Stay at Home Date Night Ideas

by Jyl Johnson Pattee on December 1st, 2017 | No Comments »

Growing up, my parents went out on a date night every Friday night. When I got married, I assumed my husband and I would follow suit. But, while we have definitely tried to make going out for date night a weekly occurrence, it hasn't always been possible. Coming up with stay at home date night ideas was really the only way to make dating regularly easy and possible. And to think it all started with a computer review. Let me explain...

How Intel's AIO All-in-One PCs Inspired Stay at Home Date Night Ideas

I was recently asked to be part of the Intel AIO's All-in-One PC Influencer Team and was sent a computer to review. After seeing the awesome TouchSmart screen and thinking how beautiful the brand-new computer would look in my office, I immediately thought the topic of my review post would focus on features about work and productivity. After all, I barely use a computer outside my home office.

But when @TroyPattee and I busted out the HP Envy ROVE(20) Mobile TouchSmart All-in-One PC and saw the "games" button on the main screen, we immediately forgot that we needed to sleep (it was 10:30 p.m.) and we started playing games instead. I mean, the kids were in bed and we had a new and bright shiny toy—a desktop turned tablet—sitting on our laps. We were close enough to cuddle, but far enough apart to compete. Bring on the fun!

And that's when it hit me... Date night isn't limited to dinner and a movie, concerts, or other fun offsite activities that take planning, money, and sitters. Some of the best date nights are impromptu activities—like playing Monopoly on a tablet—when the kids are off playing or are sleeping.

10 Stay at Home Date Night Ideas

So, I'll save the computer review and work and productivity topics for another post, because what couple couldn't use some stay at home date night ideas? (Spoiler Alert: The computer's awesome and you should totally get one at Best Buy for Christmas!) In the meantime, check out these 10 ideas:

Bake together. While the kids are sleeping or after bedtime, agree on your favorite sweet treat and bake together. Take turns adding ingredients, mixing, and greasing the sheets or pans. Then work together to place the dough, batter, or other mixture on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish.
Camp. Why wait til better weather or for a sitter to head to the nearest camp ground. Break out your camping gear, set up a tent inside or outside, make some s'mores, and go camping right at home. Camp fire songs encouraged!
Dance. Create a playlist with your favorite songs and have a dance party. No one is watching, so you don't need to worry about knowing the latest moves. Just have fun!
Do housework together. Identify chores or projects around the house that you can do together.
Have a picnic in your family room. Grab a bucket of chicken or make your favorite sandwiches, pull up a blanket, and enjoy an ant-free picnic together in the comfort of your own home.
Listen to music together. Plug in your headphones to the computer, select your favorite songs, and share the headphones while listening to each other's favorite tunes. Talk about what makes them top your music list.
Play games together. As I mentioned, @TroyPattee and I connected while gaming on our new toy, the tablet. We started with a simple game of Checkers, but then couldn't walk away from what turned into an intensely fun game of Monopoly—a 3-hour game that landed us in bed after 1 a.m.
Read together or listen to an audio book. Choose a book that interests both of you and take turns reading to each other or if you prefer, listen to an audio book. Stop and talk about your favorite parts or discuss issues that surface in the book. Identify what you both love about it and what each of you likes that the other doesn't.
Watch television shows together. Choose shows that you like together and watch them either on the TV or like us, on our computer. Parenthood is our recent favorite. What I love about the AIO's All-in-One computer is that it is mobile, allowing you to prop it up on the ottoman and watch it from the couch, set it on a piece of bedroom furniture and watch it from bed, or put it on a bench out on the back porch. The battery lasts up to 3 hours, so no need to worry about plugging in.
Work in the yard together. Though the activities will change based on the season, make it a habit to do yard work together. Garden, plant flowers and trees, shovel snow, etc. Get out, get active, and have fun while working together.

Getting creative and implementing these stay at home date night ideas will lead to a happier, healthier and not to mention more fun marriage!

What stay at home date night ideas do you have?

Disclosure: I am partnering with Intel as a member of their influencer team. Through this partnership, I gain access to content, product, or other forms of value. All thoughts, opinions, reviews are my own!

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Jyl Johnson Pattee

An active part of the Mom It Forward team, Jyl primarily writes about parenting, social good, and all things travel related. In a past life, Jyl was an award-winning copywriter and designer of corporate training programs for Fortune 100 companies. Offline, Jyl is married to @TroyPattee; a mom to two teen boys and a beagle named #Hashtag; loves large amounts of cheese, dancing, and traveling; and lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Topping her bucket list is the goal to visit 50 countries by the time she's 50.