Fun Things You Can Do While Maintaining Social Distancing

Temperatures are getting warmer; days are getting longer – spring is in the air! I really wanted to write an awesome post on cheap dates for spring, but with the Corona virus pandemic and subsequent quarantine, many of my ideas for that probably aren’t the best ideas anymore. I was thinking about things like going to the zoo, or visiting a zen garden, or hitting up a minor league baseball game. Unfortunately, those things aren’t the answer right now. Instead, we are going to talk about fun things you can do while maintaining social distancing! These ideas are just as fun– and much more relevant.

Cheap Dates for Spring (or, Fun Things You Can Do While Maintaining Social Distancing)

I’m not going to lie, this is hard. Most of us have never had to worry about social distancing to this extent. We aren’t used to everything that we’d normally do in spring being shut down. So how can we have engaging spring dates with our partners if nothing is open and we aren’t supposed to leave the house?

Well, I have some ideas. You might remember some of them from my awesomely epic post on cheap dates for winter. Not leaving the house is not leaving the house, whether because it’s too cold or because you’re under quarantine. So, here are some super fun things you can do while maintaining social distancing. They’re all cheap too!

Go For A Walk

What could be better than a pleasant stroll through your neighborhood in the spring? The flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, trees are just returning to life. It’s a gorgeous time for a walk.

A walk is one of the best cheap dates for spring because it’s better than cheap, it’s free. You don’t even have to pay for gas. Just go outside and get moving. It’s also great because it gives you the opportunity to engage with your partner, in ways that you can’t when you’re sitting home watching tv. Imagine holding hands with your partner as you enjoy the new life of the neighborhood.

Another great advantage of a walk is that you can maintain social distancing. Only walk with someone from your household (or that you are quarantining with). Make sure you stay away from other couples or families who might be enjoying the same thing. Walk on opposite sides of the street, or slow down/speed up so as not to interact with them. Walks are great during this trying time because they can get us out of the house and keep us a little active.

Have a Patio Picnic

Spring is the perfect time for a picnic. But, with the quarantine, we should probably stay away from parks to the greatest extent possible (unless you know your park is empty, and you can walk to it). Instead, have a picnic in your back yard or on your patio.

Get all your favorite picnic fixen’s together, a bottle of wine, and a blanket, and take it all out back. Set everything up like you would for a normal picnic, but do it from home instead. Enjoy the outdoors and all the romantic fun of a picnic from the social safety of your own backyard. 

Scrap Booking

Creating a scrap book is a great way to spend an evening indoors. Now that you’ve collected a ton of pictures, ticket stubs, and mementos from the times you were able to go out, its time to put them all together to create a nice memory book. It gives you something fun and creative to share, so it keeps you engaging with each other in a way that a movie marathon wouldn’t. We can only watch so many movies anyway.

 

I get all my scrap-booking supplies from Michael’s. You can get the books, stickers, fancy paper, glue sticks, and everything else you need by ordering from them online.

An Epic Game of Hide and Go Seek

Use your back yard, garage, alley, and home to find amazing hiding places for an epic game of hide and go seek. You’d probably be surprised by how creative you can get, even if your living space is small. Can you squeeze into that cabinet? Is there room behind the washer? You’ll find out when you try it!

Movie Marathon

I’m sure everyone has already thought of movie marathons. It’s pretty much the go-to thing to do when we are stuck inside, isn’t it? But, you can spice it up a bit by having a theme.  You could pick cheesy b-movies to make fun of together, or make it a romantic movie night. Or, you could have a marathon of your favorite movie series, like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. The options for movie marathons are endless, which is probably why it’s the go to.

Video Game Party

I love playing video games with my boyfriend. As you know, we’ve been playing Breath of the Wild lately, and it’s so much freaking fun! He does the hard fights, and I do most of the exploring. You could also opt for two player games, like Mario Kart or Super Smash Brothers. You can either join forces or fight each other in both of those games.

 

You can even enjoy a fun video game night without a consol. Go to Twitch and find someone who is streaming Jackbox Party Pack games, then go to jackbox.tv on your smartphone to play along. There are drawing games, word games, and even trivia games that you can play on this platform -all for free! It’s a great option for a spring date when you can’t go outside.

Board Game Night

Board games are an old classic. Chess and Checkers are ideal for a party of two (and a great cheap date!), but there are tons of other board games. My favorite is Mastermind, a game where one player makes a secret code, and the other has to guess what it is. Unfortunately, with most stores being closed, you are most likely stuck with what you have, but you can still try ordering from Amazon. They are still delivering non-essentials to some locations.

A board game night doesn’t have to be a date activity. You can have board game fun with the whole family – even young kids!

Recipe Testing

One of my favorite things to do with my boyfriend is learning to cook delicious new meals. We learned chicken piccata last week, and it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted. The great thing about testing out new recipes is that we get to do something active and engaging, and we get a pretty awesome award at the end (usually – it’s been a disaster once or twice).

If you wanted to improve your culinary skills, this pandemic is a perfect time. The restaurants are all closed, but grocery stores are all open. That means if you want delicious food, you have to cook it yourself. And learning the recipes with your partner is a fun way to make a date out of it.

We’re even going to start collecting the recipes (well the good ones at least) and including them in our scrapbook. It will be a screcipe book! Take pictures while you’re cooking that you can add to the book later. Not only will you create tons of great memories, but you’ll also have a fun way of looking back on them.

Visit a State Park

Visiting a state park is an amazing cheap date for spring idea. Many of them are still open during the quarantine because it’s easy to keep your distance from others because the parks are so big. It also gets you outside, which is important during time like these.

If you’re going to check out a state park, make sure you check with your local officials first. Some states are on complete lock down, and they might be closed. Others might be open, but without staffing – so their visitor’s centers, bathrooms, and other amenities will be closed. Make sure you plan for that by bringing your own food, and not venturing super far from home – so you can get back to use the restroom if need be.

Book Club

If you and your honey are avid readers, try instituting a book club. You can both read the same book, and then schedule meetings to discuss what you’ve read. I’ve done this with my best friend online for the past few months, and it’s been great! We were facetiming before it was the norm (mostly because we live on opposite sides of the country).

 

You can implement the same thing with your partner. Pick books that you will both enjoy, and discuss them over tea and biscuits. It’s a great way to get to know your partner on a more intellectual level.

Make Extra Money

Ok, it may not exactly be fun, but as long as you’re stuck at home, you may as well do something productive, right? I mean, if you have the time and energy, or course. It’s perfectly acceptable to just get through day by day!

But, if you have the time, check out this awesome post on things you can start doing today to make a little extra money.  

Fun Things You Can Do While Maintaining Social Distancing

These fun things you can do while maintaining social distancing are great ways to keep engaging with your partner during this interesting time of longer days and pandemic. I know they aren’t the most epic date ideas, but we all need to do what we can to prevent the spread of the virus. Sacrificing awesome spring dates in favor of stay isolated spring dates is just one of the things that you can do.

Do you have any other ideas for fun things you can do while maintaining social distancing? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!