With the cool Winter weather, it may be preferable to stay indoors on date night. If you’re tired of the usual sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-a-movie routine, try one of these indoor date ideas.

Get Creative

Indoor Vacation
Turn your living room into a foreign getaway. Use sand, shells, and beach chairs to create an indoor beach vacation; or roast s’mores and hot dogs in the fireplace for that mountain camping feel; or bake a baguette, brew some coffee, and set up some outdoor furniture in the kitchen to create a French café. Pay attention to places your sweetheart likes to go, then set up a room in your house to reflect that location.

Movie Dub
Pick a movie (foreign is a good choice), turn off the sound, and dub the movie together. Change the storyline, the dialogue, and the mood of what you’re watching. You can also put on a sports game and be the announcers, or put on a soap opera and turn it into a comedy. Don’t take yourselves too seriously on this one!

Child’s Play
Get out your childhood toys and reconnect with your imagination. Pick games and toys you used to play with as a child and discuss your childhoods. Explore children’s toys for the newer or older generations. Play with jacks, play dough, Lego’s, army men, or even coloring books.

Get Crafty

Create a Scrapbook Together
Make a scrapbook about the last year you spent together, your relationship “firsts” (first date, first kiss, first “I love you”), or your overall love story. Then again, the scrapbook the two of you make doesn’t even have to be about you! Make a scrapbook for a mutual friend who is going through a hard time, for a relative who is sick, or for another couple’s anniversary or wedding.

Make a Board Game
Pick an interest you both have and build a board game around that subject. Make it on a piece of poster board, or even have it professionally manufactured. If you can’t think of a board game to make, simply play one. Set up a candlelit table accompanied by an intimate food such as chocolate or cheese fondue, then play your favorite board games. Change the rules of the game to be more romantic and intimate. (For example, if you’re playing Monopoly, kiss every time someone passes Go.)

Explore Culinary Delights
Pick up a soda maker kit or an ice cream maker and try your hands at coming up with new flavors and treats. Baked goods are also a good idea because they are fun to make, decorate, and enjoy. Build gingerbread houses, or decorate cookies or cupcakes and give them to relatives, friends, or even to a community organization. You can also make non-edible products in your kitchen, such as spa treatments, lip balm, lotions, candles, or soaps.

Get Smart

Play Word Games
Work on a crossword, word search, or word scramble together, or make two copies of the same puzzle and compete to see who completes it first. (Winner gets a romantic prize!) You can also create your own romantic versions of crosswords, word searches, word scrambles, or Madlibs.

Speak in Code
Spend an evening learning a secret code together, such as Morse Code or reversed alphabet. Incorporate that code into your romantic lives. Leave messages in code on your refrigerator, email them, or even text them to each other during the day. You can even create your own – just don’t let anyone else know the translation!

Learn a Language
The best way to learn a language is to have someone learn with you. If you both are interested in learning the same language, set up a date centered around that language. Incorporate culture into your date, such as making an Italian dish for dinner if you’re learning Italian or buying German chocolate if you’re learning German. Look up music or books in that language and see how much you can translate. If you don’t have the time or desire to be fluent in another language, just learn sweet and romantic sayings in another language.

Other Fun Indoor Dates
→ Do a large puzzle                                                                                      → Redesign a room
→ Explore literature together                                                                        → Play video games
→ Play paper games like Tic-Tac-Toe or Hangman                                       → Play instruments