Picnics are great for short, eating food, and of course talking. Combine this with another idea like playing cards or a board game! Alternatively, you can do it in a slightly more public place like a park and have fun people watching.

Not quite as much fun, but still doable without a telescope. Make sure you go a LONG ways out of town so that you don’t get the light pollution. When you’re under the stars on a clear night in a remote place, it’s truly breathtaking.

Particularly true at small airports, you can get up close to some really cool planes. You can also sit on the car hood or on the back of a truck and watch the planes take off and land. Very romantic, good chance to talk (also good to combine with another activity like card games)

They have these all of the time too, if you’re watching for them. Just wander around and ask car owners about their ride — they get all excited and love to tell you. Then if you’re not really impressed, you can go away and make fun of them!

This is best for groups of people, but nowadays everyone knows someone with a projector that can be hooked up to a DVD player or computer to show a movie outside. Make sure it’s not going to rain, then throw up a big white sheet on the side of your house and project your movie on to it. Don’t forget sound!

Watching TV is so boring for me, but watching the DVDs is downright addicting. If you can find a show that you both like, it will spark lots of conversation and give you something to look forward to.

I think every family has a card game they like to play. Check out rules of card games over at pagat.com to learn the rules of just about any game you can imagine. This is another great way to see your date in action.

This sounds ultra dorky and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for a first date, but playing computer games is fun and free. Set up a simple network, and unless you’re in a serious relationship where you are just “hanging out,” you’ll probably want to keep it to short games like Starcraft.

Of course it has to be a holiday or special event, but don’t miss this opportunity to get a free date!

This can be a lot of fun. Studies show that exercise gets things moving in your brain and actually (1) give you more confidence and (2) make your date respond better to your … advances! It’s a great way to break the ice.