A girl can only have so many fancy mid-winter dinners and long stemmed roses before she get’s sort of bored with it right? Plus after a few years with the same person the shine wears off those fancy planned dates but today is Valentine’s Day and you can’t let it pass totally unacknowledged right? PS check out last week’s post for DIY gift and dinner ideas! But not every date has to cost a tonne, be stressful to plan or mean sitting all evening. So here are some active and last minute friendly date ideas to get you moving with your love or very best friends.
A romantic stroll
Take your love out for a romantic walk and maybe mother nature will cooperate with some softly falling snow while you walk hand in hand. Make it special by picking a great park or beach for your location. Show you planned it by having a nice mitten/hat/scarf set ready as a present. One of the best valentine’s dates I had was a nice walk in the park, romantic right?
A homemade (or not) picnic
Maybe it’s not cold where you are, if that’s the case I’m jealous and not ready to know about that, but it is here. Even in cold winter temperatures you can still enjoy a mid-winter picnic if you make the right preparations. If it’s really cold or wet bring a plastic sheet to put under your blanket so you don’t get cold or wet. Bring extra blankets to snuggle yourself under while you eat and of course dress warmly since you’ll be sitting for a while. Make sure you bring extra hot drinks in a thermos or include soup in the meal for a warmed from within feeling. Pro tip: Make a cheap thermos preform well by charging it with boiling water for five minutes first before putting your food in it.
Try a new activity
Guess what’s completely empty, or at least relatively empty on valentines day night? Fitness type places! Has your love been mentioning their unquenched desire to try aerial yoga, kickboxing, spin class or do you? Now is the prefect time! Even if a studio doesn’t do the drop in thing if you call and want to come for a try out on valentine’s day chances are they will say yes. You’ll move, you’ll learn chances are you’ll laugh at each other and remember what you did this year for a long time to come.
Go for a swim to escape winter
This one you might want to handle carefully but if you think your partner would be up for it it’s a great way to pretend you’re away for a night. You might have to dig around and find an out of season suit in the back of a closet for each other but it’s so much fun. Look for pools in your area with an open swim on valentine’s night ideally at a wave pool. Looks for an early time so there might be kids there to give a more fun vibe. Make it extra special by packing an ‘away bag’ with fun towels (or ones that perfectly match your master bath), plastic tropical cups and fancy mugs and tropical juice for the drive.
Set up a neighbourhood scavenger hunt for your love
Have her/him go to friend’s an neighbours houses for clues and gifts. Attach each clue to a fake flower if they are outdoors. Perhaps each card might say one thing you love about them and the next hint and by the time you returned home you’d have a whole bouquet. You could include GPS co-ordinants to clues like geo-cashing or text the next clue when they send a picture of the present they just found.
Go bowling or skating
Nothing like dorky rented shoes to tell someone how much you care. It’s also the opposite of a fancy expensive dinner and so much fun. No matter how bad or good you are bowling is a lot of fun! But you might have to step it up a notch to show you tried though one way would be to make custom bowling shirts for your love team. It’s actually really easy to do with a couple of cheap white t-shirts, a computer and iron on transfers, how to here. Extra points if you can convince the kitchen to whip up something red and or heart shaped. If that fails bring a plate and arrange the Doritos yourself. Or go skating!
Tackle a project at home
Again think long and hard about the specific person you have in mind if this is your official valentines date idea but I would LOVE it. If you have a project at home your partner has been begging you to help him/her tackle now could be the time. Do you need to gut and install organizers in a closet, paint a room or install new light fixtures. Make it fun by having your partner’s favourite beer or drink cold for breaks, order their favourite take away before hand as a surprise part way through the process. Don’t complain, paste a smile on your face and be genuinely excited and considerate of how your partner wants it done. Gather all the supplies you’ll need before hand and do any prep you need to before hand to try and make it a one night project. If it takes more than one night keep the sunny attitude up.
Visit an art gallery, planetarium or museum (even if it’s not your thing)
This can be a great one especially given the season or the weather. You get to walk around indoors. Make is fun my buying non-prescription dorky glasses and fancy hats (think french berets) and giggle quietly if that’s how you roll. Perhaps get a fridge magnet at the gift shop on the way out to commemorate your cultured night out.
Other ideas
- Biking
- Hiking
- Join each other at the gym
- Mini golf
- Go sledding
- Trampoline park
- Amusement park
- Rock climbing
- Driving range
- Photograph you favourite spots or romantic places for you together
- Go for a trail ride
You get the idea just go out of your way to show your partner you planned it on purpose. What are your favourite active date ideas?
Sweat Sweetly 