Winter date night jar: thirty cosy ideas to fill together

Why winter suits a date night jar

In summer the plan makes itself: a picnic, a long walk, a table outside. In winter the choices shrink to the sofa unless someone has an idea ready. A jar keeps ideas ready. It also shares the planning, because both of you add to it, and neither of you is the one always suggesting something.

The fill levels matter too. Each jar goes from 0 to 5, so you see not just what you both like but how much. A film night that is a 4 for one of you and a 2 for the other is a fair compromise, and the jars at 5 for both of you are the dates to book first.

Thirty ideas, sorted by how far you travel

• Stay in (10): fondue night, a blanket-fort film, cook a stew together, bake bread from scratch, a candlelit board game, a puzzle with tea, homemade pizza night, a living-room picnic, a hot chocolate tasting, read aloud to each other.
• Out in the cold (10): a snow walk, ice skating, a winter market, stargazing in coats, a frosty-morning café stop, a sledge hill, a lights trail after dark, a swim and a sauna, a bonfire or fire pit, a bracing coastal walk.
• Little gestures (10): warm the towels, a flask of tea for the walk, a handwritten note in a coat pocket, a fireside playlist, matching wool socks, breakfast in bed, a scraped-clear car, a bath run before they get home, an evening with the photo album, a plan for the first spring weekend.

Pick eight to twenty for your shelf. The maker holds up to twenty jars, and the winter preset starts you with twelve of the ones above.

Fill the shelf, then print it as slips

Open the winter dates preset and fill each jar separately, without peeking. Tap a jar to raise its level, add one or two jars that belong to the two of you, and compare shelves when you are both done.

Then print the slips. Choose favourites and only the jars you both filled to 3 or more become slips. Pick a medium or large size, A4 or Letter, cut along the marks, fold each slip once and drop it in a real jar. Choose ink-saver if you would like outlines only.

How to run the evening

• Pull a slip on Thursday. The plan is known, so there is something to look forward to.
• Take turns hosting. The person who did not pull the slip does the setup: candles, snacks, playlist.
• Keep the phone away. Put both on a shelf for the first hour.
• Colour the jar in. After each date, raise the level on the shelf. By spring you can see which dates you loved most.

Keep the jar going until spring

Top the jar up as you go. When a date goes well, add a spin-off slip; when one flops, take it out. At the end of winter, photograph your shelf and keep it. Next November, start from the jars that finished fullest. If you want more ideas for two, there are forty couples jar ideas, and for the weeks before the holidays an advent activity jar.