101 fun dating ideas
- Plan and carry out a scavenger hunt or treasure hunt for your partner.
- Go tubing, kayaking, or canoeing together.
- Go fruit picking together.
- Enjoy a candlelight dinner together at your home or apartment. Dress up!
- Go for a bike ride together.
- Go bowling together. (Feeling light-hearted? Try “bowling with a twist” --between the legs, on one leg, left-handed, etc.)
- Attend a local festival together.
- Go chalking—draw weird pictures and funny or encouraging messages on the sidewalk with chalk. (Great idea for college students on campus.)
- Find somewhere you can feed the ducks together (note: it’s better for the ducks if you avoid bread and feed birdseed or grapes instead).
- Get back in touch with your inner child and finger paint together.
- Draw pictures (or caricatures!) of each other.
- Plan a future date you can go on together with a strict budget limit ($5, $10).
- Put together unusual outfits from a thrift store and go out while “in character.”
- Attend a free class together at your local library.
- Buy an inexpensive face painting kit and paint each others’ faces (now this is a selfie opportunity!)
- Enjoy a board game night. Your area may have a game store where you can come and try out games at a certain time.
- Attend a play or musical event together.
- Plan and carry out a small fundraiser together for a cause you both believe in.
- Prepare an unusual meal together (for instance, sushi or homemade ravioli).
- Play cards together. Learn some new games.
- Visit an amusement park together.
- Visit a historic or beautiful cemetery together.
- Enjoy some active two-person games and sports together (tennis, racquetball, Ping-Pong, croquet, Frisbee…)
- Build a campfire together and enjoy sitting by it and talking. Roast marshmallow or hot dogs.
- Play Guitar Hero or other interactive video games together.
- Watch early morning cartoons and make breakfast together.
- Visit an art museum together. In each room, pick your favorite piece of art and talk about why you like it.
- Go for a beautiful hike in a natural area together.
- Explore a cave together (research this one first!)
- Go hunting or fishing together.
- Visit an odd, unusual or quirky tourist attraction together. Check out Atlas Obscura for some really unique sites!
- Visit the zoo together. Which are your favorite animals and why? What animal reminds you of yourself or your date?
- Go horseback riding together.
- Visit an agritourism attraction (pumpkin patch, corn maze, etc.) together.
- Attend a talk or lecture together and discuss it afterwards.
- Seedbomb together. (This is about flowers!)
- Build and fly a kite together.
- Go ice skating.
- Go stargazing.
- Attend a workshop at a local crafts or hardware store.
- Visit a paint-your-own pottery studio together.
- Hold a “mock Olympics” with silly events and goofy prizes.
- Make a ridiculous video on your smartphones, using one of the many apps available.
- Have an ice cream sundae night—buy everything you’ve ever wanted for a sundae and build them high!
- Design and build a gingerbread house together.
- Attend a wine tasting, coffee tasting, or other free tasting event together.
- Visit a factory, vineyard, or brewery that gives tours.
- Picnic together.
- Go to a drive-in movie together.
- Visit a video arcade together and challenge each other to see who can score the highest on different games.
- Go letterboxing or geocaching together.
- Play old-fashioned playground games together: jacks, 4-square, hopscotch.
- Play a game of paintball together.
- Visit a high-ropes course or zip line course together.
- Play charades.
- Attend an author reading at a bookstore.
- Visit the library together and pick out a book for each other.
- Visit a flea market or antique store together.
- Try birdwatching—use one of the many apps available for beginners, or check out the walks your local Audubon society has to offer.
- Make popcorn and hot cocoa and work on a puzzle together.
- Make a craft together. (There are million kits out there!)
- Have a water balloon or water gun battle.
- Make pizza together.
- Visit open houses together and check out houses you’d probably never buy.
- Take a fancy car on a test drive.
- Give each other a foot soak, pedicure, and foot massage using fancy lotions.
- Go miniature golfing together.
- Take a dance class together.
- Play laser tag together.
- Go roller skating.
- Do karaoke together.
- Take a cooking class.
- Visit the farmers’ market together.
- Go yardsaling together.
- Take a day trip together and explore the next town over.
- Build a blanket fort and watch movies in your PJs.
- Go to a coffee shop together and learn to Zentangle.
- Play Mad Libs together.
- Take a DJing class together.
- Check out your local historic sites together.
- Visit a botanical garden.
- Go on a ghost tour.
- Play pool, foosball, or darts.
- Go-Kart together.
- Book a horse and carriage ride.
- Go to a garden center together and pick out some plants or houseplants.
- Volunteer at an animal shelter together.
- Surprise your mate! Plan a total surprise date for your partner. Then switch roles next time.
- Take over an empty playground.
- Attend a local sports event.
- Watch each others’ favorite childhood movies, indulging in favorite childhood snacks while you do.
- Windowshop together.
- Go “eyebombing” (don’t worry—this is fun and harmless).
- Do a photo shoot together with ridiculous outfits and crazy poses.
- Go to a trivia night together.
- Learn a new skill from YouTube together.
- Build or paint a simple piece of furniture together.
- Make cupcakes and decorate them with weird candy.
- Browse a used bookstore together.
- Take an exercise class together.
- Visit a rock climbing gym together.
Written by Victor Harris