Love and relationships are often compared to a garden. If you care to look deeper you would understand why.
Both need constant nurturing and care to grow well and flourish. You need to put in time and effort into both to make it look nice and beautiful. If you ignore it or don’t give it enough attention, it may survive for a while, growing haphazardly, overgrown with unwanted weeds, and looking unkempt and shabby.
So, how can you ensure that your relationship is in good health, blossoming and thriving beautifully? What kind of care and attention does a relationship need for it to be healthy and long-lasting?
This article takes you through some couples’ therapy exercises that are fun and enjoyable. These fun couples’ activities are designed to keep the romance, excitement, and fun elements intact in the relationship, as it can fall into a rut as years pass by.
9 fun relationship-building activities
When you started your journey together, every moment was fun-filled and exciting. The more you learned about each other, you both discovered more and more things to do together. The going was great for some time until there was nothing more left to discover. This is when you settle down into a pattern that is comfortable for both.
All goes well but now the excitement and fun of discovery are long gone. As you turn your attention to the daily routine, the relationship gets stuck in a rut. You still love each other and there are no conflicts but cheer, enthusiasm, and vitality have vanished.
At this stage, you can bring back liveliness in the relationship with such fun activities. On the other hand, if you do nothing and let it slide, things may take a turn for the worse sooner rather than later.
Relations-building activities can also help partners to reenergize themselves as individuals. This is a win-win situation. So, what are you waiting for? Take your pick and get going.
1. Go on a date night
Though there is nothing new in this, it can still be fun. A typical dinner-movie outing alone can bring back the happy memories of your early days together. It will also be a time to relax and spend time together.
You can have such dates spontaneously or planned in advance. For couples with kids, this may not be possible without planning. You can induce some spontaneity in the proceedings by adding unplanned activities as long as both partners are comfortable with them and enjoying them.
If both of you can spare the time, you can plan to have lunch together on a working day. This may not sound so much like a fun activity but doing anything out of routine can be a welcome change and so enjoyable.
2. Watch movies or TV at home
Again, not very exciting per se but at this point in life, anything that breaks the monotony of daily routine is most welcome.
Choose something agreeable for both. Order in food or heat a TV dinner. It doesn’t matter. Don’t spend the precious time doing the same old chores. Just sit down together and click the play button and relax.
If both of you are waiting for an opportunity to watch the new TV series, this is the best time to binge-watch it. The evening will offer you some happy memories. Moreover, the time together will help in strengthening your bond.
3. Pack your bags and take a trip
This can be a short one for the weekend or a longer and planned one. If your commitments prevent you from taking longer vacations, you can always opt for short 2-3 day trips whenever you can find the time.
Again, breaking the routine can be such an invigorating and fun experience. As much as the trip, planning it is also as enjoyable. Make sure that everything about the trip is discussed and decided. When one partner does all the planning and makes all decisions, this can create more harm than good.
4. Play games
This may sound too childish for couples but this kind of activity can awaken the child in you and enjoy it as only a child can. You may choose any game as long as it is enjoyable to both. You may stick to old-fashioned card games, board games, or puzzles. Or if you both are avid gamers, you can plan an evening exclusively for gaming.
Playing games allows you to show your partner the competitive side of yours. This will be a fun-filled activity that will remain in your memories for a long time.
5. Exercise together
You can make working out more enjoyable by teaming up with your partner. Whether taking long walks, jogging, yoga, aerobics, or in the gym, doing it together can take the tediousness out of it. Moreover, it will allow you to get to know each other better and spend more time together.
Couples exercising together is highly recommended as they can motivate each other. And, having a healthy and fit body can have a positive impact on your sex life as well.
6. Cook up a storm
If you have not tried this yet, you should. Even if you are not a great cook, you can still find recipes to suit your skill level. Sharing the kitchen work and working together to make something can help you relate to each other better. You can follow this up with a quiet dinner for just you.
Even if the dish you cooked did not turn out well, your time together will be enjoyable and well spent. If both of you are keen on learning the art of cooking, you can enroll in a cooking class together.
7. Go for a couples’ massage
If you are both into spa treatments, this is the right choice for you. All you need to do is find time for it and book an appointment. The massage can help you relax and at the same time bring you together.
If you are not keen on getting a massage from a spa, you can do it by yourself at home. Even if you are not an expert masseur, you can try giving just hand or foot massages to each other.
8. Decorate the home or just a room
If you have the time to spare, you can plan big. You can consider redoing the entire house. Or else stick to one room at a time. Be careful not to add more stress by taking on more work than you can handle.
Based on your interests and skill set, you can make plans to make furniture, make new curtains, or even items of decor. Or you can just do the painting work.
9. Go off the beaten track
If you are not interested in the usual activities, why not try newer and innovative activities. Wherever you are living, the internet can provide you with enough information to find what you are looking for. You may even find like-minded couples to team up with for these escapades.
Concluding thoughts
Renew your vows, visit your ancestral homes, go trekking or skydiving, try your hand at scuba diving or river rafting – there is no dearth of fun couples’ activities for you to choose from. When attempted alone these are exciting enough. If done together, it can raise the level of fun and excitement sky high.
Before you explore these fun activities, you can improve your rapport through simple communication exercises and connection exercises. This is more important if you are in a distance relationship.
All of these activities have therapeutic value in a healthy relationship. Putting yourself in an unfamiliar situation with your partner is the best therapy exercise of them all.
Keep the romance alive with these fun and creative exercises for couples. They’re great to do regularly to keep the fire alive. Check out these couples communication worksheets to try with your partner.