My date and I completed this picture at his home four years ago. Besides shopping for some art supplies at Michaels, it was a fairly easy setup and fun for the whole night.
With the pandemic cases rising and people’s fears about going out to crowded venues, there’s a lot of demand for at-home Valentine’s Day experiences. Instead of taking your date to a nice dinner, try making a heartfelt dinner in the comfort of your home. Instead of taking a late night stroll in the park, you can curl up with a movie or fix your date by taking a candle-lit bath. Here are some ideas to impress your partner this year with an at-home Valentine’s Day date.
Paint the night away
Regardless of whether you’re an artist or not, there’s many options to make paint night activity fun for you and your loved one. Having surprised my significant other with a booze-filled paint night previously, I can say that creating museum-level art pieces is not a priority! The memories you’ll have of sabotaging your date’s art or the fun of interpreting the final masterpiece is a gem you will never forget. To help set up the atmosphere, try purchasing some candles, a bottle of your favorite wine and play his or her favorite music and you’ll have a night to remember.
I cooked a lamb shank dinner complete with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus for my first Valentine’s Day date at home.
Make dinner together
This activity always makes for a fun and engaging night. Because of the interactive nature of the activity, you can customize the dish to each other’s preference. You can follow a recipe and improvise it to your liking. My favorite part about cooking with my significant other is being able to learn more about the other person. You get to hear stories about their favorite cuisines, the seasoning of preference and maybe even learn some kitchen hacks to improve on your recipes further.
Curl up with a scary movie
I am a huge fan of thriller movies and despite some people’s objection to my obsession with them on dates, they create a great atmosphere for love. Here’s why. Science tells us that adrenaline, a naturally occurring hormone we secrete into our bloodstream when we’re in fear or shock, will naturally create attraction to another individual. It helps create a strong bond because we associate the adrenaline rush with excitement and novelty. Even if you’re not a scary movie fan, there’s lots of moderate level thriller shows and movies on Netflix or Youtube that will make for a great Valentine’s Day date.
Mario Kart makes for a great night with friends or with a date.
Play video games together
Even if you’re not a big fan of video games, this can be a fun experience for you and your partner. If you or your date owns a console such as XBox, Nintendo Switch or Playstation, there are various collaborative and competitive games you can play. Whether it’s duking it out in a Mario Kart match or in one of my favorite collaborative games called Overcooked where players collaborate to run a restaurant, there’s a lot of room for novelty and excitement.
Host a board game night
Despite most boardgames being a multi-player activity, there are a few boardgames that can be spiced up with a Valentine’s Day theme. For example, I’ve played scrabble with a NSFW (not-safe-for-work) theme that has created drama and excitement in an old game. Codenames is another board game that has come out with a Duet version for two players (or more) to deduce words. Jenga is another game that can be played with two players.
This is my collection of boardgames; some of which can be excellent ideas for Valentine’s Day dates.
