I’ve always loved the month of April. It’s my birthday month, it’s the beginning of Spring, there’s Easter to celebrate…and let’s not forget, April Fools Day! My parents and siblings alike were full of pranks when I was growing up, a tradition I like to share with my kids. I mentioned this over on Twitter which resulted in a request for my favorite good-natured gags!
My boys are 8 and 10 years old and I have been reusing most of these ideas for a few years. Some of these pranks they’ve come to expect (and are bummed if I forget to do them!) but I always throw in a few new ones to keep them on their toes. You’ll have to gauge the appropriateness of these for your victims, I mean, family members. I like to start right away in the morning when they’re least expecting it and before they “get” me!
Undrinkable OJ:
Pour the morning’s breakfast beverage the night before and put them carefully in the freezer. In the morning, top them off with just a tiny bit of unfrozen juice (or whatever you froze) to camouflage the top of the drink. Watch them try to drink it!
Alien Cereal:
Put a few drops of food coloring into the bottom of a cereal bowl. Pour dry cereal on top to disguise the drops. Serve, then watch the milk turn colored when the milk is poured on the cereal!
Big Foot:
Stuff wadded up newspaper into the toes of their shoes. When they can’t fit their feet into them, casually comment on how much they’ve grown lately!
Customize:
Think about your child’s (or family member’s) day and their routines. It’s fun to put a spin on something that you know they’ll do without fail. For example, my oldest son complains at least once a week that he is out of clean pants or underwear. (I’m a little lax with the laundry) Last March 31st, after he was asleep, I sneaked into his room and removed ALL of his clothes out of his dresser drawers. On April Fool’s morning when he tried to get dressed he yelled, “Mom! I don’t have any underwear!…or pants!…or shirts?!…MOM!”
Lastly, I like to save one more prank for bedtime…just when they think the day is over and they are safe. Bwah ha ha! This one takes a little more planning but is still quite easy. It’s a bit like short sheeting the bed…
Pajama jam:
Sew the hem of their pajama pants shut by setting your machine on the largest stitch. (Use a thread color that will be easy to see for ripping out later) Watch when they try to put them on and can’t get their feet through the openings. My guys jumped up and down like they were in a sack race! They rolled on the floor laughing at themselves and each other.
Please keep in mind that each kid is different. I try to keep my silly tricks as good natured as possible. I think my boys get a kick out of it because they expect something to happen. Also, neither feels singled out because each gag is usually happening to both of them. Even better? Enlist them in setting up a gag for your spouse. Kids love to be part of a secret plan! (try the “big foot” trick on Dad!)
Have fun and let the hijinks ensue!
What do you do for April Fool’s?
I am a fellow April lover – my Birthday month, too and for many of the reasons you mention 🙂
April Fools is so fun at our house, too – putting salt in the sugar bowl for Dad’s coffee – newspaper in the shoes never get’s old.
It’s not even my birthday but I love April too! And Spring is here which makes me love it even more!
I always forget about April Fool’s until it’s too late! Your little pranks are great and the children must really enjoy the anticipation throughout the day. I’d love to do any of these to my son but he doesn’t eat breakfast or wear pyjamas and if I did put newspaper in his shoes he’d wear a different pair and not find it until May 1st and that wouldn’t be quite the same!! he he
Mind you, he’s 21 so maybe I could try something a bit more extreme.
Teresa x
These are fantastic! I didn’t grow up playing pranks on April Fool’s, but my husband did. The result is that he’s trained are son and they both get me (GOOD!) every year. This year is mine! I’m going to do the pajama trick for sure… maybe even the juice. I’m so excited… can you tell?
Oh my! Great April Fools jokes!
Yay! I’ve got a leg up on my boys now. 😉 Thanks, Betz!
I personally hate April Fool’s Day, But, having read your list, I really think that it could be a great day! I love your good natured tricks!
I just found yr blog – love it! (And looking forward to following)
I also love playing harmless pranks on April Fool’s. I think I’m going to try a few of these tomorrow!
Tx! =]
Hee hee awsone april fools pranks.
Oh, I love these ideas! My kids have been too little for April Fools jokes up to now, but I think my 5yo is ready for a few pranks now. Maybe I better make sure he knows about April Fools day first though…. 😉
Not having grown up with April Fool’s pranks, my oldest has no clue what the big deal is. Is it wrong to want to do ALL of these in the one day? My 9yo tends to think “over-board” is way funnier than not enough, so I think he can handle it. I have 9 years of catching up to do!
Great stuff!
What fab ideas, especially love the alien cereal one 🙂 oohh i may try some of these out …. mmwwaaahhhh ha ha ha.
These are spectacular! I think my 3 year old is too young, but my 45 year old husband? Oh boy, are we going to have fun tomorrow!
these are too funny! how about cellophane over the toilet then the seat down…it cannot be seen…never mind…you would probably have to clean up! love april too…also my birthday month..great ideas!
Yay! Thank you! Not sure if I can adapt any of these for my class at school, but I’m inspired! 🙂 I think I’ll start by putting the wrong date on the board…
Just stumbled on your blog and I LOVE your ideas!! I’m going to try a few of yours on my children! 🙂
Hi… I tried the undrinkable juice and the alien cereals this morning on my 8 years old son !! How funny !! Have a look on my blog to see the pictures !! Thanks for the good ideas… I might go for the pyj this evening…
A prank I played on my son for a while was while folding the laundry. I’d stick the dryer sheet in his clothes somewhere for him to find later. I had to get sneaky about it and turn his pockets inside out and place the sheet in that way so he’d fix the pocket and end up with the sheet inside his pants. Sometimes it would be socks. I stopped when he started hiding them in my stuff! It’s fun to play with your family. Thanks for sharing!
We had fun with alien cereal this morning. The look on my oldest daughter’s face was priceless. I couldn’t keep a straight face. Once she knew what I’d done she couldn’t wait to stuff newspaper in her dad’s shoes. Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks for the ideas! I used the food coloring/cereal and oj with breakfast this a.m.
I am looking forward to taking your classes at Silver Bella!!!!
For about 13 years straight I used to put salt and any other yucky spice into my Dad’s coffee grounds in the coffee maker, so when he would wake up to his fresh pot it would be spoiled and yucky. I don’t think he was sad the first April 1st that I was in college. I also LOVE to tie a rubber band around the sprayer on the sink so when someone turns on the sink they get sprayed!
Hi =]]
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Happy Easter Friday!
Great pranks! I love pranking my family. In the past I have put the rubber band on the sprayer, put plastic bugs in cereal, I sewed my hubby’s underwear together side to side so that it was a long long banner, when he tried to pull one out the the dresser, they kept coming. We also put our sleeping kids into each others beds (after they went to bed) so they would be confused in the morning. This year I only used a sharpie to put smiley faces on everything in the refrigerator. Lots of bottles and cans etc lined up with faces. At work, we put signs all over wishing a co-worker ‘Happy 50th Bday!’. She’s not 50 and it wasn’t her bday. Lots of fun.