Married couples need to have some fun together! And one of the best ways to do that is to find hobbies to do as a couple.
We’ve had some heavy weeks at To Love, Honor and Vacuum lately, and so I thought it was time to revisit one of my favourite posts ever and run it again, with some fun changes, so it could be higher up in the queue!
Let’s emotionally connect and have fun together again! No matter where you are in your marriage, you need some hobbies! A hobby is simply an activity or pursuit that you do together. And during COVID, we all could use some new ideas, too.
And thanks to Responsival for sponsoring this post!
And hobbies can bring couples close because of two communication principles:
- It is often easier to communicate side by side, when you’re doing something, than it is to try to communicate face to face.
- When we spend more time together with shared activities (like hobbies!), then we build up goodwill, which makes it easier to tackle some of the bigger problems in marriage.
We all need shared activities, because that builds shared memories. You feel more like a team. You start chatting again (and the more you talk about little things, the easier it is to talk about big things!). And you laugh. Whenever you laugh together, walls come down. Tension dissipates. And you feel close. Often those petty things that bug you about each other seem to disappear!
Besides, it’s just plain fun to share hobbies as couples.
It’s fun to spend time away from a screen. It’s fun to build a memory or be productive or experience something new. And it’s fun to learn together! Here’s the neat thing about pursuing hobbies as a married couple, too: you don’t each have to love it to the same extent. The goal is not the hobby itself. The goal is spending time together and having those opportunities to laugh and chat. My husband and I go birdwatching. I enjoy it. It gets me outdoors; we get some exercise hiking; I learn more about photography.
But Keith will trek 2 miles through brush to sit still at dawn in the hopes that it might be a king rail. He will stand still at the base of a tree for 10 minutes to verify whether that was a white throated sparrow or a white crowned sparrow. He is WAY more into it than I am. But we still go birdwatching together, because I’m in it for the memories, not just for the birds. And when he wants to do something intense with counting birds, he goes without me.
I’m going to share a whole bunch of ideas for hobbies you can pursue together. Take this post as more of a brainstorming session. Maybe something I’ll mention will twig something in your brain and you’ll find an entirely different hobby to share with your husband! But what I’d recommend is this:
Finding a Hobby to Do as a Couple
- Look through this list and identify 3 hobbies you’d like to start with your husband.
- Have your husband look through the list and identify 3 hobbies he’d like to start.
- Exchange lists and choose one on the other person’s list that you’d enjoy, too.
- Choose one to start first!
A Comprehensive List of Hobbies for Couples
Outdoorsy Hobbies for Couples
- Hiking
- Birdwatching
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Snowmobiling
- Kayaking
- Canoeing
- Sailing
- Windsurfing
- Golfing
- Tennis
- Biking
- Jogging/Training for Marathon
- Joining a co-ed sports league: basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.
- Skiing
- Target practice
- Rock climbing (on real rocks)
- Photography
- Metal detecting
- Foraging (for wild mushrooms or other edibles)
My son-in-law David is really into foraging, especially mushrooms, and i want to join him in that this spring because I just love the idea of eating off the land as much as possible. Plus apparently some of the mushrooms taste really good! (and, yes, he knows how to tell the difference with the poisonous ones). We bought him a dehydrator for Christmas, too, so he can preserve some of them.
Domestic Hobbies for Couples to do Together
- Gardening
- Cooking (cook something gourmet once or twice a week together)
- Homesteading (where you try to become self-sufficient in some food products)
- Home improvement/painting
I’m already planning out my garden for the spring! I love growing herbs, and I dried and preserved so many last year, and made a ton of pesto.
Even if you’re in an apartment, you can make a balcony garden! But I love this garden tower for a house, too, because creating raised beds can be a hassle, and this I can put right on my deck and see it as I have my tea in the morning and it just makes me happy. Creating pestos and teas and salsas and hot sauces out of your produce can be another hobby you can do together.
And, seriously, it’s amazing how much you can grow in one of these garden towers!
And planning the garden can be so much fun as well. The yield on these towers can be incredible. Do you want to do herbs? Salad greens so you have fresh greens every night? Tomatoes or peppers? I’m planning on a variety of hot peppers myself!
Sporty Indoor Hobbies for Couples
- Working out/weightlifting
- Yoga for couples
- Aquafit
- Racquetball/Squash
- Swimming
- Bowling
- Rock climbing (at an indoor club)
- Ballroom dancing
- Irish dancing
- Square Dancing/Line Dancing
- Zumba classes
Keith and I take ballroom dancing classes online, even during COVID! Before the last cruise we took, we learned the chacha really well, along with reviewing the foxtrot and the swing. And it’s just fun to do for 15 minutes a night. Each video is only 3-5 minutes long, and they teach you one thing at a time. We really enjoy it!
And Connor just went rock climbing again this weekend for the first time in, well, forever! The COVID lockdown is over here, and a new rock climbing gym opened in our hometown right before COVID hit. He’s determined to use it enough to keep it open! When Rebecca and he were first married, they loved rock climbing together (and they will again!).
Events to Attend Together
- NASCAR races
- Sporting events, especially more minor league local ones
- Plays, dance performances, or comedians
- Music performances: symphonies, bands, worship groups
- Special museum or art gallery exhibits
- Film festivals or film clubs
These may be all closed for the foreseeable future, but when they reopen, consider season’s tickets for something. It gets you deliberate date outings, and it supports something in your community.
Games Hobbies for Couples
- Chess league
- Puzzles
- Board game club (even start your own)!
- Euchre club (host your own euchre parties)
- Bridge club
- Strategy video game (my husband play just one game of Crusader Kings and it lasts for several months!)
We’ve also got a board game cafe in our hometown, which are getting increasingly popular. Go out to play a board game, and you can try new ones and figure out which ones you like!
Educational Hobbies for Couples
- Touring art galleries and nearby historical sites
- Learning local history and becoming tour guides
- Tracing your family tree
- Planning an educational trip, like a rainforest trip to learn about nature or a European trip to trace some World War II battles. Do research together beforehand.
- Touring wineries
Income Producing Hobbies as a Couple
- Refinishing furniture
- Painting furniture
- Building furniture
- Yard sale/flea marketing and find items to refinish or repurpose
- Starting an etsy or ebay business
- Starting a blog on a topic you both enjoy
- Photography/Videography
- Catering
Does your marriage need some spicing up–and some fun?
Things to Start Collecting as a Couple
- Art by a certain artist
- Local art
- Stamps or coins
- Sea glass/seashells/driftwood
- Old books, magazines, or comic books
- Memorabilia from a certain period/cultural trend/historical event
Then attend auctions, visit flea markets, spend time searching online together!
Classes to Take Together
- Cooking, including specific cuisines
- Computer Software
- Investing
- Financial Planning
- Natural Health/Herbs
- Theology
Places to Volunteer Together
- At church: in worship, youth, building upkeep, finances, anything
- At a local arts organization–a local theatre, a local dance troupe, a local symphony, a museum, an art gallery
- At a youth organization–Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Big Brothers or Big Sisters, a local school
- At a nursing home/old age home
- At a hospital doing visitation
- At a food bank or other outreach centre
- At a refugee welcome centre
So there’s my list–what would you add to it?
Remember–Download this list RIGHT NOW to your computer or phone so you have it handy to talk to your spouse about!
Of course, some things feel like they should be on the list, but they’re not technically hobbies. Going out to the local gelato shop, for instance, is awfully fun! So is hanging around a fun local bookstore and having a coffee.
Whatever you choose, though, just find something that you can do at least on a weekly basis. When the kids are little, it’s likely easier to try something you can do at home, like taking some online classes together or learning something new or something domestic. Or try something outdoorsy where the kids can come along, like hiking or searching for sea glass. And as they get older, it will be easier for you to find new hobbies to do with your husband, too! It’s a great way to invest in each other, and in a strong marriage!
![list-hobbies-for-couples List of Hobbies for Couples--79 super fun things to choose from to keep your marriage strong!](https://baremarriage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/List-Hobbies-for-Couples.jpg)
So let me know–any hobbies you’d add? I’ll keep the list updated!
When I lived in the UK I was amazed at the popularity of metal detecting over there. It was big! But it’s a lot easier to get excited about a hobby like metal detecting when you live in a country with such a long history; lots of cool stuff to find!
Also, if you go to Europe to look at the WW2 stuff, I HIGHLY encourage you to go a tad out of your way and go tour the WW1 battlefields and cemeteries. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does an amazing job over there and its well worth the slight detour. You won’t regret going.
We haven’t been able to do it in a long while because it’s tough with toddlers, but geocaching could be added as an extension to hiking. We tried it once with the kids and once on a one night getaway, and adding the treasure hunt angle to a hike/walk was fun! I’m hoping we can try again once my kids are a little older, since I think that might help distract them from all of the walking.
Your comment made me remember that my husband and I used to do that before we were married! It was so much fun. I think we stopped because it drained our phone battery. I’m sure things are different 7 years later, we will have to try again!
My husband is not hobby oriented. At all. He works and he watches YouTube. His idea of a hobby is that he could buy and resell cars. (After he finishes his day job as a handyman.) In this entire list, I found- nothing I could convince him to try. He will play cards once in a while. (Like every 2 or 3 months.) I’m thinking maybe his personality just doesn’t do hobbies?
or he just has never branched out for pushed himself to try new things as an adult. Sounds like it’s time he start. Everyone needs at least some hobbies. We’re very bored individuals without them.
I got my husband into live theater early in our marriage and it’s one of the things we LOVE to do! Musicals, comedians, performance art, concerts…we had tickets to several exciting things in 2020 but the pandemic cancelled all of it. 🙁 We are hobby-less!!! Our substitute is watching documentary series and discussing them. Not quite the same but it tickles our brains and has led to some really good conversations. We watched a couple of really fascinating shows on archaeology in Egypt that got us into looking up some Bible history about when the Hebrews were in Egypt and which Pharoah was in power when the events of Exodus happened. So yeah. We’re nerds. LOL
#80: wine tasting
This works best if you live in/near a wine region. I used to work in the wine industry during and after college, and my husband jokes that dating and marrying me has made him a snob. 😋 (His family is more of a Pabst Blue Ribbon family). Wine tasting involves 1) traveling to beautiful, outdoorsy, relaxing areas, 2) traveling to areas that also usually have a lot of other stuff to do like horseback riding, art viewing, hiking, enjoying the hotel/resort you stay at (ie swimming, massages, etc), picnicking at wineries and enjoying local fine dining, and of course 3) drinking lots of wine. (Well, it doesn’t have to be that much wine. If you go to 1 winery and only taste the 3-8 wines they serve on their tasting menu, you’ll probably drink anywhere from 1/3 – 1/2 a serving up to 1 full serving of wine per winery per person… and that’s assuming you both each get your own tasting and don’t share a tasting which is totally a thing, as least here in the US.)
Cons: unless you’re childless/empty-nesters and have nice amounts of cash lying around, this isn’t a regular hobby most couples can do. But even now, my husband and I try to have a wine country weekend at least once a year and leave the kids with the grandparents who live nearby. We love the relaxation wine countries have to offer, and find we reconnect most easily in relaxing environments.
Oh, yes! We live near a WONDERFUL wine region–like just 25 minutes away. One of the best in Canada (third best maybe? But that’s still pretty good!). We’ve done bike tours in “the county” on wine tastings, and it’s really fun!
Natalie, where dud you work?
My fiancé and I love to play frisbee together. He’s teaching me tennis. We bought a kids yard game for under $10.00 at Walmart, with big rackets and a big birdie. He plays the piano and I make clay creations that honor The Lord!
Ice Skating!!!! The kids can do it too.
#81 Off-roading. My husband wanted to get into this and after going with him a few times, it turns out that I like it too. It’s a little bit like hiking through the woods for me. And when he wants to do a rock or hill that I find a little too scary, I just hop out and video him because he enjoys watching and sharing those with his buddies.
Also, I find that working “side by side” on different hobbies works for us too. For example, he’ll work on his Jeep in the driveway while I’m gardening in the front bed. We’re still close enough to talk and help each other when needed. Overall it’s been great.