Fun things for couples to do at home

Looking for fun things for couples to do at home? These suggestions for what couples can do when they are bored at home, what couples can do for fun at home, AND stay at home date ideas have you covered!

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Most of us have grown conditioned to think that when it comes to having fun we need to be doing exciting, novel, and often expensive things.

And most of us think that these activities have to happen outside the home.

But for many reasons, getting out of the house isn’t always possible or practical.

If we’re not used to looking inside our homes for entertainment it’s super easy to start feeling bored, restless, and like the only thing we can do with ourselves starts with N and ends with x.

However that is so not the case!

As a self-confirmed homebody, and someone with a love of stay at home dates, I am well-qualified to share with you all the fun things for couples to do at home when bored. And I’m pretty confident that you will find at least ONE thing that you want to try.

In fact I’d go so far to day I’ll give you my money back if you don’t, except it doesn’t cost you anything to read this.

I’ve divided my suggestions into three areas, as shown below.

What can couples do when bored at home?

There’s nothing worse than being bored. I’m sure you’ve heard about that study which showed people would rather be given small electric shocks than to sit there and do nothing (source).

If you’re looking for fun things for couples to do at home that can also improve your life in some way, this is the section to start with.

• declutter a crowded space. When you’re at home, not only are you making more mess you become acutely more aware of the clutter in your space and that can cause stress and anxiety
• plan a room upgrade. If there’s a space in your home that you’d like to improve, work out how you can make it happen. My usual starting place for this is Pinterest – in fact when we built our own home I used Pinterest to work out all of the design by simply searching for the room I was focused on and then saving all the pictures I liked. When that was done, I looked through to see the common elements. Alternatively, if you want to work on your bedroom, check out these romantic bedroom ideas for couples featuring bedroom décor that evokes comfort and romance
• move things around. If a room upgrade is out of the question, then how about just switching it up a little? Move a sofa, bookcase or position of the bed. Move your art around. You could make the room look completely different!
• investigate some different diets, particularly if you have health reasons or other concerns that make this a possible option. We love meat and dairy but even so we still eat vegetarian and vegan meals on a regular basis
• work on your budget. I am of the firm belief that both people in a couple should know exactly where their money is going and why. This is especially the case right now many of us are having to reassess our finances. If you don’t have a budget, now is the time to start one! If you need to trim your budget work on that too. Also consider setting some long term financial goals
• research a hobby that you would like to pursue together. Remember a hobby is something quite different from just an experience – the idea is to find a leisure activity that you can develop your skills at and enjoy together on a regular basis. Here’s 101 hobbies for couples to give you some ideas
• have a relationship meeting. That and date night are key things for any marriage in my opinion (well, add what you do between the sheets as well). If you’ve never had a relationship meeting, you’ll love this approach that helps improve communication and happiness
• do some goal setting for your lives together as a couple. How is your life looking right now? Where would you like to be in one year? Five years? 10 years? What about your relationship as a whole?
• either by itself OR before or after your goal setting exercise, try creating a vision board and then put it in a place you both can see it every day
• create a marriage mission statement. This statement should be centered on your values as a couple and the goals you have for your marriage (that luckily you just worked out!)
• try learn some traditional skills together. This post features 33 traditional skills including making cheese, yogurt and tinctures! Check it out and work on one together
• complete the 5 love languages quiz (it’s free) and then brainstorm 25 ways in which you could make the other one feel loved based on their love language. (Here’s ideas for acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation and physical touch)
• you know all those recipe books you have? How many recipes in them have you actually cooked? Sit down together and go through all the books, putting a sticky note on the recipes you would like to eat. Get to the end of the book and there’s no sticky notes? Well that’s a recipe for decluttering the book right there
• check out some couple’s routines on You tube – particularly ones where you can use body weight exercises
• do some DIY. Now there’s a fine line with this one because honestly I believe some things could and should be done by professionals. But if there’s a small job that needs doing like fixing holes, why not increase your skills and learn how to do it together?
• start a vegetable garden. I admit it has taken about four years for me to work out exactly what do grow in mine so that we don’t have wastage but you can avoid this travesty by doing some careful research. I would start by thinking about what you actually EAT and then checking that against what grows well in your particular climate. It’s even worth considering what you will be doing at the time the vegetables need to be harvested. If you’re going to be super busy at that time, or away from home, it might not be such a good idea to plant that particular thing. These are 10 plants to try that are perfect for beginning gardeners

What can couples do for fun at home?

Okay, the above suggestions are great if you want a bit of life improvement with your fun. If that’s not what you’re searching for right now, these activities are fun for fun’s sake. Enjoy.

• head into the pantry and have a pantry challenge – what can you cook with what you have available?
• take your favorite song and rewrite the lyrics to make a personalized love song to each other. Consider finding the karaoke version to the song on You tube and singing your revised version
• if you don’t have kids, check out baby name lists (here’s a great one for girls, boys and gender neutral) and talk about which ones you like and which ones you’d not touch with a 10 foot pole. If you already have kids, I’ve got you covered! I’d had my kids before I met my husband and we spent much fun times talking about the names for our imaginary dogs. (We had Maisy at the time and now we have Winston. Next one will be Clarabel). We’ve also spent time discussing what we will be called when we’re grandparents. I’ve got my heart set on Gigi
• give each other an Indian head massage. My husband was the willing tester for this! The video below was the easiest and simplest to use. It may seem a little cheesy but the steps are easy to follow (one flaw being it says do something 5 x but then moves on after showing once or twice, however I just kept pace with the video) and Ben assured me the experience was enjoyable. In fact he tried to make me find more massages for me to practice on him with!

• have a question and answer session with these questions for couples or download my free Questions for couples iPhone app
• have a bad joke challenge. Scour the internet for the worst jokes you can find and tell them to each other. Worst joke wins!
• decide on a book that you’d both like to read. You can even sign up for Audible and listen to it together. Then discuss each chapter or, if it’s personal growth, how you can implement some of the ideas into your lives
• listen to a true crime podcast series together. As a New Zealander, I think one of my all time faves would have to be Black Hands. The best part of this is it gives you heaps to talk about as you try and work the cases out as the episodes progress
• have a fun session making food that requires different topping such as pizzas or sundaes. Set up your own pizza station or sundae bar … heck why not do both?
• jump on Spotify and get creating some fun playlists together. You could have one for road trips, one for housework, one for “bedtime.”
• play sliding doors – if you don’t recognize the term it’s based on a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow in it and shows the two different paths her life could have taken based on whether she caught her normal train or missed it. Talk about the decisions you made in your life that had consequences in them you didn’t think about at the time and what the outcome might have been if you’d made different choices. This might even provide you with some inspiration on what to do next with your life if you’re feeling at an impasse
• create a bucket list of travel destinations. There are so many amazing places in the world to visit and so many of them we might not even be aware of!
  We created our travel bucket list by thinking about one continent at a time and then reading and researching countries within that continent, and making a list (I even get a lot of inspiration from the beautiful places shown on the log-in screen of my laptop). Because planning is my jam, we then worked out which places we could bundle together into one trip. You can hook into your travel dreams without even spending a dime with this idea
• take turns making each other breakfast in bed. You can keep it simple (we personally have a two cups of coffee in bed each weekend habit!) or go all out with pancakes, waffles or more!
• check out a virtual tour – this post has links to virtual tours of museums, zoos and theme parks. This might also cause you to revise that travel bucket list so you can see some of these places in real life!
• be kind to others. When we’re at home, it can be hard to think of ways to be kind to others. This fun thing for couples to do at home activity involves you and your loved one brainstorming 10 acts of kindness that you can shower on other people – even from inside your house! This could involve researching charities or ordering a surprise grocery delivery for someone
• make a delicious dessert and eat it all! Lately I have been craving all the sweet treats and carbs for Africa, and desserts hit both those requirements
• watch old advertisements on You tube. Searching for “old adverts” will pull up some high forms of entertainment. Our faves? Cadbury Flake ads from the 80s. Watch them a few times then try and do the singing / voice over. It’s the crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate in the world!

What are some stay at home date ideas for couples?

Stay at home dates definitely meet the criteria of fun things for couples to do at home. Here’s my detailed list of stay at home date ideas for couples featuring the very best of at home dates I have to offer you. However if you just want some quick suggestions, here’s my top picks!

• create your own at home book store. Arrange your couches in a comfortable way. Put on a pot of coffee and get out some tasty pastries if you have them. Then go “shopping” in your bookshelf. Pick a book, and nestle down on the couch together
• set up a backyard movie theater and snuggle in for your own outdoor film, Make the most of it by indulging in a themed movie marathon.
• get creative with food. You can go for the super basic and decorate sugar cookies OR you could kick it up a notch. I’m thinking creations made with waffles, cakes that look like artistic masterpieces and gingerbread houses. Get that creative flair on!
• alternatively make a date around dinner dishes from a different era. I’m thinking 80s nostalgia food or 70s fondue recipes.
• have a game challenge – these date night games are great for couples. Make an evening of it by selecting your games in advance, the number of rounds and the prize for the overall winner
• go camping in your living room. When I was a kid, we use to up end the couches so they were close touching and put blankets on the top to create a roof. We’d wheel the TV (no flat screen TVs in those days) to one end of the fort and put blankets over that too and make blankets for the doors. Then we would lie on the couch cushions and hang out in our fort all day. While that might not be 100% replicable today, you can use your laptop instead of the television. If the couches won’t work, then hang blankets from the table. Never underestimate the fun you can have in a fort! Once you’ve set up your fort, add to the camping vibe by whipping up some s’mores. Watch The Great Outdoors for some so-bad-it’s-good old school comedy or get more serious with Into the Wild.

This list of fun things for couples to do at home will keep you busy and entertained. Let me know your favorite idea in the comments or any I may have missed out you think are worthy of inclusion!