52 Fun At Home Date Ideas that are just as much fun as a night out! These stay at home date ideas set you up for date night in every week of the year!

When our baby was born about a year and a half ago, we found ourselves in the hardest date night situation. We couldn’t leave the baby at home. Also, we couldn’t take our toddler out on the town. If we tried to leave just him, he’d cry traumatized that his whole family was abandoning him. Jacob and I had to get very real about date nights at home.

Rethinking Date Ideas At Home

There was one afternoon we went out while the grandparents had both of the kids, and he remarked how good this felt. Jacob said something really interesting to me when I started planning date nights in. He admitted to me that date nights in don’t really feel like a date night to him. Even if we do something cool, even if we set the mood, even if it’s super intentional, it just doesn’t do it for him, filling the date night bucket.

I totally get that! Clearly, we’re “Let’s get out and see the world!” type people. But we also had kids whose needs meant we needed to stay in. In the long run, it’s so much cheaper than therapy, we joked!

The problem was that at home date ideas seemed hard to come by. We’ve been asked to please share ours since we started Friday We’re in Love. I always knew the day would come when we’d have enough to make a list of fun date night ideas at home I could be proud of. So many seemed so cheesy, and I had to really get creative to find good ones I hadn’t heard of before that we knew we’d both be excited about. I started working on this project two years ago!

Well, I took this as a challenge accepted! Let’s ditch your typical date nights at home list and come up with some truly unique and original date ideas to do at home.

At-Home Date Ideas

Cook a romantic dinner for two

There’s something extra romantic about a nice dinner that you make in the comfort of your own home. Try a fancy meal, roll some homemade pasta, or tackle a new recipe together. One of our favorite ways to plan a meal is with the Gourmet Cooking for Two Date Night book. It’s full of dinner date romantic date night ideas with approachable recipes and wine tasting suggestions if you like to pair dinner with drinks.

Set up a backyard movie night

We love our projector and outdoor screen that makes backyard movies so easy! But a laptop and blankets are really all you need!

Comedy Show at Home

Have a funny Youtube videos date night. Or look up a comedian and watch their show clips online.

Or you could just watch funny TikToks or Reels. The point is to make each other laugh and feel like you go ta comedy show viewing from the comfort of your own home.

Date Night Box

If you need a little help in the creativity department and want a ready-made date night planned for you, try a Date Night Box for Couples. Plus if you use this link and the Happily promo code: FRIDAYLOVE you can try an extra 10% off

Stargazing Date Night

Stargaze in the backyard

Romantic Picnic in the Living Room

There’s something so romantic about an indoor picnic. We love to get our coffee table and sit on pillow cushions and have a fondue picnic in the living room.

5 Love Languages Date Night

Take the 5 Love Languages quiz and read excerpts from the book. We even have a fun printable and resource in our 5 Love Languages Date Idea post.

DNA Test Results

Try a 23andMe kit for a full DNA-based genetic analysis. Review your results and share your discoveries.

Couples Game Night Date

Play a board game or card game for two. Our couples’ games list will help you find the perfect one for you!

Chocolate Date

Have a chocolate taste-testing night with a box of fine-grade chocolates

S’mores Roasting / Faux Camping Date Idea

Create a s’mores bar and roast marshmallows in the backyard, over the grill, over the stove, or in the toaster oven.

Escape Room at Home

Do an escape room at home. These games make it easy to solve clues, and feel like you’re on a scavenger hunt to race against the clock without having to leave home. Grab this at home escape room game.

Charcuterie Board at-Home Date Night Ideas

Was there ever a better pairing than snack board and date night? There are so many ways to pull off a charcuterie board date night. The trick is to come up with a theme, and plan a lot of food items that fit.
Cheese boards with meats, crackers, strawberries, and grapes are the classic base. But you could also do a movie-themed charcuterie. Many people love to make a candy snack board. There is no limit here, whatever brings you some joy for a date night in works!
Create a charcuterie board and enjoy a slow dinner full of conversation with plenty of quality time together while you slowly digest.

At Home Paint Night Date Night

Recreate a famous painting with an at-home paint night kit. How fun are these paint night kits for a totally affordable DIY project you’ll want to display at home!

Sexy Game Night

Have a sexy game night in. It’s a guaruntee spice-thing-up date.

Couples Checkup Date

Take the Couple Checkup quiz and discuss communication, intimacy, finances, romance, etc., with easy ideas to make some simple changes to improve your marriage

Puzzle Date Night

Have a jigsaw puzzle night.

Pumpkin Carving Date

Carve pumpkins together. I’ve had friends carve Christmas pumpkins instead of Halloween. Find a time of year when pumpkins are in season and come up with something creative.

Sugar Cookie Baking Date Night

Bake and decorate sugar cookies. Go fancy with royal icing art, or do something quirky like our zombie sugar cookie date night.

Plan Your Year Together

Draft New Year’s Resolutions together and take time to plan the things you want to do this year. And if you’re reading this long after January, take some time to plan the next year or a few months together, no matter the time!
Set goals together as a couple. Come up with goals by category: we like to do financial, spiritual, physical, and mental goals. It’s fun to come up with a set together. It’s a fantastic New Year’s date idea, but there’s never a wrong time to dig in and set some dreams up for success together.

Stay At Home Date Ideas for Couples

Romantic Fort Date

Built a romantic fort, and have a romantic fort date with activities of your choosing.

Do You Know Your Spouse Game

Get a copy of Do You Know Your Husband and Do You Know Your Wife and enjoy sharing your quiz answers

Read a Thon Date

Have a read-a-thon style date, either sharing a book together or each choosing your own novel and snuggling up for some quality reading time.

Holiday Decorating Date

Decorate for the holidays. Decorating the tree, setting up the lights, and decking the halls are a fantastic festive date!

TED Talks Intellectual Conversation Date

Find a handful of TED talks and listen to several inspiring messages. Discuss your favorite parts of each for a truly intellectual date night.

Neon Dance Party

Get a bunch of glowsticks and have your own neon dance party. It’s like a legal rave at home.

Couples Bucket List Date Night

Create a couple’s bucket list. Get your dreams on paper and make them happen!

Breakfast in Bed Date Night

Have breakfast in bed, even if it isn’t traditional breakfast time. There’s nothing like breakfast food cozy in your blankets and pillows while you enjoy some pillow talk!

Personality Quiz Date Night

Take the Strengthsfinder 2.0 quiz and share your results and how you plan to build on your innate strengths.

Old School Video Game Date Night

Rent or borrow a Wii and play interactive games together. You can also find old school games on the Nintendo Switch pretty easily these days.

Ennegram Date Night

Find your Enneagram types and talk about how that impacts your life and relationship. Trust me, you can spend hours on all the resources out there!

Blindfold Dinner

Cook dinner together, and try to figure out how to eat it blindfolded. This is a big hit with teens for dance day dates. They use a plastic tablecloth and typically do spaghetti with a unique utensil and a blindfold.
It makes for a fun at-home date night for couples to try too!

Blindfold Baking Date

Have one partner make dinner blindfolded. The other can guide their hands through the motions. It’s kind of like the famous Ghost scene without having to buy a pottery wheel. Just be careful with knife handling, blindfolded!

Almost Drive-In Movie Night Date

Do a “Drive-In Movie Night” in your garage. Set up a movie to watch from your car.

Gingerbread House Date Night

Get a gingerbread house decorating kit, and decorate gingerbread houses. Note, this now happens more often than just at Christmas time! Many companies make a seasonal version for each holiday. You can also stash one and celebrate Christmas in July or at any other time!

Gingerbread “House” Engineering Date Night

Build your own structures out of graham crackers and frosting. Much like gingerbread house decorating, but the sky is the limit with your design and structure. Additionally, here’s how we transformed this into a group date and built the graham cracker roller coaster of our dreams.
* If you have gluten allergies in your family, this works with popsicle sticks too!

Love is Art

Heat things up with a Love is Art kit. My friend Kayla swears by this one!

Spa Night at Home Date Night

Look up massage techniques and give each other massages at home. Add in some face masks, and enjoy a relaxing date night in.

Nerf Gun Date

Buy Nerf guns and have a nerf gun war throughout the house

Yard Games

Play a round of bocce ball in the backyard. A bocce ball set is fairly inexpensive, and this is something I used to do with coworkers on our lunch break. It’s a fun game that I bet you’ve never played for date night before!

Water Fight Date

Have a water fight with squirt guns, water balloons, or spray bottles

Indoor Campout Date Night

Set up a tent in the living room and have an indoor campout. Grab some pillows and sleeping bags, and enjoy some camping food and snacks. You get bonus points for telling ghost stories and having s’mores.

Scratch off Date Night

Get an adventure book for couples. Scratch off an adventure to do together. They all make excellent date nights! Spoiler alert, we have a date night sharing this product coming very soon, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

Pizza Date Night

Have a homemade pizza night. Here’s our favorite easy homemade pizza dough recipe that comes out perfect every time and freezes like a dream if you want to make it in advance. Try getting fancy with toppings by making your own gourmet pizza or original creation at home.

Video Game Marathon

Try to beat an entire video game together in one night.

Recreate Your First Date

Recreate your first date at home. First of all, order takeout or try to recreate what you ate. Then, come up with an at-home version of what you did.

Movie Marathon Date

Have a movie marathon. Find a trilogy you love (or think you’ll love) and watch all three movies back-to-back. Don’t forget the popcorn and movie theater candy to pair with your favorite flick!

Make it a Double Date

Have another couple over for a double date dinner party

Have a Karaoke Date Night

Who said you have to go to a Karaoke bar for a karaoke night date night? Do Karaoke with a twist and sing along to your favorite songs, or find karaoke versions on YouTube. Feel free to throw in a guitar or microphone to kick it up a notch!

Taste Test Date Night

Taste test date night: round up all the different places that make one type of dish or dessert in your area, and bring them home for a taste test date night in. Rate each on flavor, texture, presentation, etc. For example, you could buy several donuts in your area and spend the evening playing food critic.

Roll Your Own Sushi.

A sushi rolling kit and a few ingredients will make you feel like you’re out at a restaurant in no time! You can also customize your sushi if you’re not a traditional fish fan. Get creative, mix it up, and enjoy preparing the ultimate hipster date night at home.

Make a TikTok Video.

If you aren’t on TikTok, you should change that! I’m FridayWereInLove there too- come find me! It’s fun, it’s goofy, and anyone can try their hand as a videographer! They make it super easy, and all you need is a phone. Look up one of the trending challenges and you’ll find something fun to create for yourselves.

I had to limit myself to only 52, which makes me excited for round two of this series!

So, friends, I hope you find that you can go on a date every weekend, even without a babysitter. And there are so many fun at-home date nights to be had!

Like these at-home date ideas? You may like these posts too:

Date Night Subscription Boxes for Couples Round-Up + Review

Date Night Gift: A Year of Dates + Free Printable!

52 Dates to Do This Year

Cute Date Ideas 

Stay At Home Date Ideas for Couples