How to Pull Off 3 Casual At-Home Date Night Activities for After Dinner

You don’t have to plan an elaborate date day to have a memorable evening. After dinner, whether you go out or order takeaway, settle in to complete one of the suggested activities below. These are best when mixed and matched. Pair a day out doing something you’ve both always wanted to try with an activity like DIY cocktails or painting at home to close out the evening. You can make these as elaborate or simple as you’d like. At the end of the day, this is all just a way to spend extra time with your favorite person.

1. Plan a Camp Out

Best For Longer Date Nights

Camping out is a date you can throw together pretty easily. Here are the basics of what you may want to include:

• Air mattress
• String lights
• Candles (in outdoorsy scents, obviously)
• Pillows and blankets for a pillow fort
• Mood music to simulate the outdoors

Setup your “campground” in your living room or another area in your home. For food and drinks, go with hot chocolate and s’mores. You could even invest in a s’mores-making contraption (there are a ton out there in the $20 to $40 range). You could make it a pizza night or go with typical camping food for something with more sustenance than sugary s’mores.

Make your camp out technology-free to focus on one another fully. Play board games, tell ghost stories, or talk about your past (and future) together. You could also put on that movie you’ve both been wanting to see because you are indoors after all.

Cost: $15 - $60

2. Hold a Paint Night

Best For Crafty Couples

We’re likely all familiar with wine and paint gatherings, advertised under a number of company names. The concept is simple enough: Drink wine and (try to) paint something pretty. The benefit of going to a paint night is to get out of your house and follow the instructions of someone who has a general grasp on proper painting techniques. But, this date can easily be done at home.

Many painting studios now offer virtual paint nights and take-home kits. These can range in price from around $30 to over $100. Gathering the supplies isn’t the problem, it’s getting a good instructor to show you how to get that paint onto the canvas. Websites like PaintingParties.com offer memberships with access to an entire video library of guided painting classes for around $5 a month. Stepbysteppainting.net is another source I’ve found for cute painting tutorials—these ones are free (even better!). It’s best to pick out the painting you want to complete first to ensure you have all the paint colors you’ll need, otherwise you may have to sub in whatever you have on hand as an alternative.

The price for this date really just comes down to how much material you’ll need. My apartment is home to an ever-cycling number of DIY projects. This means I have every paintbrush style you can think of and paints in almost every shade. The most I’d need to purchase are the canvases which can be found in packs of 10 for about $20 on Amazon and easels which are around $16 each and are a one-time purchase.

Here’s a list of supplies you’ll need (x2):

• Paints
• Paintbrush set
• Plate or palette
• Easel
• Canvas
• Apron (Technically optional)
• Painting tutorial
• Cup for water
• Wine (Or your beverage of choice)

Determine how much you’ll need to invest in supplies and place your order ahead of time. Remember: Paints and paintbrushes are reusable, so this can be a date you return to if it’s one you both enjoy.

Cost: $20 - $60

3. Play a Couple’s Card Game

Best When Paired With Wine and a Charcuterie Board Curated by You

If planning a more complex date isn’t your style, try a couple’s card game. It sounds cheesy, and some of the questions can be depending on the game you go with, but it’s a great way to learn more about one another and practice better communication. If you're having a casual double date or hanging out with other coupled-up friends, go for something less intimate like Cards Against Humanity and save the couple's cards for when you're alone together.

Here’s a few couple’s cards game you might want to add to your options:

• Intimacy Deck by BestSelf: This ‘card game’ will prompt you to have deeper conversations with each other. You’ll be surprised what you’ll learn about each other.
• LOOPY: Turn up with heat with this card game. These questions are a mixed bag with some physical challenges and some questions.
• Love Language: This is another conversation starter with 150 questions.
• Talk, Flirt, Dare!: This card game for couples gets progressively hotter with three different game levels.
• Box of Burning Desires: This card-based game is definitely one for the bedroom and can be customized to your comfort level.

You can keep it PG or ramp of the heat with a steamier game option. Decide how you want to set the mood for the evening and pick up a game or two. Alternatively, you could try a cooperative board game that puts you and your partner against the game itself, requiring stellar communication that can help you become a better team.

Cost: $15 - $40

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