the other person. Check out everything, then read the jacket copy to each other when you get home and pick your next read.
- Cost: Free or $20-40 if you pick up two new books
- Where: At the bookstore or library
23. Make a cheese board.
Save yourselves the hassle of cooking dinner and pick up supplies for a fancy cheese board instead.
For Christmas one year, I got my husband The Cheese Board Deck, which has 50 different cards with creative ideas for styling your own cheese boards at home. We’ve been making our way through the deck, one cheese board a month, and we’ve tried so many new cheeses and other fun foods because of it. We’ve even starting doing a cheese board with the kids once in a while, too. (Who knew my kids would love cornichons?)
Side note: If you want to add a wine pairing to your cheese board, the same author of The Cheese Board Deck also has The Wine and Cheese Board Deck.
- Cost: Varies depending on what food you get
- Where: At home
24. Get your (video) game on.
If you already have a video game console, pick a game to play together. This date night idea works best if it’s a game neither of you have played before, especially if one of you isn’t an experienced gamer and one is. Because if one of you has already mastered a game, it won’t be as fun for the other person to get completely dominated or feel lost.
One of my fondest date night memories is when my husband and I got a new game for our gaming console, then spent the night tackling the game together. We felt like kids again!
- Cost: Free, unless you pick up a new game
- Where: At home
25. Host a tasting for two.
Whatever beverage you and your partner like to enjoy together—wine, beer, coffee, tea, or even soda—pick up a few different kinds at the store, then host your own tasting event where you sample a little of everything.
If you want to go all out, you can research cheeses or other foods to pair with each style of beverage. Even if you’re not doing a wine or beer tasting, you can still have fun making up your own pairings. Maybe a sarsaparilla-forward root beer pairs well with Sour Patch Kids?
To make this date night more economical, research ahead of time if any local grocery stores or liquor stores allow you to mix-and-match single beers into your own six-pack, or look for smaller bottles of wine. Most liquor stores will have an assortment of 375 milliliter bottles, which is half the size of a typical wine bottle.
- Cost: Varies but might be in the range of $20-75
- Where: At home
26. Plan your dream trip.
Brainstorm a list of your dream vacations (family or couple), then pick one to plan. Whether you plan it for next year or five years from now, you’ll bond over the shared experience of doing it together.
If you need some ideas to jump-start your brainstorming, here are a few:
- Go skiing or snowboarding in the winter or hiking the rest of the year
- Drive to the nearest beach or lake and go surfing, jet skiing, parasailing, or scuba diving
- Go to an all-inclusive family-friendly resort
- Plan the quintessential Disney trip
- Book a train trip
- Stay at a farm, such as with Farm Stay USA in the U.S.
- Visit a national park—Note: If you have a fourth grader, you can get a free annual pass to all national parks in the U.S.
- Rent an RV
- See the Northern Lights
- Book a cruise
- Plan a safari trip
- Travel to the best spot to catch an upcoming eclipse
As you plan together, you can research hotels, check restaurant menus, figure out a road trip route, “ooh” and “aah” at photos of sightseeing spots, and more.
- Cost: Free (the planning is, at least!)
- Where: At home
27. Get flexible together.
Before the kids wake up or after they’re in bed, queue up a video from Yoga With Adriene and find your flow. Just a few minutes in the morning or at bedtime can help reduce stress and anxiety while improving your flexibility, balance, and posture.14Ezrin, S. (2021, December 14). 16 Benefits of Yoga That Are Supported by Science. Healthline.
As you experience the delightfully calming influence of Adriene, your breathing and your bodies will get in sync. And if one of you falls out of a tricky pose, the giggles will bring you closer together.
If yoga isn’t your thing, find any interesting new-to-you workout video on YouTube and tackle the new challenge together.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
28. Quiz each other.
If you can’t make it to your neighborhood bar trivia night, host your own at home. Grab your favorite snacks and drinks, then pull up The New York Times Crossword or yesterday’s Jeopardy clues, then take turns quizzing each other. Or for a cooperative vibe, call out the clues and work out the answers together without keeping score.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
29. Camp out in your living room.
After the kids are in bed, set up an air mattress, or drag your own mattress into the living room. Get cozy under the covers together, then watch a movie or just talk in the dark—sleepover style.
To get in the camping spirit, make s’mores together. If you have a fire pit or grill, you can roast marshmallows together outside then come back inside to assemble them. Otherwise, the microwave will work just fine!
- Cost: Free unless you need s’mores fixings
- Where: At home
30. Eat the best.
Browse Goldbelly for your favorite foods and check reviews to see who’s doing it best, then have it delivered straight to your door. For example, you could get the best black-and-white cookie from New York City, world-famous pizza from Chicago, or the tastiest brisket from Texas.
- Cost: Varies but is typically around $50-100
- Where: At home
31. Hunt for treasure.
Set up an indoor scavenger hunt for two. You can reuse your kids’ plastic Easter eggs, tuck a surprise inside each one, then hide them around your home for the other person to find. To make sure this date prep isn’t one-sided, you can split the Easter eggs in half and each hide your batch. No Easter eggs on hand? Just hide the treat itself.
If you’re wondering what to hide for each other, here are a few ideas:
- A piece of chocolate or candy
- A slip of paper where you’ve written something you love about your partner
- A homemade coupon for one free back massage, taking over their chores for the day, or something else your partner would love
- Favorite photos of you together
Pro tip: Take photos of each item you hide so your kids don’t stumble on any stragglers later.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
32. Pick up new moves.
You might not be able to afford the time or expense of dance lessons, so try YouTube dance lessons at home. My husband and I are completely uncoordinated and clumsy, so this date night always results in lots of giggling.
To get started, search YouTube for “xyz dance lessons for beginners,” where “xyz” is whatever style of dance you’re interested in, like swing, salsa, or ballroom dancing.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
33. Host a comedy night.
If you can’t make it to your local comedy club, queue up a comedy special and recreate the experience at home. All you need is yummy snacks and your favorite beverage.
Shared laughter works wonders! Research shows that couples who regularly experience shared laughter feel closer to and more supported by their partners.15Kurtz, L. E. & Algoe, S. B. (2015). Putting Laughter in Context: Shared Laughter as Behavioral Indicator of Relationship Well-Being. Personal Relationships, 22(4), 573–590. Dr. Sara Algoe, a researcher at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said shared laughter is like a probiotic for your relationship.16Beeland, D. (2023, November 13). Gratitude and shared laughter are like probiotics for your relationship. UNC College of Arts and Sciences.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
34. Mix up something new.
Find a couple cocktail or mocktail recipes you’d like to try, then pick up all the ingredients you need to make them at home. Turn your kitchen counter into a makeshift bar and chat while you mix drinks. You can even dress up like you would to go to an actual bar, then pretend one of you is the bartender and get flirty.
For recipe ideas, my go-to starting point is always Smitten Kitchen’s drinks section.
- Cost: Varies depending on which ingredients you need
- Where: At home
35. Dream about the future.
Grab a notepad and a pen plus fun snacks, then make your official bucket list as a couple. Think of everything you’ve ever wanted to do “one day,” whether it’s trips you want to take just the two of you, classes to take together, or any other experience you want to share.
If you need ideas, the list of more parent date ideas in the next section is a great starting point.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
36. Start a new show.
Find a television show on Netflix, Hulu, or your favorite streaming service and start it together. This date night idea works especially well if you and your partner tend to watch your own favorite TV shows separately. When you find something you can enjoy together, the shared experience will make you feel even closer, plus it’ll give you excellent fodder for running jokes.
My husband and I still quote shows we watched years ago. (Whenever we have to move a piece of furniture together, we will always and forevermore end up yelling “PIVOT!” at each other.)
As an added bonus, starting a new show together queues up a weekly date opportunity so that you’re connecting on a regular basis.
If you need ideas for what to watch, head to Rotten Tomatoes and check the TV category. But if you like sitcoms, my husband and I devoured Brooklyn Nine Nine, Schitt’s Creek, and New Girl. For action or adventure, the Jack Ryan series (Amazon Prime) got our hearts racing. And for mystery, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) is a delight!
- Cost: Free if you already have a streaming service
- Where: At home
37. Dip your food.
Dinner is more fun when you dip it in ooey gooey cheese. Get a fondue pot (or use your slow cooker) and make your own cheesy goodness at home. (We got this fondue pot because it doesn’t have harmful PFAS chemicals in the nonstick coating.17Frysh, P. & Gopal, A. (2024, January 24). PFAS: What to Know. WebMD. )
If you don’t have a fondue pot or slow cooker, you can make a big batch of homemade marinara sauce or hummus instead. Then dip anything and everything—bread, vegetables, deli meat, meatballs, chips, pickles, or even large pasta shapes for a mac-and-cheese vibe.
And don’t forget dessert! You can make a classic chocolate fondue or mix it up with salted caramel, butterscotch, peanut butter, or cheesecake sauce. For dessert, you can dip fruit, pound cake, marshmallows, pretzels, nuts, cheesecake bites, mini waffles, brownie bites, or cookies.
- Cost: $50-100 for a fondue pot; cost varies depending on what food you get
- Where: At home
38. Build together.
Pick up a new LEGO set and dive in. Your inner child will be delighted! And if you pick a set that’s fairly involved, this date can keep the fun going over several nights.
If a traditional LEGO set doesn’t float your boat, consider one of the special sets in LEGO’s adult line, like a Pac-Man arcade game replica, a car model like the Ghostbusters car, or Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
- Cost: Varies depending on which LEGO set you choose
- Where: At home
39. Host a taste test.
Visit a gourmet grocery store and pick out a bunch of new-to-you foods to try, then have a night where you taste-test everything. You can go in knowing what you’re trying, or you can set it up as a blind taste test to make sure nobody knows what they’re tasting. And as a bonus, you might even find a new favorite.
For example, one of our go-to date nights is to visit World Market and pick out a bunch of different candy and chocolate bars, then bring them home and gorge ourselves silly. (A lesson we learned the hard way: Steer clear of pre-packaged Turkish Delight candy bars.)
Here are a few more foods you can sample on your taste-test night: different types of pasta, flavors of chips or popcorn, jams and jellies, cookies from a local bakery (get one of each flavor!), salsa, olives (stuffed and marinated), soda flavors, exotic fruit, bread varieties, hot sauce, ice cream, honey, nut butters—the options are endless!
- Cost: Varies depending on what food you get
- Where: At home
40. Play the Newlywed Game.
Even if you’ve been together a while, this can be a hilarious way to see how well you know each other, and you might even learn something new about your partner.
If you’re not familiar with the classic Newlywed Game setup, I included a clip from two celebrities playing it below. Here’s how it works:
- Get two pads of paper and a bold pen or marker for each of you, or you can use two mini white boards like this.
- Take turns asking each other questions like, “What’s the best present I’ve ever given you?”
- Write down your answers separately. (No peeking!) For example, if I were asking my husband this question, he would write down the best present I’ve ever given him, and I would write down what I think is the best present I’ve ever given him.
- After you’re both done writing, reveal your answers to each other. If your answers match, pat yourselves on the back and move onto the next question. If you want to make the game competitive, you can hand out points. For example, in this situation, I would get a point for guessing my husband’s answer correctly. With that said, I personally think it’s more fun to forget about keeping score and just play!
If your kids are around, you can invite them to watch your homegrown game show. They’ll likely think it’s hilarious, or they’ll get bored and wander off. Either way, you win!
Here’s a list of Newlywed Game questions you can use as a starting point, but feel free to make up your own questions that are custom tailored to you and your partner.
- Cost: Free
- Where: At home
When You Have a Babysitter: 60 More Date Night Ideas for Parents
If you have childcare squared away for your date night, here are a few more parent date ideas to help you reconnect and feel closer:
- Pack a picnic. Find a nearby park or green space, then grab a big blanket (this is our go-to picnic blanket) and pack a meal to share—cheese and crackers is a classic and easy to prepare. A picnic basket is absolutely not necessary, but if you find that you enjoy picnics together, we gifted this lovely picnic basket to one of our kids, so we’ve borrowed it for picnic dates.
- Grab coffee. Head to your neighborhood coffee shop, then treat yourselves to a fancy drink you wouldn’t normally splurge on. To get the conversation going, ask one fun question from our special set of Conversation Starters for Couples. As another option, you can bring along a favorite board or card game to play while you enjoy your drinks. Here’s a list of our all-time favorite family board games for all ages, many of which we sell in our family-owned shop here. Among the games we stock, the best portable games for couples that you can easily bring along to a coffee shop are Love Letter, Quiddler, SET, and Welcome To, which is a bit like Tetris but on paper.
Love Letter
“My teen and tween love this quick little card game. To win, you need to rely on your deductive reasoning skills, plus a bit of luck. You can play a whole game in 20 minutes, but if you’re short on time, you can play one round in 5-7 minutes. But warning: Even when we set out to play ‘just one round,’ we always end up playing several!” – Tyler
- Visit an arcade. Head to a classic video game arcade where you can play pinball, skee-ball, Pac-Man, and more. When you’re done playing, pick out something silly with the tickets you earned, then give it to your child when you get home.
- Be a tourist. Pretend you’re a tourist in your own town, and plan a special outing to see one of the sights in your area. Often, we can live in a place for a while and not even experience the top sightseeing spots! If you need ideas for where to go, check TripAdvisor for the top-ranked spots in your area.
- Batch your kindness. You might have heard before that regularly helping others is an important factor in living a long, happy life.18Friedman, H.S., & Martin, L.R. (2012). The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study. Plume. So pick a day where you intentionally perform five small acts of kindness together. One study found that people who performed five giving acts all in a single day increased their happiness.19Grant, A. (2013). Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Viking. You can deliver flowers to a friend, surprise a worker like a barista or wait staff with a really big tip just because, take baked goods to your neighborhood librarians or firefighters, donate old blankets and towels to your local animal shelter, pick up litter at a park, and so on. For more ideas, check out 38 Acts of Kindness for Families—For Every Age And Budget.
- Ride it out. Plan a bike ride for just the two of you. As a bonus, you’ll get some exercise and fresh air along with your alone time. If you don’t have an area in your neighborhood that’s appropriate for bike rides, research areas nearby that could work by searching Google for “best bike rides in xyz” and replace “xyz” with your city’s name.
- Sneak out. If the layout of your home allows for this, you can pretend you’re leaving on a date and say goodbye to your child and the babysitter, then when your kiddo’s distracted, sneak back into your room for a date night in bed. Make sure to squirrel away something fun to eat in your room ahead of time. Then you can watch something on your computer or tablet with headphones connected, or just talk with no interruptions. (But whisper if necessary to avoid detection!)
- Play dress-up. Head to a department store or a shopping area or mall, then browse the clothing sections together. You pick something out for your partner to try on, and they pick out something for you to try on. Make sure to show each other how it looks on for maximum fun. Then if your picks turn out to look horrible, you’ll have fun laughing together. Or if you find something you love, you’ve got your next date night outfit sorted. Win-win!
- Go out for ice cream. Visit a local ice cream parlor and treat yourselves to whatever looks good. Bonus points if you get a milkshake to share.
- Watch a movie. It’s a classic for a reason! Head to a movie theater and get the full experience without any kids yelling in the background. For a fun twist on this quintessential date night, go to a drive-in movie theater or try a movie theater that serves food and drinks.
- Go on a scavenger hunt. My personal favorite style is a photo scavenger hunt because the photos will help you remember the experience later on. When you find something on your list, snap a photo with the item and whomever found it. You can find oodles of free printable scavenger hunts online, so search Google and find one that looks fun for you and your partner.
- Eat fancy. Make reservations for a special restaurant with fantastic reviews, get dressed up, and enjoy a top-notch meal.
- Skip straight to dessert. If dinner at a fancy restaurant isn’t doable for your budget, make plans to just grab dessert instead.
- Pick out gifts. If your child or another loved one has a birthday coming up or if it’s the winter holiday season, head out together to find gifts you can wrap together.
- Park somewhere. Pick up takeout, then drive somewhere with a scenic view to park so you can eat while you enjoy the view. If you can’t find a scenic outlook, you can park anywhere and then climb in the back of your vehicle to watch a movie on your mobile device while you eat. (Vehicle entertainment systems work great for this too!) Or if you’re low-energy, just head to a Sonic drive-in and enjoy an old-fashioned car date.
- Sing karaoke. Find a local karaoke bar, and belt your favorite tunes while you cheer each other on.
- Take a tour. Many cities offer tours for visitors that can be lots of fun for residents, too. From food tours to architecture tours and more, you’ll enjoy seeing your town in a fresh way.
- Browse the farmer’s market. Take your time visiting all the booths and sampling whatever looks yummy. But don’t forget to bring home goodies for your kids!
- Throw axes. Visit an axe-throwing field and get your frustrations out.
- Book a night. This one’s pricey but makes for a fun splurge on special occasions like your anniversary or a birthday.
- If you can secure childcare for overnight, book a one-night stay at a local hotel or Airbnb and give yourselves a mini-staycation. You can get room service or order pizza, find a movie to watch, visit the hotel restaurant, hit up the pool—or just head to bed earlier than normal and get a great night of sleep for once.
- If you can’t get an overnight babysitter, one of you can stay behind in the hotel to get a good night’s sleep while the other heads home, then plan to do it again in the near future and swap. But also, there’s no rule that says you have to stay all night in a hotel room! If you get a babysitter early and check in at 3 pm then leave at 11 pm, you’ve still gotten yourselves 8 hours of quality one-on-one time. (Side note: I also recently found out about Dayuse, where you can book a hotel for a couple hours during the day for a much cheaper price.)
- Bonus: The next morning, return before checkout time with your kids so they can splash around in the hotel pool.
- Try a food truck. Find a food truck with great reviews and take your partner there to try something new.
- Listen to an author. Check your local bookstores’ schedules to see if any authors you like are coming into town, then make a plan to go hear them speak.
- Send your kid elsewhere. Drop your child off with family, or send the babysitter on an outing with your child. They could go to a children’s museum, a park with a playground, the zoo, or anywhere else that your child would enjoy. Then you and your partner will have your home all to yourselves so you can use any of the at-home parent date ideas from this list.
- Drink flights. Visit a winery, brewery, or bar and get a flight of different styles of wine or beer to sample. Some wineries and breweries also offer tours of the premises, which can add to your fun.
- Find a trivia night. Local bars and restaurants will sometimes host weekly trivia nights. Show up, sign yourselves up as a team of two, and enjoy pub grub while you test your knowledge.
- Give time together. Make a plan to volunteer at a local food bank, animal shelter, nursing home, community garden, and so on.
- Climb rocks. Find a rock climbing wall in your area and challenge yourselves.
- Recreate your first date. Wherever you had your first date, go back there and relive the moment. If that date spot is in another city, find a similar place in your current city. Bonus points if you try to remember what you wore that first time and wear something similar. And don’t forget to recreate your first kiss, too!
- Go window shopping. Visit a walkable shopping area and browse to your heart’s content. If you see a coffee shop, pop in for a couple beverages to enjoy while you explore. You don’t even need to buy anything as you browse—just enjoy the stroll and conversation.
- Try a new restaurant. Check reviews on Yelp or TripAdvisor and find a great restaurant you’ve never been to before, then experience it together.
- Get a massage. Head to a local spa and splurge on a couples’ massage, facials, or his-and-her pedicures with foot massages.
- Play putt-putt. Find a miniature golf course in your area and set aside an hour or two to play together.
- Be artsy. Visit a nearby art museum or gallery and explore. Even if you know nothing about art, the new experience will bring you closer together. Some art museums will even host special events once in a while where you can get free wine and appetizers.
- Plan a hike. For a parent date idea that will get your blood pumping, make a date to go on a hike. Bring plenty of water and fun snacks to keep you both fueled, or pack fixings for a picnic so you can break halfway to share a meal outdoors. If you don’t know of an area that’s appropriate for hikes, research areas nearby that could work by searching Google for “best hikes in xyz” and replace “xyz” with your city’s name.
- Go bowling. Reserve time at a bowling alley in your area and see who’s the better bowler. Or if you’re both bad at bowling (hello, that’s us!), have fun laughing at your gutter balls while you eat pub grub.
- Take a day trip. Find a fun destination that’s within driving distance and head there together to explore.
- Have dessert in the driveway. At the end of your date night and on your way home, head to a convenience store and pick out your favorite candy or treat. Then when you get home, park in the driveway or parking lot and spend the last few minutes of your date enjoying your goodies and uninterrupted conversation.
- Strap on skates. Go skating together at a roller skating or ice skating rink. Or if you have rollerblades, you can gear up for a turn around the neighborhood.
- Catch the sunset or sunrise. Find out when the sunrise or sunset will be in your area, then make plans to watch the event together. Awe is a powerful emotion, and the shared experience of awe will bring you closer. Bonus points: Turn this into a picnic date by packing breakfast or dinner.
- Cheer on your team. Get tickets to a live sporting event, whether for major league sports, minor league baseball, a nearby college team, or roller derby. For the full experience, junk it up at the concession stands.
- Swing each other. Find a park with swings that are sturdy enough for grown-ups, then head there during a non-peak time to swing and talk. And if no kids are around, you might even get away with a trip down the slide!
- Shoot paint. Find a paintball field and suit up. Whether you play on the same team or against each other, you’ll get some exercise and build memories.
- Visit a nursery. Go to a local nursery or home improvement store and pick out a houseplant you can take care of together.
- Take a cooking class. The host of a cooking class will usually have everything organized and prepped for you ahead of time, so all you have to do is show up and have fun cooking something new together.
- Go birdwatching. Head to a green area nearby and see how many different birds you can spot. You can even find a birdwatching app and take photos to submit your finds to the app.
- Play an outside game. Get some fresh air while you play together. Try frisbee, disc golf, badminton, tennis, or just kick a soccer ball around at a neighborhood park.
- See a show. Catch a live concert, play or musical, dance performance, comedy show, or other kind of performance.
- Go swimming. When the weather’s warm, visit a local pool and enjoy cooling off in the water together—without having to worry about reapplying sunscreen on your kids. As an alternative, you can visit a nearby lake or river and rent a canoe, a kayak, or paddle boards.
- Admire a garden. Enjoy the outdoors at a local nature center, botanical garden, or butterfly garden.
- Try skydiving. Many big cities and metropolitan areas now have indoor skydiving simulators, in case the idea of actual skydiving strikes fear into your heart. (That’s me!)
- Escape together. Visit an escape room and have fun solving the puzzles as a team.
- Dance every week. Find a local dance studio offering weekly lessons and sign up. Together, you can learn ballroom, salsa, swing dancing, or line dancing.
- Visit an amusement park. Embrace your inner child and visit a theme park or amusement park together.
- Ride horses. Go horseback riding together, or if you’ve never done it before, get lessons as a couple.
- Visit a thrift store. Whether you laugh at ridiculous fashion choices from the past or hunt for hidden gems, a local thrift store can make for a fun date spot. For an alternative, try your local flea market.
- Hit balls. Find some nearby batting cages and take turns hitting balls. Or if baseball isn’t your thing, find a driving range or visit Top Golf.
- Go geocaching. Never tried it before? That’s okay. Just have fun exploring together.
- Drive together. Find a go-kart track and race each other.
- Climb ropes. If you have a zipline or ropes course in your area, this is a fun date that’ll give you a thrill.
- Fly high. Book a hot air balloon ride. It can be pricey, but you’ll remember it forever!
Get your copy: 150 Conversation Starters for Couples That Will Make You Feel Closer Than Ever
Your Turn
What are your favorite date night ideas for parents? Share in a comment below!
Note: All information on this site is for educational purposes only. Happy You, Happy Family does not provide medical advice. If you suspect medical problems or need professional advice, please consult a physician.