The weather outside may be frightful, but your friends are oh-so delightful, so how can you reconcile your desire to stay indoors with your desire to see your friends? Answer: you invite them around to your home for an evening of indoor fun.
Staying connected to friends and family is even more important during the long and cold winter months, and with a host of awesome at-home activities to enjoy, you can ensure that you and your tribe can ride out the chilly season in style.
Need some inspiration for what you can do during your nights at home? We’ve got you covered with some top ideas that you and your friends will love.
Potluck dinner parties
There’s no better time than winter to host potluck dinners – ie a dinner where everyone brings a dish to share. Why? Because 1. preparing dishes in the kitchen keeps you warm, 2. seeing your friends during the dark months is important, and 3. eating delicious food (that maybe you didn’t have to make) is nice.
Potluck dinners are easier to organise than more formal dinner parties since the responsibility of arranging the food will be shared among all attendees. You’ll want to have a group chat so you have no overlapping dishes, but other than that, it’s all about getting together and eating great food. Simple!
Host a regular poker night
The winter months provide the perfect opportunity to learn how to play poker, a game which, once you know how to play, you’ll enjoy for the rest of your life. You can combine this new-found hobby with seeing your friends by hosting a regular poker night. People are generally up for these kinds of evenings anyway, but they’re especially motivated during the chillier times of year. The more you play, the more competitive the games will become, so try to make it a weekly thing. Have some good players among your friends? Reading up on how to get ahead in home games can be useful for players who are slightly more inexperienced. It’s best to make some snacks and drinks available or have attendees bring some to keep everyone fuelled for the game.
Themed film nights
It can be nice to go to the cinema with a bunch of friends, but it’s not always a viable option. Sometimes, there’s just nothing worth seeing out in the cinemas. The solution? Host your own cinema night. This will allow you to select your own film and save some money (if you’ve seen how much popcorn at the cinema costs these days, this will be a big win!).
As with poker, you’ll find you’ll get the most enjoyment from these evenings if you make it a regular thing. You could choose your movies by theme (say, a director or actor), or you could take it in turns among your friend group to make the selection.
Host a karaoke night
There’s power in singing, which has been shown to boost mental wellbeing — and that’s something that we all need during the long, cold winter months. Plus, it can be pretty hilarious watching your friends butcher an all-time classic track. Thanks to YouTube, hosting your own karaoke party couldn’t be easier — virtually every major song is available on the site in karaoke format.
Want to make the evening more formal? Invest in a microphone (they’re cheap) and encourage your friends to dress up as their favourite musicians. Trust us, you’ll be enjoying the photos for many years to come.
Spa-worthy evenings
There’s one thing better than going to the spa, and that’s: hosting your own spa evening and getting to enjoy all the relaxation and pampering it provides alongside your friends and family from the comfort of your own home. And it’s surprisingly easy to host your own spa evening at home. If you have a scented candle, some plush robes, and some lovely products for the face, feet, and hair, then you’ll have gone a long way toward creating the perfect spa evening. Round it off with a relaxing playlist, and you and your friends have got yourselves an evening of all-out relaxation.
