Whether you’re too tired to go out or want to skip hiring a babysitter, there are plenty of ways for parents to enjoy a date night at home. Dress comfortable and spend some quality time together with these at-home date night ideas. Fingers crossed you can get the kids to bed early.
Virtual Mixology
When: Contact Hollow Leg to schedule a class
Cost: $35-$85 per screen
Learn to the basics or become an expert mixologist with a class from Chicago-based Hollow Leg. Packages vary from the basics and science behind mixology to improving your already great cocktail game. These classes are great with adult friends or family for a couples night in.
Virtual Wine Tasting
When: Schedule through City Winery
Cost: $110-$195 and up
The City Winery can accommodate guests from 2-20, with winery kits sent to any and all guests. So, if you want to double-date and have a virtual experience with friends, schedule together. If you want the tasting to be with just the two of you, enjoy your own private experience that includes bottles of wine to taste, culinary pairings, a tasting mat and more. Food kits can be added to enhance the experience.
Chicago Virtual Game Night
When: Thursdays-Saturdays
Cost: Free
Let’s Roam Scavenger Hunt Adventures has created the software for you to host your own, free game night, with questions at the ready. Gather your friends (who also need a date night) for trivia, charades, pictionary and more.
Cabana Happy Hour at Volo Wine Bar
When: Wednesdays-Saturdays through Feb. 22
Cost: $4-$42
While families are enjoying happy hour at home, couples can pick up specially priced (and yummy) care packages and cheese plates to go.
Painting with a Twist
When: Weekends through Feb. 28
Cost: $37
Bottle and Bottega in Lakeview offers virtual Sip & Paint experiences for family, friends and groups. Offered most Fridays-Sundays (including Valentine’s Day), you can pick the canvas you’d like to paint and schedule the time together.
Virtual Cooking with The Chopping Block
When: Visit event website
Cost: $20-$50
Check out classes from The Chopping Block, which you can schedule learning live with the instructor or on your own time (which will make it easier to schedule around bedtime). Menus include Game Day Snacks (Feb. 7), Trip to Chinatown (Feb. 12), Aphrodisiacs (Feb. 13), Valentine’s Feast Workshop (Feb. 14), Fat Tuesday (Feb. 16), Steak au Poivre (Feb. 20) and more. Classes are scheduled through Feb. 28.
Live Remote Bunker
When: Select days through March 22
Cost: $110-$220
Fans of escape rooms will talk a remote actor through the necessary steps to escape a bunker. Working in teams of two or as many as eight, enjoy the escape room experience from home.
A Night of Broadway & Opera
When: Jan. 23-Feb. 28
Cost: $40
New Philharmonic in DuPage County and four soloists performing music from movies, opera and Broadway. Listen to delightful melodies from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Hello Dolly, The Way We Were, Carmen, Gianna Schicchi and more. The concert can be downloaded as early as Jan. 23 and you’ll have access through the end of February.
Cradles to Crayons Trivia Night
When: Jan. 28
Cost: $20-$40
Compete for great prizes and do some good in the process. Proceeds from the trivia night will benefit Cradles to Crayons Chicago, which provides essential items to children experiencing poverty. Prizes will be awarded through third place!
August Hill Winery Virtual Wine Tasting
When: Jan. 29
Cost: $88
The Utica-based winery (near Starved Rock State Park) is hosting a Zoom-based wine and food event. You’ll taste three of the winery’s top wines paired with snacks while learning about the effects that wine has on food, the importance of aeration, the best practices for tasting wine and how to store wines.
Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
When: Feb. 1-15
Cost: $20-$50
The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights is showing a performance of award-winning comedic mastermind Ken Ludwig transformation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic The Hound of the Baskervilles into a murderously funny adventure. Just in case littler kiddos escape from bed during your viewing, the play is rated PG-13.
Ballyhoo Sip and Steak Virtual Wine Dinner
When: Feb. 4
Cost: $245 for two
Dinner for two will include a Zoom link, tasting notes, detailed cooking instructions, and discussions from Matt BonAnno (founder of BonAnno and Matthew Fritz Wineries in Napa Valley, Calif.) tied to the wine pairings. Guests will also receive a steak education discussion from Glenn Keefer, specifically on the steaks included within the dinner. Dinner reservations are limited.
Laugh Factory Virtual Standup Comedy + Trivia Experience
When: Feb. 11
Cost: $10-$15
Start the night with a virtual comedy showcase from the Laugh Factory stage, then stick around for a round of Zoom trivia.
DIY Valentine’s Day Date Night for Two
When: Feb. 12-14
Cost: $65.95 serves two
Summer House Santa Monica and Stella Barra Pizzeria & Wine Bar have teamed up to create a dinner date at home that includes making the meal from scratch (salad bar, prime beef meatballs, Stella Barra’s Build-Your-Own Pizza kit and DIY heart-shaped cookies). Wine and champagne will cost extra, and this interactive experience is available exclusively during the weekend of Valentine’s Day!
Valentine’s Day Virtual Cooking Class with Scratchboard Kitchen
When: Feb. 13
Cost: $110
Pick up your five-course meal cooking kit from the Arlington Heights restaurant, then cook with a class hosted by Executive Chef Grace Goudie. Each couple receives a surf & turf menu of NY striploin with caramelized shallot butter, seared scallops with blood orange, fennel and pistachio, caramelized broccolini with chimichurri, and black truffle risotto. Dessert includes a black forest pavlova (chocolate meringue) with cherry curd and whipped cream.
Trivia Night to Benefit The LeaderShop
When: Feb. 20
Cost: $20 per team member
The LeaderShop is a leadership organization in the Western Suburbs (LaGrange, Countryside, Summit) that fosters community-minded activities for local youth. The annual fundraising trivia night has been adjusted for 2021, which means anyone can join. With a team of 4-10 (or if you want to register as a couple, you’ll be added to a team), you can have fun and even win prizes!
Auditorium Theatre’s At-Home Trivia
When: March 19
Cost: $15 per person, $90 per team of six
Even if your team doesn’t know all the answers to the trivia questions, there are some great raffle prizes available (you can score another date night with an at-home wine tasting package) and the money raised is put toward the Hearts to Art summer camps.
More Virtual Date Ideas
Order a special dinner.
Skip dinner with the kids and plan a meal just for you two. You can order takeout from one of your favorite local restaurants. While you’re at it, why not set up the table and light some candles, too?
Do a puzzle together.
After a long day, break out a puzzle that you can work on together and still be able to have a good conversation. Consider buying a puzzle roll mat so you can save puzzling for a future date night — and not worry about the kids ruining it!
Host a virtual game night.
You can still connect with your friends without leaving the house. If you’re missing game night together, try out some virtual gaming apps like Houseparty and Jackbox Games. We suggest video chatting at the same time to make the experience even more fun.
Have a movie marathon.
Instead of binge-watching your current show obsession, pop some popcorn and watch a few flicks. Make it a themed movie night so you can watch two or three similar movies together. Some ideas include horror films, ’90s night or movie musicals.
Create your own spa.
You both deserve a break with a stay-at-home spa night. It’s up to your mood on how you want to plan this time to relax. It can be as elaborate as setting up roses near a tub filled with scented bath salts or as simple as putting on spa masks while watching TV.
Sip and paint.
If you don’t feel like spending so much money, recreate the Sip and Paint experience at home. Buy your art materials and a bottle of wine as you follow along with this tutorial on YouTube.
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This article originally published on April 13, 2020. It has been updated with the most recent information.