As a relationship progresses, you may find it difficult to spend quality time with your partner. That’s why you should make the most of every opportunity you have alone with them. Luckily, there are plenty of things for couples to do at home when bored. So rather than scrolling on your phone when you’re together, give one of these activities a shot!
21 Interesting Things for Couples to Do at Home When Bored
Spending time with your partner is the best way to build intimacy in a relationship. That’s why couples should make an effort to make the most of the time they have together. With that in mind, here are some suggestions you can use to fill that time.
1. Talk
While we can all appreciate the value of companionable silence, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk to your partner. People change throughout their lives — and you wouldn’t want to miss out on the person your partner is becoming. Luckily, there’s an easy way to deepen your relationship. Just talk to them!
There are so many topics you could discuss with your partner. Even if you feel like you know everything about them, you’ll find that there are many facets you haven’t seen! So don’t be shy, ask them about their dreams, ideas, and passions. And if you want to be a better partner, you could even ask them about their love language.
2. Read Together
If you just don’t feel like coming up with quips, but you still want to hear your partner’s voice, you could try reading to each other. Pick a book — or series — you’ve been meaning to read and go through a chapter each until you finish. While one person is reading, the other could prepare tea and snacks. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect way to spend an afternoon?
Of course, there are other ways to approach this idea too. Instead of reading to each other, you could both listen to an audiobook while cuddling on the couch. Alternatively, if you don’t have the same taste in books as your partner, you could just read separately.
3. Make a Playlist
If you and your partner are always arguing over who gets to control the music in the car, making a joint playlist may be a good idea. Needless to say, the list should contain songs you both love. If you want to try this tip on expert mode, you could even make multiple playlists for different moods. One could be for slow Saturdays while another would be full of road trip bangers, and so on.
4. Dance Around
If you take the time to make a playlist of songs both you and your partner love, you might as well take it for a spin. For one, if you made the playlist on Spotify, you’ll be able to access the app’s lyrics feature and have a little karaoke session.
Alternatively, you could ask your partner for a dance. Since dancing is an activity that’s usually reserved for special occasions, your partner is sure to find the offer intriguing, to say the least. After all, one never knows what can come of such a romantic pastime! And if you decide to dance like no one’s watching and let it all out, you’ll be able to count it as exercise.
5. Work Out
Speaking of exercise, that’s another thing you can do when you’re home alone with your partner. Even if you’re not a particularly sporty couple, you could cue up a short workout on YouTube and go from there. Alternatively, if you both like to challenge yourselves, you could try doing some couples yoga poses.
According to research, trying a couples yoga class may improve the quality of your relationship in more ways than one. In addition to increasing relationship satisfaction in both partners, this kind of exercise can also reduce your stress and improve your sex life.
6. Clean Your House
Not every second you spend with your partner needs to be idly spent. After all, there are plenty of ways to deepen your connection while staying productive. Home maintenance tasks are an activity you could always perform together.
You could either both work on the same tasks or split them so one of you is vacuuming while the other takes the trash out. In any case, the two of you will get through your to-do list much faster than one person could alone.
7. Tend Your Plants
If you have a garden — or even some potted plants — taking care of them could be another shared task. You and your partner could each take half of the rooms in the house and water the plants you have in them.
But if you’d prefer to do more intensive gardening while you have your partner with you, you could also check if any of your plants need to be repotted. If you find the roots wrapping around the sides of the dirt when you lift the plant, it could probably use a bigger pot.
8. Rearrange Furniture
If you’re looking for a list of things for couples to do at home when bored, you’re probably fresh out of ideas. In such cases, changing your environment may be just what you need to get the creative juices flowing. But if you don’t want to go out, the only way to do that would be to push some furniture around.
Let’s be honest, your current setup is probably a part of the reason you’ve found yourself bored. So challenge yourself to figure out new placements for the biggest pieces of furniture you have. If you’re not working with a tight budget, you could even let yourself do some online shopping to spruce up your home.
9. Complete a Household Project
If you’re not strapped for time, now would also be a good time to complete a house project you’ve been putting off. Everyone has a wobbly desk they’ve been meaning to fix or some walls they’ve been meaning to paint. So take this time you have with your partner to do just that. At the end of the day, you’ll be able to hit the hay knowing you’ve crossed an item off your to-do list.
10. Take a Bath
Whether you spend the time you have with your partner reading or rearranging furniture, you’ll probably want to take a shower at some point during the day. So why not make that a joint activity too? You can wash each other’s hair and make sure you’re both squeaky clean before turning in for the night.
Of course, if you have an actual tub, you might as well have a proper at-home spa day. Light some tea candles, put on some tunes, and use that bath bomb you’ve been saving. When you get out of the tub, slather on some lotion and see where the night takes you.
11. Write Each Other Love Letters
Over time, most people lose the ability to frankly communicate their innermost feelings to their partner. Other than saying “I love you” almost habitually, most of us don’t make an effort to tell the people in our lives how much they mean to us. If you and your partner have fallen into a similar routine, try challenging yourselves to write each other a poem or a love letter.
Putting such things in writing is a good way to get around the embarrassment of saying them out loud. Moreover, it gives you both something to hang on to for years to come.
12. Learn a Language or Develop a Skill
If you and your partner like to spend your free time improving your skills, why not do so together? For example, you could learn a new language on apps like Duolingo or even by watching YouTube tutorials. Just pick a language and start with the alphabet. All you need to get started is some pens and paper.
When you want to test your knowledge, you can snuggle up and watch a movie in the language you’re learning! And you can take the same approach when learning pretty much any skill.
13. Watch TV
Ideally, you would spend the time you have with your partner without electronic distractions. But if both of you really want to watch a new movie or show — you should just do that!
Still, if you want to make your day a bit more special, there are plenty of ways to spice up your media consumption. For example, if you and your partner usually watch live-action movies, go for an animated feature instead. Alternatively, if you usually prefer a certain kind of fiction, try another genre — or go for a documentary.
If you want to relax your mind, find a stand-up special from a comedian you both like. Or if you can’t focus on words at the moment, find a figure skating competition to watch.
14. Cook Together
No matter what activity you decide to pursue with your partner, your stomach will eventually put an end to it. If you don’t want the hangout to end there, there’s only one solution to such a problem — head to the kitchen!
Cooking together can really help couples synchronize their movements. You can start with easy but delicious recipes like pancakes and pizzas or try making a more complex meal. Try to recreate a dish from your favorite restaurant!
When the food is about ready, one of you can deal with the pots and pans while the other sets up a romantic atmosphere at the dining table.
15. Have a Picnic
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of setting a table, eat on the floor. Better still, set up a little indoor camping area. Lay down a blanket and some pillows, then bring the food out in a basket. You can even adjust the menu to complete the picnic experience.
Instead of making a complicated meal, settle for sandwiches and cupcakes. And, of course, no picnic would be complete without some wine. If your building has a rooftop, you could take the fun outside too. Alternatively, if you live in a house with a backyard — you could have a proper meal on the grass!
16. Play Games
If you’re still bored, you can always break out your tabletop games. Aside from Jenga, Yahtzee, and the like, you’ll find plenty of board games that still work when there are only two players. On top of that, there are plenty of games you can try if you’re feeling frisky — namely, strip poker and truth or dare.
Of course, there’s no need to stick to cards and party games. If both you and your partner love video games, you could try to one-up each other that way. As long as neither of you turns out to be a sore loser, that can be a fun way to spend the day.
17. Work On a Puzzle
If you’d rather work with your partner than against them, you could try solving a puzzle. Doing a 500-piece puzzle should take no longer than 2 hours even if you take your time. But if you want to challenge yourselves, you can always opt for 1,000 or 2,000-piece ones. Once you get a taste for solving puzzles, you’ll have a new one on your table every week!
18. Do Arts and Crafts
Doing arts and crafts is another way to practice solidarity and creativity as a couple. You could get some paint and canvases and just let it all out. Some people even swap paintings with their partners every 10 minutes to see what they can make together. But even if you’re not particularly artistic, there are plenty of adult coloring books you’d enjoy.
And of course, there are other crafting ideas you can try — like scrapbooking or making jewelry or wind chimes. Of course, most of those ideas would require some premeditation — you’d need to get the materials ahead of time.
19. Create a Bucketlist
As you grow older, you may start losing sight of the things you wanted to achieve in life. But if you take the time to remind yourself of those goals and, more importantly, write them down, you’re sure to remember them.
Doing this exercise with your partner will let them know you care about their goals too. And once you finish your individual lists, you can also make one that contains the things you want to do or places you want to visit as a couple. Or again, if you’re feeling amorous, you can make a list of things you’d like to try in the bedroom.
20. Plan a Vacation
If making a bucket list of all the places you want to go prompts a more serious discussion about your next vacation, why not plan it out on the spot? Looking at prices from different travel agencies certainly can’t hurt. And who knows? You might just find an incredible deal for a destination you’ve always wanted to visit!
21. Do a Photo Session
While you have your partner in your general vicinity, you might as well take some pictures. It can be as easy as asking them to take some selfies or as elaborate as setting up a home studio. You’ll appreciate having those photos in a few years! Besides — you could even add them to your scrapbook.
