Go on a Bookstore Scavenger Hunt Date Night

comments icon 98 comments

Bookstore Scavenger Hunt

If you are wondering what to do after a dinner date, try going on a bookstore date! Now I love, love, love to read!! These random date ideas are perfect for us because we are both such extreme extroverts ourselves.

I decided I would like to tone things down a notch, plan a more calm and relaxing date, and take my husband to one of MY favorite places… a bookstore! Of course, I would have to add some creative touches to make sure he enjoyed the date as much as I would.

I love to read! I can't wait to shake things up on date night and head off to a bookstore for the evening! #bookstoredate #scavengerhunt

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about ’em, click here.

Date Night Idea

With me being such a bookworm, I even made a particular book my inspiration for one of my previous dates, the Choose Your Own Date Adventure Date. When I was planning what to do for this date, I wanted something that was fun, free and easy to put together and I’m telling ya, this date has all of that! It may seem like random date ideas that aren’t your typical dinner and a movie. But seriously, with these amazing printables, you can just print and go. Easy-peasy! This is one of the most original date ideas you can find! You no longer have to wonder what to do after dinner date, the bookstore date will be fun and memorable for years to come!

Here is what we did for our bookstore date. We started off by eating at a super-friendly-to-the-budget eatery.

Afterward, I handed him this:

What to Do After Dinner Date

Bookstore Scavenger Hunt

We then headed off to a bookstore, I chose Barnes & Noble mainly because they have wooden chairs, armchairs, & couches scattered around the store. When choosing a bookstore for your OWN bookstore date I would suggest keeping that in mind! Those little nooks are perfect meeting spots for this date!

Date Night Idea

Once we were there, and ready for our bookstore scavenger hunt to begin, we found a cozy little spot and I presented him with the FIRST of two “Task Cards.” There were three tasks that we both needed to complete before meeting back at our cozy spot.

  1. Visit the COOKING section & chose a recipe that you would like to make for your spouse.
  2. Visit the MAGAZINE section & find a quiz in a magazine that you and your spouse could do together.
  3. Visit the CHILDREN’S section & find a book that was a favorite when you were a child or that holds a special memory for you… and read them to each other when you meet back up.

Now, you can do this two different ways! You can give each other 30 minutes and split up… meeting back at the designated spot when the time limit is over… OR you can just go together to each section, find the different books/magazines, and meet back at the spot. We chose to do the second option. But this is your bookstore date, so do what suits the two of you best!

Good thing we did… since we could barely hold in our laughter when we discovered that our rival universities had COOKBOOKS!! I am a BYU alumnus and Jamie is a HUGE Ute fan….

Bookstore Date Cookbook Rivals

Here is the recipe that Jamie picked out:

Bookstore Date Cookbook

Original Date Ideas

Next stop for this bookstore scavenger hunt is the Magazine section! This was a tricky one! It was harder than I thought to find quizzes in the magazines. If you also have a hard time, you can adjust that task to just finding a great article to share with each other. I found plenty of sizzling articles to share with him in Cosmopolitan and he found awesome photography tips to show me in Popular Photography.

(BTW – notice how AMAZING the pictures are in this post!?! My birthday was this month and Jamie picked up on the million and one hints and bought me a FABULOUS camera… thus his sudden interest in photography!! He wanted to make sure his investment was the best option out there. LOL)

Favorite Magazines

And then on to the Children’s section for this bookstore date… SO much fun! Here are our picks! Mine is Where the Wild Things Are and his favorite was The Berenstain Bears – In The Dark.

Favorite Kid Books

Bookstore Date Day 2

Now, confession time! We had SOOOO much fun doing this, that we ran out of time to do the other task card! We spent SO much time in each section having fun talking, sharing articles/finds, and laughing, that we completely lost track of time! It was such a hit with my husband that he insisted that we return the next day to finish the date. Remember… this is the husband that does not like to pick up a book and read for fun! The bookstore scavenger hunt was a total success!

Bookstore Scavenger Hunt

Day TWO:

The tasks on the second bookstore date card were…

  1. Visit the JOKE section and pick out a HI-LA-RI-OUS joke to share with your spouse.
  2. Go to the TRAVEL section and find a picture or information on a place you would like to visit someday.
  3. Visit the POEM section and find a poem that describes the way you feel about your spouse.

The “Joke Task” took us for-ev-er! We could not stop sharing jokes with each other and laughing!! So one joke each was just not enough for us!

Joke Books

The dream vacation task was really neat! I learned something NEW about Jamie! I always knew he had a thing for history and ruins, but I never knew he wanted to travel to Peru! So if you zoom in on the picture below, you may be able to see the breathtaking picture he is holding up of an ancient civilization in Peru.

Where do I want to vacation?  HAWAII!!!!

Dream Vacations

What to Do After Dinner Date

Our last task ended the date on a super romantic note! Sharing lovey-dovey poems out of some poem books we found. Great way to top off a wonderful bookstore date!

The actual date cost us absolutely NOTHING! Free entertainment for two nights in a row! Jamie actually told me afterward that he would love to go to our local library and just sit in the children’s section and take turns reading our favorite books! WOW! Have I converted him to believe in the wonders of reading?

Bookstore Tasks

Jaime thought it might be fun for others who do this date to have a “WILD CARD” task, meaning that the person planning it could ask their spouse to make up a task on the spot that the spouse would really enjoy. Like sports, self-help, fishing-related, etc. So if you want to do something like that, we included a blank task card just for you!

One more nice thing about doing a date in a bookstore… well, a BIG bookstore, is that you can grab a cup of cocoa and a pastry at their in-house eatery to snack on during your date! I’m telling you this is one of the most original date ideas out there! And it’s so much fun!

If you decide to use these original date ideas, make sure you plan on it taking at LEAST 3-4 hours!! I promise you will have plenty to do… even if you are not a reader! So if stop sifting through random date ideas, this bookstore date is the perfect date night idea to shake things up!

Random Date Ideas

This is the kind of date night idea your sweetie will never forget! So when you’re looking for what to do after a dinner date, print off these original date ideas. Get ready for some fun! Sometimes the most random date ideas are the best ones!
Free Download

Bookstore Date Night

Printables Designed by Paperelli Exclusively for The Dating Divas

Tara

I am an outgoing and fun-lovin’ gal who was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams! You could probably say I am an “extreme extrovert” as I LOVE to talk and be around people! I love ANYTHING creative and am not a fan of the “norm.” My favorite things in life are my family… especially my HOT husband, my friends, and my faith! After a long infertility journey, we brought two miracle babies into this world via IVF and then a SURPRISE bundle of joy recently decided to join us. I have a passion for life and I am having a BLAST running this website with some of my closest friends. Life just keeps getting better and better!

Learn more about Tara
Free 7-day Program

One week to a better marriage.

Sign up now and get our 7 Days of Love Program absolutely free!

Husbands or Wives
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

You Might Also Like

diamond iconWe love your comments

We LOVE hearing from our readers! Thanks for leaving us some love!

Recent Comments

  1. Hey! I just wanted to tell you I did this a while ago with the guy that I was dating it was really a lot of fun. So much fun that I’m doing it with my new boo! Lol. This is an awesome date idea everyone! Try it! And time really does fly by!

    1. I was looking for date ideas and this one sounds like so much fun. We are totally doing this today. What a great and creative idea. Thank you!

  2. How do two indecisive, shy, nerdy, metalheads plan dates?! We try, and with it being winter so many options are on hold…but I was thinking we need something more creative! I love the bookstore idea as we are often at Barnes and noble or the mall. But I am unsure if he will feel comfortable being that silly out in the world, and I don’t want him to be super uncomfortable and not be able to have fun. We have a blast no matter what we do…just looking for more ideas and wallet-friendly! Love this site…think I’ll bookmark it! Thanks!
    Tanya

    1. Here’s the awesome thing… this date is totally PRIVATE while being in public! When we did it, we would do each challenge together… I.e. split up, grab our fav children’s book, and meet back up to read them together nestled in chairs. There are chairs/nooks all over libraries/Barnes & Noble where you can have privacy and read together, talk, share what you found. I think this could TOTALLY work if you are shy. Have so much fun!

  3. Thank you so so much for the cute date night idea, and that the printables are free! After 25 of dating my hubby, creativity is more important. Thanks for helping out with that!!

  4. I would have never of thought of going to the book store for a date….brilliant. Me and my husband both love books. So fun!

See More Comments