It’s Summer – Time to Get Creative On Your Dates!
By David Wygant

So with the weatherall toasty hot, it’s time for you to change your whole attitude on where to go and what to do on a date. Forget about the old standbys of dinner, drinks or a movie. They’re boring . . . and we also need to save those things for those cold winter months when we’re stuck with planning indoor-type dates.

It’s time to think summer dates, so let me get you started with some suggestions. These are not only going to be fun and different, but they will give both of you lots to talk about while you’re doing them. Here are 8 great summer date ideas to try:

1. Take A Cooking Class Together. Cooking is fun. Not only that, but doing things together – like chopping the vegetables or playing with the meat – can be a very sensual experience. This is a great way to share something with someone . . . whether your joint culinary effort results in something edible or not. Doing something fun like this on a date creates lasting memories, and this is definitely the kind of date you can joke about with each other for a long time.

2. Take A Trip To Target. Another date that I like I call “The Target Date.” What I like to do is ask a woman to go out for a drink, but then I tell her that I need to run an errand and pick something up at Target before we go. Most people enjoy going to Target – it’s a lot of fun to roam around there. When we get to Target, I’ll grab my basket and say “You know what? Let’s play a fun game. I feel really generous today, and I’m willing to buy you anything you want in the store that costs $1.29. But here’s the catch. It has to cost exactly $1.29. You can’t have three extra cents if it costs $1.32 and you can’t cheat yourself out of three cents by picking something that costs $1.26.” Then what you do is conduct your own scavenger hunt inside Target. You’ll see her looking around and start filling her basket with things that cost $1.29 while she debates which thing she wants. What happens here is you create a fun and very interactive date. Not only that, but you will create memories that will last a long time because it’s different.

3. Check Out Your Local Farmers Market. A date I love to do when when the weather starts getting warm is to ask a woman to go do some food sampling at a Farmers Market. You walk around together, check out all the different stands, and start sampling the food. You can sample some of the wine there together. Start sampling different kinds of vegetables. Sample the fruit and decide which one is each other’s favorite. It’s fun. It’s an active date. It’s also different and something you don’t do very often.

4. Cruise For Barbecues. Another fun date I like is to drive around your neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon or early evening, and start sniffing for barbecues. Your goal: to crash a barbecue. Find one where you see a bunch of cars parked near the house. Then you both walk around together to the backyard, and see which of you is exposed first as the “barbecue crasher.” It’s a lot of fun. On one date where I did this, we both made up stories about how we knew “the cousins.” We were both eventually found out, but the funny thing was that people really didn’t care. A lot of people at barbecues are strangers anyway that were invited by a guest. On another barbecue-crashing date, I actually didn’t get caught the entire night until the very end when the host thanked me for coming then looked at me and said “. . . but who are you??”

5. Have A Different Kind Of Picnic. Everybody does a picnic in the park. Here is a great twist on this old favorite. Tell your date that you are going to go have a picnic. When you get in the car, however, just take a quick ten minute drive around the block and park back at your place. Then go up on the roof. When they say “But I thought we were going to have a picnic,” you say “We are . . . we’re going to have a picnic on the roof.” Hopefully your house or your building has roof that’s high enough that you’ll have a great view of your city. Doing this will be different and unique. Instead of being in the middle of a park with kids running around and having to search the park for “that perfect spot,” do something close to home and head to the roof! This is a new way of rediscovering where you live and seeing things from a completely different perspective.

6. Relive Your Childhood. A really fun idea is to bring your date into a “kid moment.” Ask them “What is one of your favorite things you used to do when you were a kid?” If, for example, the person says they used to love to draw. Tell them “I don’t care how well you draw, I know you like to doodle so we’re going on a field trip.” There’s a lot of fun little stores nowadays (I think one of them is called “Color Me Mine”) where you can take your choice of pottery and paint it as many colors as you want. Then you can come back a week later after they’ve “cooked” it for you. Guess what? This ensures a second date because you both have to go back there to pick up your little art pieces. Then you can compare how your pieces turned out. How much fun would it be to share a kiddy moment with your potential significant other?

7. Be A Photographer. Try going on a date walking around your city like tourists – except don’t do the “tourist thing” and pretend you’re visiting. Instead, do it like you are a photographer and a model. One of you can be the photographer and the other can be the model. You can then switch roles, or even split the roles if you want. Have you each choose five spots you think would be fun to take a picture of the other. Then run all around the city just like a model and a photographer looking for the next best spot. You’ll be surprised at how fun it is. Not only do you get to explore new areas of the city, but it will really push you to be super spontaneous . . . and nothing is more fun than when you’re each trying to figure thing out, trying new things and trying to come up with things on the spot. The fact that nothing is planned is what makes a date like this exciting.

8. Arrange A Scavenger Hunt. This date brings in the spontaneity ingredient I talked about above. So, go out and explore your city except instead of taking pictures you make it a scavenger hunt. This is a great idea in particular if you are the man making the plans. It’s intriguing. First tell her to dress a certain way and to meet you at a certain place. For instance, you could call her or send her a text message saying “Hey, meet me at 3:30 pm at the park wearing sneakers.” Once she gets there, you can leave a little gift or note for her and then tell her where to go or what to do next. By the time she comes to see you, she’s going to be happy because you’ve led her to multiple experiences all in one date. This is a great way to use imagination and engage her desire to be playful with you. Trust me, she’ll love the fact that you’ve been so creative (because likely no one else has done that for her!).

The good thing about non-traditional dates like these is that it gives you the opportunity to engage your senses. It could be your sense of smell, your sense of hearing or your sense of taste. It’s bringing those into a date that makes a date fun and memorable.

Also, the more senses you can bring into your date is more opportunities where you can develop a connection with your date (whether emotionally, physically or sensually). To the guys, remember that by stimulating a woman’s senses you are also stimulating her mind. This will make a woman more attracted to you just by being around you.

These are all fantastic ideas for dates because, don’t forget, more than anything else a date is supposed to be fun! A date is not meant to consist of just sitting across from each other at a dinner table exchanging resumes, watching each other chew, and making decisions about each other.

Activity dates are always a lot more fun, a lot less pressure-filled and something that I always recommend. So try out these ideas, or get creative and think of some great creative dates to enjoy this summer!

Now I know I missed some good ones so please share some of your favorites!