100 ideas for creative play dates

We all need more play in our lives.

Rest and play help us work better, be more productive, think more creatively. But even if it didn't do any of these things, a life without play is also a life low on joy and laughter.

We're all overloaded with work, chores, the endless to-do lists, the things we feel you should or must get done before we take a break. Taking some time away from all that helps you see what's really important, and what's busywork. And I'm talking about a real break, not just numbing out with scrolling, surfing, or slumping in front of computer and TV screens.

But even if you are convinced, you might have forgotten how to be playful. If you're ready to take a play date but not sure where to begin, here are 100 ideas to get you going. Choose the ones that resonate most with you, the ones that are easy for you to do.

You're building a new habit here: of scheduling in regular play, of taking time out to follow the fun. Do it every week, and magic will happen.

100 play dates for busy creatives

1. Take a trip to the seaside.

2. Do something you haven’t done since you were a kid. Go down a slide in an empty playground. Go to a waterpark. Draw with crayons. Use glitter. Pretend to be an airplane, or a horse.

3. Go to the circus. Or learn a circus skill.

4. What’s your favourite food? When did you last eat it? Go and enjoy it. Eat it slowly, engaging all of your senses and savouring every bite.

5. Go see some live music.

6. Walk barefoot on grass.

7. Go to a gallery, choose a painting or artwork. Sit and really look at it, for at least an hour. This is really challenging – you’ll get really fidgety after 10-15 minutes – but so rewarding. Look hard, and you’ll keep noticing new details.

8. Go to the funfair, or to a theme park. Take the scary rides.

9. Visit a garden. Or create one.

10. Go wild swimming in a river, lake or the sea.

Go back to childhood

11. Is there an activity you always wanted to try, as a child, but you weren't allowed, or didn't have the resources? Do it now.

12. Go on a treasure hunt: charity shops, vintage stores, pound shops, boot sales, jumble sales. What can you find?

13. Eat a mango. In the bath, so that it doesn’t matter when the juices run everywhere.

14. Get out your favourite outfit, the one you save for best. Wear it, for no reason except it makes you feel great.

15. Have a massage, or some other sort of body treatment you don't usually have.

16. Go see some live comedy. Or watch a recording at home.

17. Sing.

18. Dance.

19. Hire a bike, rollerskates, a rowing boat, a scooter, a body board for an hour or two. Enjoy.

20. Take a walk in the woods.

21. Imagine you meet a tourist visiting your area for the first time. What would you recommend they go see? When did you last go there?

22. Walk or drive somewhere you often go. But take a completely different route. Do you motice anything new?

23. Get a manicure, a pedicure, a wet shave, or some other treatment that feels indulgent. Or do it yourself at home, carefully and lovingly, making it as pampering as possible.

24. Dig out a playlist or music compilation you loved in your teens. Listen and sing or dance along.

25. Ask five friends whose taste you trust to recommend something they loved or found interesting, that they think you might like too. A film. An album. A book. A talk. A show. Or anything else they found fun or stimulating. Then try them.

26. Have coffee and cake in a cafe you like. Or a drink in a pub, bar, restaurant. Take a good book, your journal, your sketchbook. Make this last at least an hour.

27. Dress up, and go to the lobby of the grandest, hippest, most interesting hotel you can get to. Take a book or newspaper to use as a prop. But really, you’re people-watching. Make up stories about them, if you want to. Who is the spy? Who is the tech billionaire? Who hates their job? Who is having an illict affair?

28. Go to a museum, show, talk or display about something you’d never normally be interested in. Try and find something fascinating there.

29. Make a list of all the places near to you that you’ve been meaning to visit. Shops. Gardens. Attractions. Old churches. Walks. Cafes. Anything. Then go to them, one by one.

Be an explorer

30. Go somewhere new, and record what you find. But use a medium that isn’t your own. A writer might take photographs. A designer might sing about it, or create a playlist. An artist might write down their impressions. A musician might draw it.

31. Say yes to everything for an hour, or even a day. (Avoid salespeople. You probably don’t want to buy a car, a house, or anything life-changing while you’re playing with this!)

32. Or say no. And see what happens in the space you create for yourself.

33. Choose an ugly corner or your home, workshop, office. The place where clutter collects. Over a few play dates, turn it into something beautiful. Buy a plant to put there. A candle, some art, or some second-hand furniture. Turn it from an area you avoid to a place of rest, inspiration, joy.

34. Read. Not something you feel you ought to read, but something you want to read, something you can escape into. For me, that’s crime thrillers. What is it for you?

35. When and where were you happiest? Or when were you last truly happy? Is there any part of that you could recreate, today?

36. Go for a walk. Use all of your senses. For 10 minutes, concentrate on really seeing everything around you. Then on hearing your environment. Then on feeling: the air on your skin, any other sensations. Then smell and even taste. Optional: finally, tune into your sixth sense. What’s your intuition telling you?

37. Play your favourite music loud. (Use headphones, if you need to.) Dance like no one is looking.

38. Pick a form of movement you’ve never tried before. Salsa dancing. A spin class. Tai-chi. Belly dancing. Circuit training. Yoga. A martial art. Pilates. Water aerobics. Book a class and try it.

39. Learn something new. Go to a cookery class, throw a pot, book a riding lesson, a language lesson, a guided walk or museum tour.

40. If you don’t have a dog, borrow one and go for a long walk. Enjoy taking to the other dog-walkers. And playing with the dog!

41. Think of friends you lost touch with, over the years. Call one of them, or reach out on social media.

42. Make a collage

43. Take a nap. Better still, have a duvet day. Sleep in. Stay in your PJs all day. Read, listen to music. Be absurdly, luxuriously lazy.

44. Take a train ride.

45. List your creative heroes or key influences. If it’s possible without being intrusive, visit their birthplace, their grave, the house or studio where they did their best work. Read some good biographies. Watch a documentary about them, or dig out some old interviews online.

46. List 50 things you love. Now find ways to bring them into your life more often.

47. Change your haircut, your shoes, your makeup. Wear a clothing colour or style you wouldn’t normally wear. Swap an outfit with a friend.

48. Build something.

49. Smile at strangers. Give someone a compliment. Tell a friend or colleague why you appreciate them. See how it feels.

Cultivate wonder

50. Visit a church, temple, mosque or other sacred space. Pray, meditate, or practice awe and wonder.

51. Cook something new.

52. Buy new socks or underwear. Nice ones!

53. Write a letter.

54. Bake a cake. Invite people to tea.

55. Make a scrapbook or photo album.

56. Go on a day-trip.

57. Buy some new houseplants. Plant a window box. Or a pot of bulbs.

58. Collect evidence of your brilliance. Make your own Book of Awesome.

59. Play a sport.

60. Sneak off to the cinema in the afternoon.

61. Think of someone who did something important or wonderful for you, in the past. Write them a thank-you note.

62. Sit on a park bench. Observe.

63. Go to a zoo. A pet shop. An aquarium. Or just spend time with an animal: your pet, or someone else’s.

64. Turn off your phone for an hour. Or a day. Or longer.

65. Create a new ritual, celebration or festival. You know when your birthday is. But do you know when you’re 10,000 days old? Or 20,000? This calculator will tell you. Perhaps you want to celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day? It’d on September 19, since you aaaarrrrsk.) Or a day that means something to you personally? The diarist Samuel Pepys had an annual dinner to celebrate his life-saving kidney stone surgery, for instance.

66. Climb a hill. Or visit a tall building. Enjoy the view.

67. Watch the sunset. Or the dawn.

68. Be a goth for the day. Or a punk, rockabilly, hip hop or jazz fan. Play the music. Wear the clothes.

69. Write a letter to your 13-year-old self.

Do something good

70. Volunteer. At a food bank, in a nature reserve, a charity shop. Whatever appeals.

71. Learn to swim. If you can already swim, try a new stroke.

72. Visit a stationery shop. Choose a beautiful new journal, posh writing paper or a new pen. Then use it.

73. Go to a meditation class. If you struggle to meditate alone, it’s completely different in a room with others.

74. Go to a sauna, Turkish baths or day spa.

75. Fly a kite.

76. Take at least 10 photos of what you see or do on your play date. Share them.

77. Make soup, or a slow-cooked roast or stew that fills your space with mouth-watering smells for hours.

78. Take a frisbee or a ball to a park. Find some people to play with.

79. Take a boat trip.

80. Lay the table for honoured guests, even if no one but you is eating. Put a tablecloth or sheet over it. Use the best plates and glasses. Light candles. Bring some flowers or greenery in. Choose some good music. Serve it with all the ceremony of a Michelin-starred meal, even if it’s just egg on toast.

81. Think of a country you’ve always wanted to visit. Or one you know nothing about. Research it online. Listen to its music. Look at its art, its architecture. Listen to a local radio station. Read some fiction by local authors.

82. Go trampolining.

83. Buy flowers. Or pick some greenery from your garden, or twigs on a walk. Arrange them beautifully.

84. Do some good deeds. Help someone carry their shopping. Let someone have the parking space you were about to take. Give your lunch to a homeless person. (Or better still, take the time to talk to them, and find out what they want or need.) Donate to a good cause. How’s it feel?

85. Go to your bedroom. Imagine you were soon bringing a lover into this room, for the first time. How would you change it? What would you do to make it a restful haven, a sensual space? Now do it.

86. Go foraging. Prepare and eat the wild food you found. (Checking that it's safe, obviously.)

87. Go out in disguise. Wear a hat. Glasses. A wig, if you have one. Do anything you can to be someone else for an hour or two. How does this person live? What do they like? Where do they go?

88. Design your dream home.

89. Buy a gift for someone you love, for no reason at all. Better still, make them something.

Create or build

90. Paint something! A wall. A picture. Some furniture. Your nails.

91. If you’re a parent, or have children in your life, play with them. Ask them what they want to do, and get totally involved in it, letting them take the lead. Don’t check your phone, or do anything else. Just be totally present.

92. Get rid of some stuff. Gather at least 10 items. More, if you can. Bin them, donate them, gift them. Do it quickly, so you don’t change your mind. Then enjoy the space you’ve created.

93. Lie in the sun. Watch the clouds pass, the birds fly over. Daydream.

94. Make a list of at least ten things you’d love to do, if you were brave enough. Do one of them.

95. Plan a holiday.

96. Make a list of ten skills you’d love to have. Choose one that feels within reach, or that really resonates with you. Book some lessons, buy a course, ask someone with that skill to teach you.

97. Play an instrument. Even if you do it really badly. If you’re already a musician, pick up an instrument you’ve never tried.

98. Plan a party, a picnic, a BBQ, some sort of social gathering. Invite some good friends. Also invite someone new.

99. Play cards, or a board game.

100. Create a collection. Leaves. Shells. Stones. Old cameras. Objects of the same shape or colour. Vintage finds. Stamps. Memorabilia. Arrange and display it.

Now it’s your turn.

Which of these did you try? Are there other dates you’d like to suggest? And what magic happened for you, when you started taking regular play dates? Do share in the comments below!

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Sheryl Garratt is a writer, and a coach helping experienced creatives of all kinds get the success they want, making work they truly love. Get The Creative Companion, my bi-weekly email packed with articles, links and resources for creative professionals. (Or those who want to be.)