Dating Ideas

As promised, here is the list of date ideas I have come up over the last two years, there are over 300 on the list.  Most are inexpensive if not free.  Some of them pertain to places in Denver.  Please feel free to share this post with anyone you like!  HAPPY DATING!!!

Go to a driving range

Adult Slip N Slide.  Get a giant tarp, a hose, and a gallon of heavy duty dish washing soap. Wet the tarp with warm water (don't want your date freezing) add soap. Spread throughout the tarp so it's nice and sudsy..take a few steps back, run and slide.

Roller blading

Have a fight with canned whip cream! Make sure your date doesn't have nice of clothes on.

Build a snowman Have a snowball fight

Make a raft and try floating on calm rivers/lakes (use life jackets and check local laws)

Sledding

Go to the Zoo

Picnic in the park

Ice Blocking

Mini date - make everything mini. Go mini golfing, make mini pizzas, make mini s'mores (golden grahams, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows) on a mini campfire, or add in other 'mini' activities.

Carve a pumpkin or a watermellon

Sock puppet show

Style your girl/boy friends hair! If you feel really crazy, put makeup on them!

Go on a hellicopter ride

Miniature Golf

Laser Tag

Take a kick boxing class

Visit a Pet Store

Aquarium (Make sure to feed the sting rays!)

Scavenger Hunt

Fly Kites

Set up an obstacle course in a local park and have a tournament

Shaving cream art on the table - prize for best picture

Take picture of people with an instant camera and give them the photos.

Play "Minute to Win It"

Make outfits for each other out of newspaper then have a fashion show

Set up a tent in your front room – eat dinner on a blanket.  Roast marshmallows over a candle

Ride Go-Carts

Go to an Arcade

Go night skiing

Go to a car show

Go Bowling – try getting bumpers and playing for the lowest score, or playing with only your non-dominant hand

Rent a paddle boat or canoe

Watch the stars with a telescope

Build and fly a model rocket

Go Boating

Go Paintballing

Go cliff jumping – or jump of a local bridge (be extremely careful)

Go to an IMAX movie

Karaoke

Explore a cave

Go to a water park

Paint-your-own pottery place

Canvas and cocktails (you don't have to drink)

Go listen to a local band

Water balloon volleyball  - Directions: Several couples stand on each side of a volleyball net.  Each couple holds a towel stretched between them.  Throw and catch the water balloon using only the towels.

Rock Climbing

Hire a chef to come and teach you to make a meal

Go to a race track

Have a pirate theme date—Everyone dresses up like pirates, then you follow a map to buried treasure.  Directions: prep for the date by creating a treasure (maybe cookies, candy, or a fun game).  Hide the treasure and draw a treasure map, with fun clues that lead you to your destination.

Watch a movie outside with a projector and a sheet

Paint each others faces—Use water based paint or washable markers to make your date look wonderful, then go out in public to show the world your new look.

Go to a comedy club—look for a local group, there are a lot of fun comedy groups especially at local universities. (check in advance to make sure it is a family friendly show)

Have a cookie-baking contest.  Directions: each couple chooses a recipe -- go to the store and have fun finding all the items you need, then return home and bake the cookies (play games or watch a movie while they bake).  Try each other’s cookies and have someone outside of your group choose a winner.

Go to a local science center

Have a costume date—this can be a lot of fun when you go to see a movie—dress up like the characters in the movie.

Tie-dye t-shirts

You can bake some cakes then put on some blindfolds and decorate them with icing. Try to do some cool designs

Scavenger Hunt- Double date, make scavenger hunt for the other couple. It could be something done just in a mall (buying certain food, or finding something in the mall, or something bigger that requires driving around to complete tasks. Requires some prep, but it's fun.

School sporting events, usually pretty cheap to get into and school spirit is usually decently high.

See the Christmas lights at the zoo

A Night in Paris (or Rome…) Without Leaving Home - You decorate your apartment like a restaurant in a foreign country. Make it cheesy as possible while keeping it looking nice. Decorating is easy, use construction paper and cheap things you find at Michaels or something. Cheap and quick. Then you have a friend dress up like a waiter and speak in the accent of that country. Cook the themed food yourself and then have you friend “wait” on you two. He can buzz off after the food is served. It shows off your cooking skills, your romantic side, your sense of humor and your creativity.

Go Geocaching

Walk around a city and perform short silent plays in front of security cameras

Volunteer at a Rescue Mission or Nursing Home

Go to a farmers market and buy all of the food for your meal

Love in the Great Outdoors - Make foil dinners and take drinks and s’mores to your favorite hiking/camping place.  Keep your drinks cold in the lake/creek-bonus if you bring a watermelon and cool it off the same way for a snack).  Spend the evening skipping rocks, and exploring before you build a nice fire and cook your meals in the coals. Spend some time by the fire making s’mores and then find some place nice to watch the stars.  Key point here: making fire to win the affection of a beautiful girl is in our DNA! Bonus if you collect your own wood (bring a hatchet and make sure its legal) and light the fire with flint and steel without any propellant! If you use friction, even better!

Playground date - play on the swings, slides etc

Picnic - choose a creative location.  A skyscraper rooftop is preferable, but a greenhouse, library, or art museum are fantastic options if you have the connections to make it happen.  Or even on the roof of your house.

Dress up as superheros and stop at least one petty crime "ie. jaywalking, littering…."

Go on a walking journey and every fifteen feet draw a chalk arrow in the direction you’re going. At the end of the trip, leave a big pile of chalk.

Take a walking tour of a historic part of downtown

Firefighters Museum - so fun, and they have clothes you can dress up in!

Progressive dinner - go to a different restaurant for appetizers, dinner and dessert

Make dessert - bring a recipe card and take her to the store to buy the ingredients together then head home to make it together.

Dance in your living room - push back all the furniture and make sure to have a prepared cd of music

Hike the Manitou Incline

Watch the sunrise at Red Rocks

Go to the symphony

Early morning hike - leave before the sun comes up, take a camper grill and make breakfast while you watch the sunrise

Watch a meteor shower - Get a book from your local library and learn some of the constellations so while you’re waiting for the shower to start you can point them out to impress your date.

Go to the Planetarium

Go to an orchard - pick some fruit and sit on a blanket

Go to a dance studio for dance lessons

Park your truck overlooking a lake, sit on the bed and serenade her while you play the guitar

Ice Fishing - Bring plenty of snacks and hot cocoa, make sure the fish shack is warm, and bring along soft music that she likes. Make sure you give HER more attention than the fish, no matter how well they’re biting!

Go to "First Friday" - the first Friday of each month, the art galeries on Santa Fe open for free

Clothes pinning - Directions: double date, each couple gets a bag of clothes pins. Go to a highly populated like the mall or Wal-mart. Objective is to get rid of all your clothes pins before the other couple. You do this by putting the clothes pins on random people at the mall. You cannot let anyone see you do it and the person you are pinning cannot know! And you are not allowed to put more than one clothes pin on a person. It makes the date daring and hilarious!

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Make a movie together—find odd props around the house, then come up with a funny scenario to act out.

Have a backwards date and do everything backwards from what you normally do on a date.

With a camera and a pair of boots, make a photolog of a day in the life of an invisible man.

Find a little stream or small river and make boats out of aluminum foil then race them! Bet little things for the winner, such as "if my boat wins you have to hold my hand" or "if my boat wins you have to show me your favorite childhood park" its fun, creative, and competative.

Speak with funny accents and go around town asking for directions to places that don't exist.

Makeovers.  Your date makes you look "pretty". And you make your date look "pretty". And take picture and send the pics to your best friend who decides who looks "prettier".

Go to a fast food restaurant and make sculptures out of french fries.  Have the employees judge which is best.

Dress in all black - buy window paint and go around town drawing funny pictures on your friends cars.

Go for a drive. You can only make right-hand turns. When you finally get stuck, turn around and then you can only make left-hand turns. Repeat until you find something interesting. Take pictures along the way!

Pretend you’ve never met, then loudly try out lame pickup lines in a swanky bar. Act like they worked.

Buy flowers and give them to random people on the street who look like they need a “pick-me-up”

Marshmallow toss - You and your date have to throw marshmallows into each others mouths, gettign further and further apart.  The couple that goes the furthest wins.

Create photo evidence suggesting that you went on an adventure that didn’t really happen.

Go to a restaurant and convince the cook to create something completely new for you. Put a shower cap on each person, the cool whip or shaving cream on top of that.  Stand at least 10 feet apart and throw cheese puffs at each others head.  Whichever team has the most stuck at the end is the winner!

Get a raft and put it in a pool. Everyone get on the raft and watch “Jaws” projected on the side of the house.

Build something out of Lego's

Have a Green Eggs and Ham date! Prepare a ham covered with green dyed baste on it and green colored eggs and each person or couple bring a favorite Dr. Seuss book with of course "Green Eggs and Ham" being read.

Go out with some clip boards and do a survey in a public place. Use funny questions about how many times people brush their teeth and what they had for dinner.

Play with play-dough

Cartoon date: Meet at 9am and watch cartoons while eating your favorite kids cereal...must be in your pajamas.

Walk around the city all night and find a place to eat breakfast at dawn

Go panning for gold in a river. Wear a funny hat and act like you really need to find some.

Go to a restaurant—just order appetizers

Go on a scavenger hunt in your neighborhood to find all the ingredients you need to make cookies. When the cookies are made, take them to a mutual friend or maybe a grandparent.

Go "people watching" at the mall—it can be fun to just sit and talk.

Go for a bike ride in your neighborhood—maybe find a tandem bicycle to borrow or rent.

Go to the park and feed the birds

Go to random spots in your hometown and take pictures - Be creative and this date can be a lot of fun.

Go to your local animal shelter and play with the animals

Have a "Bring your own topping" waffle party—assign each group member to bring his or her favorite waffle toppings

Go bird watching

Make homemade ice cream together

Make Cupcakes together - Decorate them with icing, sprinkles, or anything

Go to the butterfly pavilion

Try and visit as many people as you can in one night, and turn as many things inside their apartment upside down as you can, without them noticing.

Lay trash bags on the floor and eat spaghetti together with your hands.

Do the lamest tourist thing in your area that you have both secretly wanted to do forever.  Casa Bonita is always a good option  :)

Find inner tubes and float down a nearby river

Get a role of quarters and have a contest to see who can get the best and most creative item from the 25cent machines

Go to the thrift store with 5 dollars; have a contest to see who can get the best item

Go to Goodwill and by clothing for each other.  You both have to wear it on the rest of the date

Dress up as pirates and go parrot shopping at local pet stores

Color pictures together—find a fun coloring book or print coloring book pages off of the Internet

Finger Painting - paint portraits of each other

Blind folded miniature golf

Three legged miniature golf

Go to garage sales on a Saturday morning

Build a fort together out of blankets and furniture

Go to a bookstore and leave notes for future readers in your favorite books

Take a trip to your local hobby shop – pick out a project to work on for the afternoon—maybe build a boat, or a rocket, something that you can play with!

Make-Your-Own Pizza

Write a piece of fiction together. Outside at a cafe. Ask strangers when you get stuck.

Play the game “Bigger or Better” - Directions: Each couple starts with something small—go door to door in your neighborhood asking people to triad you for something bigger or better than the item. At the end of a specified amount of time, gather together as a group and vote on who got the biggest and best item.

Go on a nature walk and pick up garbage on the way, give a prize for the strangest item found

Read a book together—Choose your favorite childhood story and read aloud

Put on a play – choose a popular story from literature, or a movie

Go on a “Video Scavenger Hunt” - Directions: Each team has a video camera and a list of scenarios to get footage of -- Here are a few possible ideas: Interview a complete stranger about something random, find a random stranger and greet them like an old friend, pretend to know them from somewhere, stage a “break up”, yell at each other and draw lots of attention, try on clothing for the opposite sex. As you can tell, this can be a ton of fun, especially when you go back and watch your footage.

Write a song together

Build a sand castle—this could be at the beach, or even in a sand box

Make your own drive in movie! Borrow or rent a projector and watch a movie in your backyard, or set your TV up in the garage and watch your favorite movies from inside your car.

Wii Olympics -- get a group together and have a competition using Wii Sports

Glow sticks in the park

Build something together with legos or lincoln Logs

Have a Fondue party

Play dress up—be sure to take lots of pictures

Go to the art museum

Make life lists together—all the things you want to do before you die - Be creative and help your date come up with some fun things.

Have a Marshmallow eating contest -- see who in the group can fit the most mallows in their mouth!

Go look at some model homes (they tend to have fresh cookies and soda there)

Reverse Trick-or-Treating - Directions: Dress up in your Halloween costume (any time of year) and walk around town with your date knocking on doors. Instead of asking for trick-or-treats, bring treats of your own to hand out.

Play live Clue—This one requires some creativity - Directions: Hand out clues to each individual in the group (location, weapon, killer etc..) ask each other questions to determine the killer. This can be a lot of fun but requires some creativity and preparation.

Have a “LAN Party”—a computer game night with everyone playing at the same place.

Go to ChuckeCheese

Frisbee in the dark with glow sticks and a light up frisbee

Pick a culture of the world and imitate with food, activities, and clothes to match.

Go to an air show

Make your date decide - Directions: make it mysterious for your date--take your ideas to them throughout the week, tell them to just answer the random questions you ask them. For example: red or white (color of flower you bring) fast or slow ( fast food or sit down restaurant) hot or cold (Ice Cream or hot cocoa) - Anything will work. You ask them during the week then during the date reveal to them what they decided. It's quirky and cute but fun.

Play paint twister. Make a twister mat using some old plastic (like a tablecloth)-- except put paint where the colored dots would be.

Have a fancy dinner consisting of breakfast cereal.  Its funner if they see the fancy setting before they know what's on the menu.

Go to a shooting range

Spend $5 on each other at a thrift store

Visit the sand dunes

Have a paint war. Get large bath sponges and cut them into baseball size sponges then dip them in buckets of washable paint and go crazy.

Kidnapping - this can be fun when done by boy Or girl. A group of guys or girls go out and kidnap their dates, blind fold them, the whole shabang. Then surprise them by taking them to a cute picnic at the park. Fun if it's with a group or can be a cute romantic single date.

Play spoons

Survivor date- double date, select several activities such as a game, puzzles, eating contest etc... and have competition with the other couple to see who is better. You can also play it so that the loser buys desserts. Makes it more interesting.

Make a list of outrageous things on a Bingo card like mullets, scrunchies, spandex pants and hiking boots, etc and walk around Wal Mart trying to find people sporting the items on your bingo cards.

Build paper airplanes and shoot them down with shotguns.

Go to the park and have a picnic. But to mix it up a little have one of your friends come and dance for you (ribbon dancing is always good). It is quite the sight!

Build and shoot a potato gun

Eat lunch in the middle of a round-a-bout. Bring a blanket and a basket, have fun, and watch peoples faces as they circle you

Play hide-and-seek with multiple couples in walmart

Get an easy-to-operate remote-control plane, go to a park and take turns trying to avoid the trees.

Play a card game

Take a hayride.

Skip rocks at night - Find some good skipping rocks, buy some glow sticks, and go to a lake. Take a plastic bag and put the rocks in the bag -- break the glow sticks open and pour them into the bag with the rocks -- mix it around.  Then skip the rocks and see them glowing as they skip across the water.

Donate blood together

Go with your date to a movie one night with a big group of friends. Although instead of staying and watcing the movie you and you'r date ditch the rest and go for a walk. Find somewhere calm and quite that would be a great place to be alone. You will of had preset a blanket and a picnic basket at this place all ready for you and your date's arrivial. Inside the basket should be pizza that you asked to be cut in the shape of a heart and something to drink (simple stuff be creative). You and you'r date will have a great time under the stars cuddled up on a blanket and afterword you'r date will have a fantastic story to tell to their friends who were wondering where in the world you two went.

Go to a party store or a costume store and buy some crazy hats and fake mustaches. Anything to make you look goofy. Then take on a fake accent and a name and go out to a public place and eat. Tell random stories and make yourself look outrageous but not obnoxious.

Go to IKEA

Find one of those old small self-power boats with the bike peddles & have a picnic over water while you watch the sunset or rise.

Go horseback riding

Drive to places you have memories and share them. It's a good way to get to know each other and make memories of your own

Go get ice cream

Ride a trolley or train

Grab some good books and climb a tree or find a tree house to read with your date.

Map out a long bike ride through a local park.

Take a roll of pennies to a fountain and make wishes out loud as you throw them in.

Build a bonfire

Dance in the rain

Map out a long bike ride through a local park.

Take a test drive of a fun sports car

Hike to see waterfalls - 7 falls is great at night

Sneak into a ritzy hotel and go swimming in their pool

Gather pictures and make a scrap book together

Visit a nearby landmark

Go to an antique store and see who can find the most random item

Do a jigsaw puzzle together

Stop at a fancy bakery and pick out a treat each — for each other.

Walk your dog(s)—or borrow a neighbor's dog

Lie in the grass and find shapes in the clouds

Go to an airport and watch the planes take off and land

Write a poem together

Climb a tree together

Play with fireworks

Go ice skating

Read a book together by the fire

Put a love sac in the back of a truck and head up a mountain or out in the open under the stars--watch a movie, or just stare at the stars

Indoor rock climbing

Have a dessert picnic at midnight on a starry hill overlooking the city

Find a building/apartment complex that will let you get on the roof and have a candlelight dinner.

Drive and look at Christmas lights

Go hiking

Try to hit things with a sling shot

Make chocolate or candy by candlelght

Teamwork finger painting. You be the artist, your date can be the brush or vise-versa.

Go exploring with your date to find the coolest building in town. Then you can take a tour

Take a carriage ride downtown

Go walking in the rain...jump in mud puddles

Reverse roles and try to imitate each other's mannerisms and habits.

Walk on the beach 'til the sun goes down

Take a one time cooking class together

Pitch black date - fix up a room in your house so that no light can get in. set up everything you need for a date( table, plates, food, chairs, ect).  Use your other senses to enjoy your meal.

Write a letter, put it in an air-tight bottle and throw it into the ocean or a lake or even a river.

Go look for luck by hunting for some four-leaf clovers

Play “Tackle Football” - ON YOUR KNEES

Go on a nature hike

Watch the sunrise/sunset

Play frisbee golf

Mud volleyball

Play your favorite sport together

Get a group of friends together and have each person share four things about themselves. Three of the situations should be true and one should be a lie. Have everyone determine which are true and which is the lie. This is a great way to get to know people better.

Play capture-the-flag or hide-and-seek in a park

Play croquet at a park

Go to a rollerskating rink

Go fishing

Wash each others cars

Find a muddy area, dress in old clothing and have a mud fight.

Plant something together—A tree, flowers, vegetables…

Have a water balloon fight

Go to the library or a book store and find books with tongue twisters, puzzles, I-Spy, etc. - Then find a park and spend some time reading to eachother.

Set up a lemonade stand

Have a Tin-foil dinners...cookout

Go to the park, feed the ducks, play on ALL the toys

Dodge sprinklers on the public golf course or public park and see who can stay the driest.

Have a pie fight with lots of pies made in advance. Surprise your date when you throw the first pie!

Hold a kiss for one elevator ride.

Picture scavenger hunt- Double date, split into couples and take pictures (within a defined area) and then swap cameras with the other couple and see who can be the first to find where the pictures were taken and imitate them.

Go to a lake and dance on the dock.

Have a poker tournament but instead of betting money do it with something fun and random like candy or cookies.

Have an indoor unbirthday party. Watch the scene from Alice in Wonderland with the mad hatter and do everything they do! Go to the thrift store or dollar store give everyone a specified amount of money and then buy unbirthday presents for each other. Then head back to someones house where you watch that scene from the movie and sing "Merry Unbirthday" exchange gifts and eat cake and other good food.

Write a book together

Play childrens boardgames like Candyland

Divide your friends into two groups. Each group will need a vehicle, rocking chair, and a video camera. Give each group a set amount of time to take their rocking chair to as many unusual locations as possible. Videotape each location with all of the group and the rocking chair. When the two groups get back together, have fun sharing your videos of your rocking experience.

Tour Historical Buildings

Play Pool

Play Guitar Hero or Rock Band

Take a ride in a hot air balloon

Go to a park and play a casual game of frisbee

Drive somewhere unknown and have dinner in a city you’ve never been to. With fake names.

Play foosball

Rent a movie you’ve never seen before. Set on mute and improvise dialogue.

Free factory tours

Play ping pong

Go around the city with sidewalk chalk and draw hearts with equations inside on random things

Walk through the library or a bookstore—Find a corner to sit and read a children’s book together

Story time—take turns recording pieces of a story - Directions: One person starts recording a story, while the other leaves the room, ending their segment with “and then…”  the other person picks up telling the next part of the story, and ends their segment with “and then…”  this continues until someone decides to tell “The end”

Go for a drive with the passenger blindfolded, choosing directions at random.  See where you end up

Dress up as pirates, commandeer shopping carts, and have a war upon the high seas.. er, parking lot.

Volunteer together at the local animal shelter

Go on a search for as many good climbing trees as possible, climb as high as you both can in all of them, compile photo evidence.

Order Chinese, then eat it on the floor

Pots & Pans Dinner: Set a table with pans instead of plates, and spatulas instead of forks, etc. Put a sheet over the table to hide the utensils. Have the couples come in and pick a seat, since they won’t know what’s going on. Serve spaghetti. Serve drinks in vases.

Get a bunch of random toppings (like peanut butter, sardines, candy, ect), and have pizza crusts pre-made. Then put the toppings on the pizza. Then switch pizzas and whoever can get a slice of the pizza down first wins!

Go swimming

Make duct tape creations! Wallets, bags, ANYTHING! Be as creative as you can and be sure to buy the colored Duck brand duct tape! Youtube has lots of tutorials for duct tape things.

Head to the highest point in town. Spend an early evening watching the twinkling lights turn on.

For an indoor date, turn off the volume to a movie, assign group members different roles, and make up the words. It works best if no one has ever seen the movie...

Make a time capsule to put in a park or just your own backyard full of pictures and objects that represent your relationship and then dig it up for a big anniversary.

Watch a roller derby game

Do some service. Rake leaves, plant flowers for a neighbor, shovel snow on all the walks of a given street... etc.

Make dinner together

Get plain white pillow cases and paint and create your own pillow cases

Go to a public place, like starbucks, and just hang out and talk

Draw pictures of each other... show off that artsy side

Play UNO in the middle of a public place

Describe your life in pictures by cutting them out of magazines or make up a story from the pictures

Dollar date - Directions: start with a main dish (like pizza) then go to the store and give each person $1.  Each person chooses something (for a dollar or less) to have with your main dish.

Have a coupon date – go through the local newspaper together and find coupons to use on your cheap date

Make Tee Shirts – start with some blank white or collared tees, then get creative with sharpies and paint.

Find a good service project or volunteer activity in your area

Build something together out of play dough

Go to Wal-Mart or Target late at night and play with the toys

Blindfold your date for a surprise dinner and take them to McDonalds. Only, make your table really fancy with a tablecloth, nice dishes and cups, etc. Craft your own fancy menu and enlist your roommates or younger siblings to be your servers.

Fire up the grill for burgers and sticky s'mores.

Go to a sports event

Make bleach T-Shirts.  Bring a plain solid color shirt.  Cut out designs from construction paper and lay them on the shirt.  In a spray bottle, mix half water and half bleach.  Mist the mixture over the shirt and let dry.

Run thru the sprinklers

Go To Mcdonalds And Order Random Food. Then Put Blindfolds On Eachother And Guess What The Food You Randomly Ordered Food Is.

Handmake cards and drop them off to random neighbors in the area. They can say things like "rose are red, violets are blue, you don't me and I don't know you! Have a great day anyway!" or put a funny joke in them. Using crayons to disguise your age is another fun twist. See just how childish you can make them look. Then go drop them off on front steps around a neighborhood. A small offering of candy or cookies is always a good way to pin the card to the doorstep so it doesn't fly away.

Go to an open mic poetry night

Have a scary movie marathon....or just a movie marathon. you could pick a certan actor or actress and watch a BUNCH of movies with them in it.. old and new!

Load up on pads of sticky notes and colored markers. Then make a trip to the mall or a fairly crowded place where you can stick up notes of funny sayings or just random words anywhere and everywhere! Its fun to see the reactions of others when they see them.

Go on a walk thru a park

Go to the Botanic Gardens

Play night games with a big group. like capture the flag, kick the can, touch the tree, ghost in the graveyard. etc.

Choose 5 or 10 ideas, put them in a bag, and then have your date draw one of them

Sculpt whole blocks of IceCream. Add toppings to make it more detailed and make sure the Ice Cream is well frozen.

Go out for pizza — ask them to cut the pie into the shape of a heart

Pick a TV show, get a season's worth on DVD and make a running date to watch it together every night.

Try brunch and a matinee; fancy restaurants are way more affordable in the a.m.

Go to a drive-in movie

Feed the ducks

Go to a Jazz club

Invite several friends over. Divide into two groups and provide both groups with the identical jigsaw puzzle. The group that finishes first or has the most pieces in place at the specified time is declared the winner and is treated to dessert by the other group.

Make a finger-foods-only dinner

Take turns singing cheesy out-of-tune ballads at karaoke.oddcast.com or free karaoke.com

Make yourselves the biggest, craziest ice cream sundae ever.

Dress up your backyard picnic table with a white tablecloth. Add candles, fancy cheese, chocolate and voilà: five-star fun

Make a mixed tape or CD together

Do a crossword puzzle together

Bring home your favorite fast food, but serve it on your best china

Free day at the museum - it's normally the first Saturday of the month

Take a sketchpad to a scenic bluff and draw your own version of the vista

Go to a batting cage

Grab a basketball and hit the free courts at the park

Sample international food at a street fair

Go to the library and page through the coffee-table art books

Go to an art gallery opening