Valentine's Day - Date Ideas

A few years ago we posted 60 Date Ideas as well as lots of activities to do together as a couple or with your family. Today I want to add to that list with some more ideas to help you figure out what to do this Valentine's Day and any day, really! 

Here are 25 more activities or date ideas to add to your date jar:

1. Brewing company tour (there are so many!) 
2. Take a pottery class
3. Plant Nite
4. Wine tasting 
5. Decorate cupcakes and have someone judge who made the best one
6. Kickboxing class
7. Try a ballroom dance lesson 
8. Go ice skating
9. Batting cage practice
10. Visit a nearby theme park/amusement park 
11. Try a woodworking class - there are plenty of free ones at Lowes and Home Depot
12. Go to a crafting class - Michaels and Joanns offer many different kinds
13. Host a game night - my favorite! 
14. Go to mall and buy eachother an outfit to wear out to dinner
15. Get a couple's massage or give one to each other
16. Visit dog park or animal shelter - many shelters let you come and walk the puppies 
17. Indoor rock climbing
18. Paintball
19. Escape the Room - grab some other couples to help you!
20. Visit a zoo or aquarium - there may be several in your area
21. Go to a sports game - high school, college, professional - whatever! 
22. Check out a comedy show
23. Go to an indoor pool or indoor water park
24. Horse back riding 
25. Go fishing or take a boat ride 

Valentine's Day Craft- Date Jar & Date Ideas

Last Christmas I made my Pollyanna couple a Date Jar filled with mostly inexpensive and fun ideas for the couple to do together or with their family. I wanted to share those date ideas here with you! 

1. Watch the Sunset Together

2. Go to your Local Farmer's Market 

3. Visit a Pet Shop and look at pets

4. Watch a Movie, Pop Popcorn

5. Find an Outdoor Concert with Cheap Lawn Tickets and bring your lawn chairs

6. Go for a bike ride

7. Play a board game

8. light candles, play romantic music, and have a nice meal together

9. Barbeque

10. Go Mini Golfing

11. Garden together

12. Bowling

13. Learn to Cook a Meal together (you can ask a friend to teach you to make something!)

14. Visit a local musuem or local historical landmark

15. Plan a Picnic in the park

16. Go on a Road Trip

17. Thrifting- yard sales, thrift shops

18. Paint Balloon or Water Gun fight

19. Go to an arcade

20. Carnival

21. find a bar with Karaoke and sing a duet

22. go to a show and support a local band

23. Paint some art

24. go on a second "first date" drive separate and pretend you just met

25. go on a hike

26. make smores by a bonfire

27. fly kites together

28. go out for ice cream

29. Snow Ball Fight!

30. make hot chocolate

31. tv show marathon

32. rollerblade at your local skating rink

33. go to a restaurant you havent been to

34. try a work out class on tv or at your gym if you have a membership

35. milkshakes at nifty fiftys (a local 50's style restaurant)

36. build a snow man

37. visit the pumpkin patch

38. visit tourist places in a nearby city (many are free!)

39. take a walk at the nearby state park

40. go to a festival or convention

41. Do Crosswords or Sudoku together

42. play hide and seek (at a park or at home)

43. wear your jammies, eat cereal, and watch your favorite kid cartoons

44. Go to Linvilla Orchards (local farm), Feed the ducks

45. build a fort together

46. make your own pizza

47. go Geocaching

48. YouTube a Dance Lesson

49. Watch a Documentary together

50. Do a Puzzle

51. read a book together, out loud

52. Play a video game together

53. Camp indoors, make smores, sleep in your family room

54. See a show in a theater

55. make a gingerbread house

56. Look at Christmas Lights

57. Play Pool at the Billiards

58. Rearrange furniture

59. Have a photo shoot

60. Go on a scavenger hunt

In my Date Jar I painted plain craft sticks different colors and organized the activities and dates by category - Summer, Winter, $$, Outdoor, Active, etc. I wrote on the sticks with a thin sharpie pen and included a tag with all of the categories in the jar.

I hope this gives you some fun ideas to do this year! 

The Gift of Adventure

Today, I will be sharing with you a gift idea. Every year, my family has a Pollyanna exchange at Christmas time. This year to keep things interesting, we chose Pollyanna’s as couples. This gift was a wonderful Christmas present but could be given year-round at a Bridal Shower or to your partner this Valentine’s day!

The concept of the gift Is simple—I sat down and brainstormed 8 mini adventures my sister could go on with her fiancé and 8 more adventures that she could do with her fiancé and son. We had a spending limit of $100.00 a couple so there isn’t anything in here that is bank-breaking. In some cases, the gift pays for a small portion of the date, all of the date, or the date is something that is largely free. I made sure there was a variety of activities—funny adventures, physical challenges, food-related, artistic… something for everyone to enjoy.

I started the gift with the carrying case. This helped to set the restrictions and realities for what we could accomplish. I purchased an Extra Large IRIS Photo and Craft Keeper, 16 individual 4x6 cases within at Michael’s (with a coupon!!). I knew I needed to make each adventure fit in to a 4x6 photo case and I needed to have 16 in total. Maureen has a ton of printed pictures so I was confident that she would use the case even if she dismantled the adventures. I did choose options that you can keep doing over and over again (aside from the couple needing to purchase more items), so she could use the case for years to come as well.

Coming up with gifts that would fit into the case—that was the fun challenge for me! Take a look at the printable (link below) that I have included in this post for more information. I have the date descriptions, what I included in each case, and the case labels for each all ready for you to peruse -- you can make your own!

The Gift of Adventure - Printable!

On a side note, my sister is an avid scrapbook enthusiast. I included Project Life cards, embellishments, and photo challenges in most if not all of her cases. If the person you are gifting this to is not a fan, it is best to leave that out and use the expense somewhere else. I recommend hounding your local Groupon and Living Social pages for deals. There were quite a few we looked at but passed up for other adventures. Do you know someone that wants to ride a Segway on an obstacle course or get family photos taken at Picture People?