Creative Date Ideas

In the article, Date Your Mate, I talked about dating your mate as an essential for those wanting their marriage to remain strong and blissful. In this article I will share creative but practical date ideas. While some ideas involve money, most only need your time and presence.

1, Kidnap your partner for a mini vacation—an afternoon or evening of something he/she has been wanting to do.

2. Drive through a new housing development and tour a model home.

3. Check out new furniture in a furniture store. (It doesn’t cost anything to look!)

4. Buy two bottles of bubble-blowing liquid. Go to the top of the tallest place around—a building, a mountain, the rooftop of your house. Blow bubbles and watch them drift out of sight.

5. Take a tour of yesteryear—snuggle up in bed and spend an your going through family albums together, reminiscing about fun times shared in the past.

6. Take a late-evening walk. Talk about what’s in your hearts.

7. Go exploring—any place your mate would like to go (within reason)—to a mountain hideaway or a ghost town you’ve heard about. Check out a quaint shop on a side street.

8. Take a stroll through the park. Try out the swings and see who can swing the highest.

9. Visit the Golden Arches. Dress up in your best clothes, and eat at this famous fast food place! Your formal attire in an informal place will be fun! Lay footsie with each other under the table.

10. Try a hot-tub date. If you don’t have a hot tub, use a friend’s. Let the hot, bubbling water soak away your stress. Talk about something fun.

11. Go to the nearest pond or lake to feed the fishes. Toss leftover bread to the fishes while you watch them fight for lunch.

12. Create a treasure hunt for your mate. Begin with a note directing him to a specific drawer in the kitchen, where he’ll find another note telling him to go to the car, where there will be a bouquet of flowers with a note saying that he must drive you to a certain spot for further instructions. At the end of the trail (you can make it as long as you like), you be there with a picnic on the beach or a reservation at a favorite restaurant.

13. While one of you is at a board meeting and the other is driving the kids to music lessons, rendezvous someplace and share a bag of M & M’s.

14. Take turns asking each other out on a date. The one who asks has to make all the plans for the evening, choosing the restaurant, making reservations, arranging for baby-sitting etc.

15. Be adventurous. Climb a mountain together, go rafting, travel to a foreign country.

16. Take a night class together—cooking, photography, landscaping, a foreign language, or craft. This provides something new to talk about.

17, Meet for lunch one day a week. This gives you both something to look forward to and breaks the monotony of the week.

18. Plan an afternoon of biking in a favorite neighborhood, in the country, or interesting area. Over a picnic lunch, share ideas for building your dream home. Take memory pictures.

19. If your child is sick and the sitter is out, plan a date night in your bedroom. Light the candles, play your favorite romantic music, and read love letter you wrote each other long ago. Add a cup of tea and homemade cookies, and you’ve got an interesting evening.

20. Make a list of six activities you would like to do with your mate. At least once a month, take turns picking one activity from your partner’s list and join in with gusto. Whether it’s horseback riding, boating, or in-line skating, participate graciously just as you would if you were dating and not married.

This article is by Nancy Van Pelt and excerpted from her book Highly Effective Marriage.