Under our coffee table is stashed our collection of board games, which we’ve been collecting since the early days of our marriage. We’ve got chess, Cranium, Scattergories, Yahtzee, Clue, to name a few. Since we don’t have a television, when we find ourselves with an evening and nothing to do, we turn to this little spot for some good, old-fashioned fun-in-a-box.
The other night, we pulled out Scrabble and went at it, flexing our brains and our spelling to crank out words like “jetty” and “guild” until we emptied the bag of letters.
It was a delightful way to end the night, and as I put all the wooden letters back into the bag and folded up the game board, it made me wonder how other couples spend their free time, without turning on the TV or breaking the bank?
So, I’m curious… What are some ways you make use of a free evening, that doesn’t involve television? And if you have any good two-player games to suggest, I’d love to hear your recommendations. (Because you can only play Scrabble so many times!)
Update: I'd encourage you, if you haven't already, to check out the comments that readers have posted about their favorite boardgames and some other unique date ideas. You guys have some great recommendations and ideas! Can't wait to give them a try!
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Ahhh i love scrabble- this is a big thing in my family!!! Also boggle- great for 2:) And card games are always fun
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I often play board games - our current favourite is Carcassonne, which I highly recommend. Khet (or laser chess as it's sometimes known) is also good fun, as is the card game Uno. If you like Scrabble a word game called Bananagrams is also brilliant. I agree with Charissa that Boggle is a great game :) Happy playing!
ReplyDeleteWe will often go for walks or hikes or just drive-we just pick a road or nearby town and just drive.
ReplyDeleteI keep an eye out for Groupons and Living Social deals so we can get cheaper admission to museums or cheaper meals or other local events (we bought one and went to a corn maze a couple of weeks ago).
We also like to read together. We read the entire Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games trilogy, and many others. We'll take turns reading aloud.
Sometimes we'll cook or bake together. Paul will usually pull out the ingredients and put them back while I measure and mix.
I also order the free travel guides for our state and city. We try to pick some places that sound interesting (usually parks and outdoor places) and check them out when we have a day together. It's also a great place to look for any festivals or other free events that are going on. I am a big fan of being a local tourist (especially on a low or non-existent budget) and just exploring your neighborhood. I love going for walks or heading downtown with a certain theme in mind-like signs or letters or people or cars or doors-it's a great way to get you aware of your surroundings in a new and fresh way. It helps you notice things you've never "seen" before. :-) Your library may have books about local tourism as well.
We try to keep a state parks pass (and I asked for a national parks pass for my birthday this year as well), so we don't have to worry about entrance fees for a year (we save up so we can purchase it to ultimately save money). We'll go and walk the trails or have a picnic or whatever. Disc golf is fun if there's a course near you, but you can play without a course as well.
We also love games. Our current favorites are Ticket to Ride and Tsuro. My parents also have Ticket to Ride and (since they're older and retired) will play three or four games a day sometimes! :-) We also love card games-Skip Bo, Phase 10, and Target are a few favorites.
We LOVE playing Scrabble :) I come from a big game-playing family, and Matt didn't realize that Scrabble could be competitive ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen we want to steer clear of technology for a night, we'll usually play games (Scrabble, Boggle, Bananagrams, Set, and Bohnanza are some of our favs!), do puzzles, or craft! Yep, my hubby likes to craft with me :)
Thank you so, so much for all your suggestions and new board game recommendations. I have not heard of a lot of them (although Boggle is another favorite around here!!), so I think this might be the beginning of this year's Christmas list :)
ReplyDeleteSpecial thanks to barrentree for all the date ideas! Those are really clever and I like the idea of requesting travel guides to nearby towns to check out. I think I'm going to forward these on to the hubs as a hint-hint! ;)
Wow, you don't have a TV? I have to give you props! My husband and I didn't have one until we'd been married 2 years, and even then only acquired one because it was given as a gift. We still don't actually get any channels and only use it to watch the occasional movie.
ReplyDeleteOk, games. We like Monopoly, Ticket to Ride (our favorite), and many card games like Cribbage or Book-n-Runs (which is kind of like Phase10). We also like to sit outside on nice evenings and enjoy the nocturnal noises, light a fire in the fire-pit (weather and burn bans permitting). We also spend time reading novels out loud to each other (when we can find one we'd both like to read!).
Thanks for the game suggestions, Megan. I haven't heard of a lot of those! I also love the idea of reading out loud. That seems perfect for the winter nights that will be soon upon us!
ReplyDeleteI love scrabble. My husband gave it to me for our first Christmas after we started dating. We also love the card game, Skip-Bo.
ReplyDeletehi, we love scrabble too! but we do love to play monopoly deal, its a card game and so much fun even for just two people.
ReplyDeletewhile we have a tv, we don't have cable so we don't watch much. the best evenings we spend are the ones just sitting outside talking under the stars. those are the best.
we do have a tv, but we don't have cable. we like to watch movies together a lot. when we were dating, our favorite thing used to be to go to blockbuster and rent a movie together after class at night and then curl up on the couch. so we still do that.
ReplyDeletewe also like to take the dogs for late night walks around our neighborhood. or we'll go to mcdonalds or chickfila and get a cheap ice cream and then sit in the car and eat it and talk. sometimes we go to goodwill together, which is always fun because you can find some interesting things there! we don't play a ton of board games simply because i LOVE them but my husband isn't a huge fan. we sit out on the porch a good bit and talk.
we often try to do as many household things together as possible on the evenings we don't have a ton of free time. we'll do dishes and cook together. or if there's a ton of laundry for me to do, nate will come upstairs and do his work in the bedroom with me while i do the laundry.
love all the other ideas! might have to steal some! :)
Our community has self-guided historical walking tours. It allows us to go for a walk around the city and learn more about the history! These booklets are available at the local museum. As for games, our favourite card game is Dutch Blitz. We also enjoy geocaching together as a couple.
ReplyDeleteI grew up around Scrabble – my mom would play it when she got around friends and family, and they let me play every so often..that is why when i grew up i bring along my travel scrabble with me..
ReplyDelete2 letter scrabble words