BY KATHY WILLIAMS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Date night at the movies or getting dinner at a classy restaurant are classic go-to dates throughout the years, but it is time to step up and expand the way affection is shown to your partner. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, here are ideas on how to celebrate Feb. 14 with yourself or your partner.
A way to plan the best date possible is to find out your partner’s love language which includes words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service and receiving gifts. Just search online for a five love languages quiz, complete your quiz of choice with your partner and then you will both have a guide on how you like to receive love from others. By knowing you and your partner’s love language, you can streamline communication between each other and have a basic framework to build date ideas off of that provide significant meaning to the other.
A partner whose love language is words of affirmation prefers written or verbal expressions to feel love. This one can be difficult to address on a date especially for newly dating couples, but doing an activity that benefits from words of encouragement would be a safe bet. This could include something physically tasking like taking a yoga class, going skiing or adventuring on a hike. If moving and grooving is not your speed, then try to find a new hobby both of you could learn together. You could go to a pottery class or find a YouTube video of a new recipe and try to cook it together. Just remember to communicate effectively and offer appreciation and encouragement along the way.
Many of the date ideas for words of affirmation love language can also apply to quality time. However, quality time has the emphasis on quality. This means having deep, intellectual conversations about life and connecting emotionally and mentally with your partner. Date ideas include going to a local cafe to talk with no phones or playing a card game like “We’re Not Really Strangers” that gives prompts on meaningful conversations to spark. Maintaining emotional intimacy in a safe space is what is most important when planning this date.
Receiving gifts may be one of the most popular love languages to come to people’s minds. The gift does not have to be expensive nor super complicated. A date idea for this is going to a local or small business, splitting up and picking a small novelty item that makes you think of the other. That item will then forever remind the person of you and that day.
Has your partner been extra stressed? Have chores been piling up? Then it is the perfect time for an act of service date night. Join your partner for their next Sunday of chores, help them get their tasks done and end the date with some self care such as facemasks and a warm bath to unwind from the hard work.
Last but not least is physical touch. Dates where you get to touch the other person in any way are optimal. Playing paint Twister is a fun, competitive way to enjoy a date. Have you and your partner put on a white shirt and pants, pour paint on the corresponding colored dots and then move your body! Another easy date idea is giving each other massages. To spice this up in a more intimate, zen setting, add candles and Himalayan salt lamps to the room and the scene is set.
In all, it is important to be with your person in some way on Valentine’s Day. If you cannot physically be together, many of the date ideas above can be done through setting up a Zoom meeting or calling each other on FaceTime.
