by Ana Thomas

Created on: November 05, 2010

The obstacles: you don’t have much money, you may not have a car, you may be shy or nervous around the object of your affection, or your folks may give you a hard time about dating.

It’s ok. Here are some activities you can do with a girl or boy you like and want to get to know better. They don’t take much money, you can travel on the bus or bikes, and they don’t sound like typical “dates” that will get your parents all worked up.

1. Take street photography.  Tell your date you are interested in street photography (you can Google it for some good samples if you are unfamiliar with it) but you want to go out with a partner.  Go to an interesting neighborhood in your area and shoot for a while.  Afterwards you can download your shots and sort through them to find the best ones.  The pros: you can take some shots of your date and tell them how photogenic they are (don’t overdo it though, your focus is on shooting great street scenes, remember?), also you can sit close together at a computer screen later to look at the shots. This is an activity pretty much anyone can do.

2. Each of you rents a favorite movie that the other person hasn’t seen yet, and you get together to watch them. 

3. Get together to play a consol game together. The pros: you will have an activity to do in case you are nervous around your date and can’t think of what to say at every moment. Of course, remember not to get too involved in the game and to give your date some attention too. If your date loses every game, switch to another or play on an easier setting.  You could use this situation to place a fun wager on the outcome. If I win I get to… if you win you can…

4. Go to a bookstore.  The pros: This gives you a chance to wander around and share opinions about what you see. A lot of good conversation starters here. Who is your favorite author? Favorite book? You could each buy the other person’s favorite. Large bookstores often have cafes where you could sit and talk for a while.

5. Bake cookies together. Tell your date you need to bake cookies for some sort of an event, and would they like to come over and help?

6.  Pretend to be someone else. Go to the mall and choose one outfit for your date to try on (make a pack that this is for fun only, and not to buy anything). This might not be a good idea if your date is sensitive about his or her weight. Choose an outfit that is unusual, fun, not something you would wear to school every day (like a goth outfit, or a fancy dress).

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