10 Affordable Stay-at-Home Valentines Day Date Ideas for 2022
Valentine's Day is just around the corner! Finding a Covid-Friendly activity to do this Valentine’s Day doesn't have to be complicated, and it doesn’t have to include expensive take-out either. I’ve compiled a small list of inexpensive activities that you and your partner can do in the comfort of your own home.
1. Paint together.
Paint+Sip nights can get expensive, but who says you can’t paint and drink at home? Grab some canvases, a dollar store paint kit and your favourite drinks. You could paint a picture together, make your own but switch canvases halfway through, paint portraits of each other, or even use your backs as canvases!
2. Play board games.
Stack up all of your board games and play your favourites. If board games sound like your ideal Valentine’s Day activity, plan a tournament! Play against other couples, or just each other. Visit the dollar store and put together a little "prize" basket for you to share at the end of the night. You probably have a deck of cards in a drawer somewhere; pull them out and build a card house!
3. Read to each other.
Reading to each other can be such an intimate and romantic act. You could take turns reading from a joke book until you’re both sore from laughter. Maybe you’d prefer to read each other poetry and then take a stab at writing one about each other. Or take the nostalgic route and read each other your favourite books from childhood.
4. Cook a new meal together.
Cooking together is such a classic, but you can still spice it up! Find something new at the grocery store and build a meal around it. Work together to recreate your favourite restaurant dishes and light a candle when you sit to eat. Make it a double date and FaceTime your grandparents to follow along while they teach you a family recipe. Whatever you do, don’t forget to taste test it together along the way!
5. Watch each other’s favourite films.
This is just a fun way to get to know each other's tastes. You could stay within a genre, or a favourite movie from a certain time in your life. You could opt for a favourite tv show or music album, if you tend to fall asleep during movies.
6. Spa at home together.
It doesn’t have to be expensive spa materials either! You can find recipes to DIY spa masks for all sorts of things; your face, feet, hair, even your lips! Start with the fun stuff; hair masks, face masks and cleaning up each other's nails. You can get a little more intimate by washing each other's hair and finishing it up by lathering each other in body lotion.
7. Play a video game together.
This could be as simple as downloading a new app to your phone! New video games aren’t cheap, but you could check out your local pawnshop for some unique secondhand games. Are video game rentals still a thing? Check your local stores to find out!
8. Make a craft together.
You can make a craft together, or you could make a craft for each other. Cut up your old holiday cards from each other and make a collage. Make or buy some hardening clay and make some trinkets for each other. Keep it simple with bead bracelets, or just buy a craft kit!
9. Make a time capsule together.
This idea is 2-dates-in-1! Make a time capsule this year, and open it on Valentine's Day a year or a decade from now. Things you could add to your time capsule: a recent photo, favourite snacks, write a letter to each other, tickets and receipts from recent things you’ve done together, and a small gift for each other.
10. Extravagant date at home.
A 3-course dinner can exist at home! Put on your best outfits, heat up some frozen hors d'oeuvres, light some candles and pour some bubbly drinks into your special glasses. A fancy night at home can be 100x better then a night out, especially if it means you can just walk upstairs when you’re ready to go to bed!