100 Things to Do With Your Best Friend

You and your best friend have probably done "hang out and scroll" a hundred times. It's comfortable, but nobody remembers it a month later. The ideas below are small plans that turn a normal afternoon into something you'll still laugh about. Most cost nothing, many work at home, and a whole section is for when one of you has moved away. Pick three, screenshot the list, and send it to your bestie.

Quick picks by situation

Things to do with your best friend at home

Indoor ideas for rainy days, school nights or when neither of you wants to go anywhere.

1. Bake something ridiculous. A rainbow cake, a giant cookie, or the most complicated dessert you can find a video for.
2. Mystery-ingredient cook-off. Each of you picks three random things from the kitchen; the other has to make a dish with them. Rate each other out of 10.
3. Swap closets for an hour. Dress as each other and take "before and after" photos.
4. Themed movie marathon. Every Pixar movie in order, the worst-rated horror films you can find, or three movies from the year you met.
5. Learn a TikTok dance and don't stop until you get it right on camera.
6. Build the world's best blanket fort and eat dinner inside it.
7. Make a best friend bucket list. Write 50 things you want to do together this year and stick it on a wall.
8. Do a "how well do you know me" quiz with 20 questions each. Loser makes snacks.
9. DIY spa day. Face masks, nail art, cucumber slices, the full routine.
10. Rearrange one of your rooms. A fresh layout feels like a new room for free.
11. Paint each other's portrait in 10 minutes, without looking at the paper for the last 2.
12. Start a podcast you never publish. Record one episode about your hottest takes.
13. Build a giant puzzle or a LEGO set and leave it out until it's done.
14. Make a "us" playlist with one song for every year you've been friends.
15. Play an old-school board game marathon: Monopoly, Uno, Jenga, whatever's in the cupboard.

Things to do when you're bored (and have no money)

16. Hunt for free events in your town this week: library talks, open-mic nights, free museum days, farmers' markets.
17. Have a "yes day". For one afternoon, you both say yes to every safe, legal, free idea the other suggests.
18. Make a vision board from old magazines for next year.
19. Teach each other one skill: a language phrase, a card trick, a drawing style, how to do eyeliner.
20. Write a story together, one sentence each, and read it out in dramatic voices.
21. Declutter and sell old clothes or books online, then spend the money on something fun.
22. Film a fake cooking show or a fake ad for something random in your house.
23. Make friendship bracelets with string or beads you already have.
24. Take a personality quiz (Myers-Briggs, love languages, Hogwarts houses) and argue about the results.
25. Plan your dream trip together down to the hotel and the budget, even if it's years away.

Things to do at a sleepover or at night

26. Stay up for the sunrise with snacks and a blanket.
27. Make a time capsule: letters to your future selves, a photo and a list of your current obsessions. Open it in five years.
28. Prank call each other's voicemail with a ridiculous song.
29. Make homemade pizza with the weirdest toppings you can agree on.
30. Ghost stories with the lights off, flashlight under the chin required.
31. Truth or dare, the classic. Keep it fun, not mean.
32. Watch a scary movie and see who jumps first.
33. Do a photo shoot with fairy lights, a phone flash and dramatic poses.
34. Star-gazing from a window or the backyard with a free sky-map app.
35. Make a midnight snack board from whatever's in the kitchen.
36. Write each other a letter to read when you're sad.
37. Karaoke night with YouTube lyric videos and a hairbrush mic.
38. Rank every ex, crush or celebrity crush you've ever had. Strictly confidential.
39. Plan a fake heist of your favorite store, with code names.
40. Set a funny alarm for the morning so you both wake up laughing instead of groaning.

Things to do outside and in summer

41. Be tourists in your own town for a day: the museum, the viewpoint and the food spot everyone visits but you never do.
42. Pack a picnic and find a park you've never been to.
43. Go thrifting with a budget of $10 each and build the best outfit.
44. Watch the sunrise or sunset from the highest place you can reach.
45. Try a new sport together: climbing, paddleboarding, roller skating, pickleball.
46. Go on a photo walk with one theme: doors, dogs, the color yellow.
47. Find a hiking trail within an hour and pack sandwiches.
48. Hit a farmers' market and cook lunch from what you buy.
49. Ride bikes with no plan, taking turns choosing left or right at every corner.
50. Go to a concert or a local gig, even for a band you've never heard of.
51. Do a road trip to the nearest town you've never visited.
52. Volunteer together at an animal shelter or a food bank.
53. Get matching temporary tattoos or matching keychains.
54. Try every ice-cream shop in town and make a ranking.
55. Go camping, or "camp" in the backyard.
56. Have a water-balloon fight on the hottest day of the year.
57. Go to a drive-in or an outdoor movie night.
58. Do a mini-golf or bowling night; loser buys fries.
59. Visit an amusement park and ride the scariest thing together.
60. Go to the beach or a lake at a time nobody else is there.

Morning rituals for best friends

Most best friend ideas are for weekends and evenings. Mornings are underrated: they're when you're both most likely to feel alone, and a small shared ritual makes the day start better.

61. Sunrise walk and coffee once a week, before school or work.
62. Gym buddy pact: whoever doesn't show up buys breakfast.
63. Morning selfie challenge: both of you send the first photo after waking up, no filters, every day for a week.
64. Wake each other up on big days. Exam, job interview, early flight? Be the one who makes sure they're up. With PingPal you can set an alarm on your best friend's phone with your voice, a song or a photo, and it rings even on silent. You can even ask for a wake-up selfie as proof.
65. Send a ridiculous wake-up text on random days. Need ideas? Here are 70 funny wake-up texts.

Wake your bestie up tomorrow with your voice and get a selfie back. PingPal is free on iPhone and Android.

Things to do with your best friend for their birthday

66. Start the day with a surprise wake-up (their favorite song, or 30 seconds of you singing badly) and end it with a scavenger hunt that leads to their gift.
67. Collect video messages from their friends and family and edit them into one clip.
68. Recreate your first photo together, same pose, same place if you can.
69. Make a "reasons you're my best friend" jar with one note for every year of their age.
70. Plan a mystery day: they only find out each stop when you get there.
71. Cook their favorite childhood meal with help from their parents.
72. Decorate their room or desk while they're out.
73. Book an experience instead of a gift: a pottery class, an escape room, a concert.
74. Make a memory book of photos, tickets and inside jokes.
75. Throw a tiny theme party: '00s night, a murder-mystery dinner or a fancy-dress picnic.

Things to do with your best friend on FaceTime or a call

For school nights, rainy weeks or when you're in different places. All of these work on FaceTime, WhatsApp, Discord or any video call.

76. Cook the same recipe at the same time and compare the results.
77. Watch a movie in sync with Teleparty or SharePlay and react live.
78. Study or work together with cameras on and a 25-minute timer.
79. Do a tarot or horoscope reading for each other, no experience needed.
80. Draw each other from the video and reveal at the same time.
81. Give each other a room tour and rate the vibe.
82. Do a guided workout or yoga video together.
83. Play 20 questions or "would you rather", which work with nothing but your voices. More ideas: 58 games to play with your best friend over text, call and FaceTime.
84. Read the same book and have a two-person book club call every Sunday.
85. Do each other's makeup tutorial: one gives instructions, the other follows exactly.
86. Plan your next meet-up on a shared map with every place you want to go.
87. Go on a "walk" together: both of you walk outside and show each other the view.
88. Online shopping for each other with a $20 budget, then buy the winning basket.
89. Fall asleep on call on a hard night. Low-key but it helps.
90. Rate each other's camera roll: the last 20 photos, no skipping.

Want a game for the call? See games to play with your best friend over text, call and FaceTime. For more ways to stay close on your phones, see the best apps for best friends.

Things to do with a long-distance best friend

Moving apart is one of the hardest things for a friendship. What keeps it going isn't long calls, it's small regular rituals that don't need your schedules to match.

91. Swap a care package every month with snacks, a note and something local from your city.
92. Send real letters or postcards, even short ones.
93. Read the same news story or watch the same episode and voice-note your reactions.
94. Keep a shared photo album and add one photo a week, no matter what.
95. Have a fixed weekly call at the same time, so it never needs planning.
96. Count down to your next visit with a shared calendar widget.
97. Be the first voice they hear in the morning. Different time zone? Set an alarm on their phone for their morning with a voice message, even when you're asleep yourself.
98. Order food to each other's door on a bad day.
99. Plan a trip to meet halfway, in a city neither of you knows.
100. Start a friendship journal you mail back and forth, one entry each.

Long distance with a partner? See the best apps for long-distance couples and morning rituals for long-distance relationships.

FAQ

What should I do with my best friend?

Pick something that gives you a story, not just time on the sofa: cook a meal you've never made, have a themed movie marathon, be tourists in your own town, or write a best friend bucket list together and work through it.

What can I do with my best friend at home when we're bored?

Try a mystery-ingredient cook-off, a closet swap, a blanket fort, a DIY spa day, learning a dance on camera, or a "how well do you know me" quiz. All need nothing but what's already in the house.

What are free things to do with a best friend?

A sunrise walk, a picnic in a new park, a photo walk, free museum days and library events, a yes day, writing letters to your future selves, star-gazing and a sleepover movie night all cost nothing.

What can I do with my best friend on FaceTime?

Cook the same recipe, watch a movie in sync with Teleparty or SharePlay, study together with cameras on, play 20 questions or would you rather, give each other room tours or go on a "walk" together outside.

How do you stay close to a long-distance best friend?

Keep small regular rituals instead of waiting for long calls: a fixed weekly call, a shared photo album, monthly care packages, voice notes, a countdown to your next visit, and a wake-up message on their phone on big days.

Related: apps for best friends · wake-up texts for friends · how to wake someone up · send an alarm to a friend's phone · all blog posts