• Speed-Dating Coffee Break! Meet at a coffee shop close to your house, turn off all electronics, and start your 15-minute timer. Choose to fill the time asking each other questions, OR in complete silence. See how different 15 minutes go by in each scenario.
  • Dollar Store Dealin'! If you have a dollar store within 5-10 minutes of your house, head over with either $5 or $10 in your pocket. The goal? Come up with the most creative gift for one another, and half the fun is you get to set a ten-minute timer! (Once you’ve tried this a couple times, you can get extra fun by setting a theme (i.e. vacation, pampering, etc.).
  • Dessert in bed. Forget breakfast in bed, try dessert in bed! One plate or container, two spoons!
  • Paper Airplane War! Spend ten minutes building your fleet, ten rearranging tables, chairs, stools, etc. Take your positions and ready-set-launch! Set up targets for extra fun!
  • Trip Down Memory Lane. Discuss memories from each year of your life. Plan this date head of time and agree you’ll each show up with some sort of prop, (i.e. a photo, ticket stub, memorabilia from a past vacation, postcard, sample of a fave food or drink, a CD with a song that holds significance, etc…)
  • Tackle a jigsaw puzzle with a 30-minute timer!
  • Make a YouTube Video. Title it, “What you didn’t know about us.” Decide after whom you’ll share the link with.
  • Play an old-fashioned game of checkers or chess!
  • Attempt to solve a Rubik's Cube. (Hint, you may have to adjust your goal to solve one side of the Rubik's cube.)
  • Balloon Tennis! All this needs is one balloon, some masking tape, and 30 minutes! Divide the room in half with masking tape. Your hand is the racket, the balloon is the ball!
  • Interview Your Past Self. Ask Each Other Questions as if you were a previous age (i.e. ten years old, fifteen, twenty, etc.). You must answer as your former self! For age ten: What was your favorite after-school snack? What do you remember about your fifth-grade teacher? What’s a family tradition or ritual that you remember about this time of your life? Did you do any after-school activities? Which ones did you enjoy? Tell me about any pets or special toys/stuffed animals you had when you were ten. Tell me about your neighbors. Who were your closest friends? What movies or shows did you enjoy watching? For age fifteen: What do you remember most about being15? What was your favorite subject in school? Did you play any sports or do any activities? Tell me about your neighborhood— the look of it, the smell, etc. What was your favorite thing to eat? Who were your closest friends? What did your family let you do by yourself? For age twenty: What do you remember most about the age of 20? What did you think you wanted to do for a career when you were 20? What new freedom were you exploring at this age? Who was the most interesting person in your life at this age? Where were you living? Tell me about the city you were living in— any special spots where you liked to hang out? What did you and your friends do for fun?
  • Interview Your Future Self (Same idea as above, but in the future) What will be your biggest accomplishment in your life? How will you change the world? Who will you list as the three most influential people in your life? What will be the biggest world event to happen in your lifetime? In your lifetime, what will you see change the most about the world? The planet? Our culture? Will you choose to live in a city or a rural area? Why or why not? Will you have children? Why or why not? If you already have children, what will be the most important things you teach them?
  • Full moons occur roughly about every 29 to 30 days. If getting away for your dates is made difficult because of caretaking or parenting duties, set these specific days aside for you to stop and gaze together at something magical, at a time of day when there’s typically a little more room to make it possible. Yeah, it’s late, but that’s what tends to safeguard it. Just stop and quietly be with one another. Step outside just far enough to hopefully be able to view its glory. Even if it’s impossible to see, stand outside with one another, keeping each other warm in a good hug. Dance. Rock back and forth. Whatever adds to the magic. You can find the actual dates so you don’t miss it on the internet.
  • Choose one room in your castle, and spend 15 minutes either physically decluttering it, and placing things to IT'S OUT’TA HERE bags, or making a written list of things that you could or should let go of. Then, use your last 15 minutes celebrating your victory over STUFF. Have a treat ready, and give yourselves some pats on the back (or, better phrased, some backrubs). Even if it’s just a few things going out the door, that’s a little more room, and that’s never a bad thing.
  • Speed-Dating Coffee Break! Meet at a coffee shop close to your house, turn off all electronics, and start your 15-minute timer. Choose to fill the time asking each other questions, OR in complete silence. See how different 15 minutes go by in each scenario.