- Funny Ideas |
- Crazy |
- Unique |
- Creative |
- Adventurous |
- Cute |
- Cheap & Fun |
- At Home |
- First Dates
This article was co-authored by Eddy Baller
and by wikiHow staff writer, Glenn Carreau
. Eddy Baller is a men’s dating coach and founder of Conquer and Win, a Vancouver-based service that helps men break free from loneliness and meet the women they truly want. Since 2011, he has coached men to overcome approach anxiety, spark real attraction, and build meaningful relationships—without relying on dating apps, gimmicks, or luck. Through both online sessions and in-person coaching, Eddy gives live feedback as clients meet women in everyday places, making confidence feel natural and conversations effortless. His mission is simple: to help men get into meaningful, long-term relationships.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
Having a sense of humor is one thing, but how can you show it off (in a good way) on a date? We can help! Adding humor to a date can be just what you need to make the experience memorable (and romantic—people find humor attractive!). And, no matter what’s “funny” in your book, we know there’s a date activity that’s perfect for you. Keep reading for an extensive collection of funny, weird, and unique date ideas, with additional expert tips from three experienced dating and relationship coaches.
Examples of Great Funny Date Ideas
- Have a comedy movie marathon.
- Check out a novelty museum in the area.
- Have a paintball battle together.
- Go on a food truck tour, trying out all the local trucks.
- Play your own, at-home version of the Chopped reality show.
- Try to paint each other in different art styles.
- Do a rollercoaster crawl, riding all the gnarliest coasters at an amusement park.
Steps
Hilariously Funny Date Ideas
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What does a “funny date” consist of? It’s probably a little different for everyone—the only thing you absolutely need is laughter. So, think of things that you and your date can laugh over together, whether that’s as simple as a funny movie or something else, like a game or experience. To get you started, here are some awesome, funny date ideas:
- Have a comedy movie marathon. Pick a couple of your favorite comedies and have them do the same!
- Go to a comedy club. Find a comedian you know already or go see someone new; you can get to know one another’s sense of humor this way.
- Have a silly scavenger hunt. Each task in the scavenger hunt can be something funny, like writing a goofy poem or finding the most hilarious card in a store.
- Pretend to be tourists. Don your flowery polo shirts, strap on your fanny packs, and wander around your city or town like you’re tourists who’ve never been there before. See the sights!
- Go to an improv night. Treat yourselves to a night of totally spontaneous comedy (and chat about your favorite skits later).
- Play people-watching bingo. Fill out a bingo card with funny things you might see while people-watching, like “Person trips on nothing” or “Guy who looks like his dog.”
- Write songs for each other. If “funny” is the goal, you can also make them the cheesiest songs imaginable—and sing them to one another afterward.
- Check out a novelty museum. Some museums are much more specialized (and quirky) than the typical art or history museum. See if you can visit a novelty museum in the area; it’ll give you lots to talk about.
- Learn magic tricks. Try teaching each other some basic magic tricks; see who the best magician is, and who’s better off as the assistant.
- Host a comedy dinner. Pick a silly theme for your dinner party (like “food pun party” or “come as your favorite food”).
- Play truth or dare. Make every dare as goofy as possible, for maximum laughs.
- Listen to funny podcasts. Choose a few of your favorite podcasts and listen to them together. You can enjoy snacks, chat, and discuss them afterward!
Meet the wikiHow Experts
Eddy Baller is a dating coach who specializes in confidence-building, advanced social and communication skills, and building meaningful relationships.
Nicole Moore is a love and relationship coach and the founder of Love Works Method, a private coaching and digital course service for women looking to find the right partner.
Candice Mostisser is a dating coach who specializes in coaching others on best practices and strategies to succeed on first dates and in the online dating world.
Crazy Date Ideas
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These date ideas are more unconventional than most—but there’s nothing wrong with taking risks and trying new things. If you’re tired of the same old activities and want to have a date that feels totally wild and one-of-a-kind, try one of the following suggestions:
- Have a paintball battle. After all, as Pat Benatar says, “Love is a battlefield.” Especially when you’re splattering each other with neon paint!
- Go horseback riding. You get fresh air, adventure, and a bit of a workout all at once!
- Face one of your fears. You might find that it’s less scary when you have someone there to support you.
- Take a Segway tour. Ever wanted to ride around on a Segway? Yeah, it looks silly, but it’d be fun, too!
- Go on a ghost tour. Can ghost-hunting be romantic? We think so! Plus, you can hold hands if you get scared, so it’s a win-win.
- Dye each other’s hair. Pick out colors and spend the day giving one another cool new looks. Even if you don’t like it, at least the dye is temporary!
- Go on a hot air balloon ride. Take in the magnificent views and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience together.
- See a psychic. Get your fortunes told by a psychic and see what the future holds.
- Practice witchcraft or astrology. Learn how to cast a spell or read your astrology charts.
- Enjoy a multi-restaurant five-course meal. Get one course of the meal at each restaurant you visit—an appetizer at one, a main course somewhere else, and so on.
- Go ax-throwing. Learn how to throw axes at a target, and see who has the better aim. It’s unconventional, but undoubtedly fun!
- Rent a convertible car. Pretend you own a cool sports car and zip around with the top down, or go for a long drive in the country and breathe in the fresh air.
- Take a boat ride. Rent a rowboat or canoe. Get tickets for a ride on a ferry or a sailboat. Any kind of boat works, honestly!
- Go on a spur-of-the-moment road trip. Put a little thought into it—but not too much. Just pick a destination, hop in the car, and drive.
Unique & Fun Date Ideas
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There are plenty of ways to make a date fun and unique—but it should be a great time for both of you; you aren’t just there to entertain. “I don't focus on trying to entertain anyone that I take out on a date,” explains dating coach Eddy Baller. “I think that's the wrong perspective when coming to a date, because you end up trying to impress them. And if you're trying to impress them, you're not on equal ground…it's better to try to make a connection with them and learn about them.” [1] X Expert Source Eddy Baller
Dating Coach Expert Interview Here are some ideas:- Watch bad scary movies. We’re not talking critically acclaimed masterpieces here; we’re talking about the horror movies that are so bad, they’re hilarious. Make popcorn, cuddle on the couch, and get ready to laugh.
- Get flash tattoos. If you’re feeling especially daring, you and your date can pick out tattoos for each other (or you can just stick to temporary tattoos, if the real thing is too much).
- Go on a food truck tour. Grab food from all the best food trucks in the area (and support small businesses) for a truly delicious date.
- Try a mystery dinner date. The concept is simple: each of you must choose a surprise location to go for some grub (a restaurant, food truck, cafe, or so on).
- Check out a drag show. Or a burlesque show, if you’re down for something risque!
- Hit up the arcade. You don’t have to worry about making the date fun, because an arcade will make all the fun for you! Try some games, split some snacks, and see who’s the better skee-ball player.
- Have a retro gaming day. Play all of your favorite retro games while getting to know one another.
- Go fruit-picking. Not only will you collect delicious fruits (apples, berries, or whatever is in season), but you can cook with them after—or just relax and snack on them together.
- Play bar trivia. Find a trivia event at a local bar and team up with your date! It’s a great way to learn more about one another’s favorite subjects and interests.
- Rent bikes. There are plenty of places that’ll let you rent bikes on the cheap and ride them around for a few hours. As a bonus, bring some picnic food with you to share when you reach your destination.
- Volunteer together. If there’s a charitable cause or organization that the two of you both support, you can bond by volunteering on your date.
- Do karaoke. Go to a (public) karaoke bar and see who can get more applause from the other patrons. It’s not about skill—it’s the passion you put into your song!
- Visit your old neighborhoods. Give your date a tour of your favorite childhood haunts, and let them do the same.
Creative Date Ideas
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These dates can give you the chance to flex your creative muscles (and have fun while doing it). From various arts and crafts to simple, playful activities that’ll help the two of you let out your inner child, here are some creative date ideas to consider:
- Have a paint night. Break out the wine and acrylic paints at home—or go to a paint ’n sip event hosted elsewhere.
- Fill out a coloring book. If you need a little more structure for your artwork, split a box of crayons with your date and chat while filling in the coloring book.
- Make a scrapbook. Artfully arrange all the photos you’ve taken together and other small mementos in a scrapbook; you can reminisce while you work!
- Play with animals at the shelter. Plenty of shelters will let you play with the animals for a bit—or, if you’re ready for it, the two of you could even agree to foster one.
- Study a language. Pick a language you’re both interested in and use an app or workbook to start learning together!
- Make something with clay. It’s that simple—just split some clay (air-drying is fine if you don’t want to bake it) and make whatever comes to your imagination.
- Have an early, fancy brunch . Beat the crowds and go to a first-rate brunch restaurant where you can dress up a little, drink mimosas, and eat a lot of pancakes.
- Cuddle up in a pillow fort. Make a pillow fort right in your living room and hang out in there, watching movies or TV, playing games, or just chatting.
- Practice mixology. Learn to mix your favorite drinks together, or try inventing your own original concoctions.
- Trade mix CDs. If CDs are too retro for you, playlists work, too. The point is to share your music with one another!
- Redecorate a room. Find new decor for a room of your choice, rearrange the furniture, and see what kind of cool makeover you can come up with together.
- Tour an art gallery. If you want a more cultured sort of date, walk around an art gallery (or visit other specialty shops you’re interested in).
Adventurous Date Ideas
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Bringing some adventure to a relationship is easier than you might think! For instance, relationship coach Nicole Moor suggests signing up for a group activity that neither you nor your partner is skilled in. “Learning a new skill together, like dancing, cooking, or a sport, can be a great way to inject fun and adventure into your relationship." [2] X Expert Source Nicole Moore
Love & Relationship Coach Expert Interview Of course, there are plenty of other adventurous activities, too; for instance:- Go roller skating. Embrace the retro and meet up with your date at a roller rink for some skating. And don’t worry if you aren’t the best skater; it’s about the fun (and the great music)!
- Go rock climbing. Find a gym with a rock climbing wall and spend an afternoon braving the height together.
- Play (glow in the dark) mini golf. Regular mini golf is always fun, and glow-in-the-dark mini golf gives it that extra-memorable edge.
- Learn paddleboarding. Stand-up paddleboarding is a relaxing water activity (if you’re looking for something less rigorous than jet skiing or surfing).
- Go geocaching. This is a fun activity where you can use your phone to find little caches hidden by others; just download the Geocaching app and start exploring with your date!
- Do some hiking. Find a nice trail and get lost in nature for a couple of hours! Plus, you can pick an easier or more strenuous trail, depending on the type of hike you want.
- Go-kart racing. Go-kart racing is a super fun, no-stress activity where you and your date can drive around like a couple of crazy kids and just enjoy yourselves!
- Go skiing. If you’re going on a winter date, try skiing with your partner! Ride the ski lift, zoom down slopes, and snuggle with hot chocolate when you’re done.
- Solve an escape room. See if you and your date can break out of the room by solving each puzzle. And, whether you win or lose, you can go out for ice cream after.
- Go surfing. Take a surfing lesson together and learn how to ride those waves!
- Do a rollercoaster crawl. No, not just one rollercoaster. Find the gnarliest rollercoasters at an amusement park and try them out, one by one.
- Go indoor skydiving. Is actual skydiving a big “no” for you? That’s totally fair. A safer option is indoor skydiving—and you can still enjoy the sensation of skydiving with your date.
- Go nuts in a rage room. Ever heard of a rage room, or a “wreck” room? You get to absolutely trash a room full of old, unwanted stuff with hammers. What’s more adventurous than a date with wreckage and hammers?
- Go zip-lining. You can get a fabulous adrenaline rush while zooming across a zipline with your date.
- Play laser tag. Who says laser tag is just for kids? Team up with your date to tag the competition—or compete with one another. Either way, it’s guaranteed fun.
Cute Date Ideas
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Finally, we’ve got some super sweet date ideas—perfect when you want to be extra romantic or get sappy with your significant other (while still doing things that are a little more outside-of-the-box than just dinner or a movie). If cute is the goal, consider one of the following suggestions:
- See a drive-in movie. It’s more memorable than a regular old theater, and you can cuddle in the car while you watch.
- Have a spa day for two. Get a relaxing couple’s massage, or a whole series of spa treatments if you have the means.
- Go on a dinner cruise. Eating good food while watching the sun set over the water is such a romantic date experience!
- Write love letters. Exchange them right there or mail them to one another; love letters can be amazing romantic mementos to hold onto.
- Go camping. Or “glamping,” if you need a few luxuries and a more substantial shelter.
- Plan a vacation. Sit down together and pick out a place to visit, a time frame, and what activities you’ll do there.
- Visit a local market. If there’s a farmer’s market near you, head over and see what goodies you and your date can find. Maybe you can even get ingredients for a meal you cook together!
- Stroll through a botanical garden. It’s a classic date for a reason! Botanical gardens are gorgeous, and you can have a leisurely stroll with your partner.
- Go stargazing. You can even download a constellation app to help you identify the different formations you spot.
- Recreate the first date. If you’ve been together a while, you can turn up the romance by doing everything you did on your first date all over again.
- Try a new food. Pick a dish or type of food neither of you has tried before and compare notes after.
- Go ice skating. Help one another stay upright as you glide across the ice!
- Go bowling. Play a friendly game and find out who the better bowler is.
Cheap & Fun Date Ideas
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Even if you’re on a budget, it’s not hard to put together a fun and memorable date. For instance, Baller suggests finding an outdoor venue. “If the weather's good, I'll go for a walk to either a park or a beach because it's better that way. You don't have to spend any money, and you're outdoors, and it's a good way to talk to somebody new, it's comfortable,” Baller adds. [3] X Expert Source Eddy Baller
Dating Coach Expert Interview Here are a few more suggestions:- Have a park picnic. Prepare some easy-to-transport food, grab a blanket, and relax in a park with your date. It’s easy and simple!
- Have a beach day. If there’s a public beach in the area, grab some towels and snacks and head over. You can bask in the sun, go swimming—even build sandcastles.
- Bake treats at home. Try picking a recipe you’ve never used before, or bake treats for one another to sample. The end result will be delicious!
- Watch the sunrise (or sunset). Whether you’re an early riser or prefer the evening hours, you can share a romantic experience with your date.
- Stream a virtual concert. Enjoy your favorite performers at home by streaming a performance and watching from the couch.
- Go looking for photo booths. Take as many photo strips together (with different cute, silly, and happy poses) at each photo booth you find.
- Train for a race. Sign up for a race together (like a 5k, for instance) and then use your dates to train, going on runs and tracking your progress.
- Make a relationship time capsule. Put a few mementos of your relationship in a box or similar container, and stash it somewhere. You can open it up years from now and look back on it fondly!
- Have a sugar treat feast. Go to a convenience store and get all the sugary snacks you know are junk food, but love anyway. Then, sit down to a junk food feast with your date!
- Read your favorite books. One of you can read a few chapters of a book out loud to the other; when you’re done reading, you can discuss your thoughts on the book.
- Have a photography competition. Wander around town and try to take the most artistic or interesting photos—and see who snapped the best pictures after.
- Pick a new show to binge. And then spend all day binging together!
- Have fun at a playground. Bring back a little bit of your childhoods by goofing off on a playground together.
Funny Date Ideas at Home
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If you’re more of a homebody, that’s no problem; you can still have lots of fun with a date without actually going out . Plus, hanging at home gives you more privacy—so you can talk freely and focus totally on one another. For your next at-home date, consider trying any of these amusing activities:
- Play Chopped at home. As in, pretend you’re on the reality cooking show Chopped and compete to put together the best-tasting dishes with a weird combination of ingredients.
- Watch funny YouTube videos. Show your date all of your favorite goofy videos, and watch theirs, too. Treat it like a movie-watching experience with popcorn and candy!
- Make tie-dye shirts together. You could try for matching shirts, make shifts for one another, or just make the wackiest shirt possible. No matter what, it’ll be a fun day.
- Paint each other in different art styles. Can you paint your date in the style of Picasso? Van Gogh? Even if you can’t paint, the results will be entertaining.
- Do DIY science experiments. Can you and your date craft slime or a homemade volcano? Do some elementary school-level experiments (and bond over any silly mishaps).
- Invent new constellations. And name them all after inside jokes you and your partner share! This puts a silly spin on good, old stargazing—it’s both fun and romantic.
- Have an eBay contest. Post similar items for sale and see who can advertise best (ie, sell their item the fastest). Or, see who can find the coolest thing for sale on eBay!
- Play a co-op video game. Pick something you can do with two players—like Mario Party or Overcooked , for example. You’ll have a blast!
- Put on a show-and-tell game. Yes, the kind of show and tell you’d do in kindergarten. Present different objects with special significance—things your partner has never seen before.
- Make DIY slingshots. Then, use them to have a marshmallow fight! May the best slingshotter enjoy a delicious victory.
Unusual First Date Ideas
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First dates can be really anxiety-inducing; after all, you’ve never been out with this person before (at least in a romantic sense), and you want things to go well. “I tend to find that the more casual, the better,” relationship coach Candice Mostisser advises. “You really do want it to be lighthearted, easy, and no stress. You can get out of there quickly if you're both not feeling it.” [4] X Expert Source Candice Mostisser
Dating Coach Expert Interview For example:- Look through a flea market. See what hidden treasures you and your date can discover as you walk through the market.
- Listen to live music. This could mean finding a public area (a park, for example) with music, or going to a bar that has live music. You can sit back, listen, and chat!
- Grab coffee. Coffee is totally low-key—a great option for a first date.
- Enjoy a trampoline park. If “unusual” is the goal, a trampoline park definitely fits the bill. And it’s a great way to unleash your inner child.
- Go to a bookstore. Talk about your favorite books and browse the shelves together.
- Meet up at a pet cafe. Who knows—it might be easier to get to know one another when adorable puppies or cats are the icebreakers!
- Go to a batting cage. Swing a baseball (or softball) bat around and see who can hit the most balls.
- Grab ice cream. To add an element of fun, try putting together original (and unusual) sundae combinations and sampling them.
- Explore a thrift store. You can get to know one another’s tastes and interests as you browse!
- Play board games. Try a few of your favorite two-player board games to add a little casual competition to the mix.
- Hit up a record shop. Discuss music and your favorite artists, and try to find great deals on records. Plus, if the date goes well, you can listen to the records together after!
- See a play. Dinner and a movie is so overdone—what about drinks and a play instead? If you’re both theater fans, this is the date idea for you.