Evening activities changed during different historical periods, especially as light technology improved (it's much easier to read at night by gas lamp than it is to read by rushlight). During the 19th century, with the advent of kerosene lamps and, later, gas lamps, people could do all sorts of things. Women would often sew or knit or embroider near the lamp, a member of the family would read aloud to others, or somebody might play the piano while others gathered round and sang (this website is dedicated to preserving the popular "parlor songs" that were often played). Sometimes, after dinner, men would go off to a separate room to smoke or play cards or billiards.

There was also the fact that, up until fairly recently, at least some significant portion of people regularly did not sleep all the way through the night. If you follow this link to a helpful site hosted by Virginia Tech, you'll find lots of resources discussing first sleep and second sleep. In simple terms, some people would go to bed when it became dark, wake for a while in the middle of the night and think, or read, or have sex, or whatever, and then fall back asleep again until dawn. Midnight activities would, again, depend on the availability of sources of artificial light - rushlights vs. tallow candles vs. beeswax candles vs. oil lamps vs. gas lamps.

And of course, even with no light whatsoever, there's always conversation.

In the 'centuries?' That's a rather broad time reference.

This, from Bill Bryson's book: 'At Home. A Short History of Private Life.'

Read by candle light. Today, it's hard to imagine just how dark it was before the advent of electricity, or gas light. Seems to me that people probably wouldn't have read that much though, because it seems to me that reading in low light at the end of the day is an excellent soporific. Talk, play simple games, interact with family, neighbors, etc. Sew, mend things, or otherwise, prepare thing for the next day/future. Make your bed. People really did 'make their beds.' For the poor, or lower middle class, this entailed putting together a reasonably comfortable collection of items to sleep on. Shaking out vermin, in an attempt to have a decent night's sleep. For most of human existence -and in many circumstances, -even today, we have shared our lives/beds with mice, rats, lice, bedbugs, and a plethora of other pests. Make more of us. Just like we do today. You know what I mean!!!

There's a lot of crafts that can be done in practically no light at all once you have the feel for it (drop-spinning, knitting, nalbinding spring to mind). Telling stories, jokes, and riddles are fun too, as well as planning the work or business of the next day and holding conversations. And there's the much-neglected art of sitting quietly doing nothing.