April Fools' Day Pranks & Gags

Attention pranksters - the best day of the year is finally here! April 1st is April Fools' Day!

While there is some debate as to the origins of this fun-loving “holiday,” many people look forward to the annual event. Some pranksters scheme and plot for days or months in order to pull off the perfect prank. Whether you rely on the old standards like “pull my finger” or the classic whoopee cushion, some folks go to great lengths to come up with elaborate hoaxes, schemes, gags and pranks to pull on unsuspecting friends, co-workers and family. And people aren’t the only ones to play practical jokes. Search engine giant, Google, is famous for its April Fools’ Day pranks on unsuspecting computer users.

Before you plan and carryout your practical joke, make sure it doesn’t harm, humiliate or embarrass the intended target or damage anything in the process. Practical jokes are meant to be funny, clever and creative, not mean-spirited or harmful. It’s also a good idea to make sure the “April Fool” has a good sense of humor.

April Fools’ Pranks

• If your little ones are sound sleepers, wait until they are fast asleep to pull the old switcheroo! Switch them to different beds while they are sleeping. Imagine their surprise when they wake up in their brother's or sister's bed on April Fools Day!

• Bug Off – Purchase some realistic insects prior to April 1st and place the creepy crawlers in ice cubes, socks, shoes, food, etc.

• Get the ugliest most disgusting temporary tattoo and wear it proudly to work.

• Spray It - Put a rubber band around the kitchen sink’s sprayer and wait until someone turns the water on.

• Crank it – Turn up the volume as high as it can go on someone’s computer or radio before they turn it on.

• Stick It - Attach magnets to a large cup, place the cup on the hood or roof of the car and take off.

• Fill someone’s car with balloons.

• Fake Parking Tickets - Print out this printable parking citation and leave on an unsuspecting friend’s vehicle and follow it up with a fake delinquent notice.

• What a Doll! - If you happen to have a blow-up doll hanging around, put it in a pal’s vehicle. Or dress her up, strap her in the passenger seat and go for a spin!

• Switcheroo Shoes - Take a good hard look at the family’s shoes. If a loved one happens to have shoes that look similar in style but are different colors, switch them. For instance, if they have a pair of black shoes and a pair of blue shoes that are similar in style, take the left blue shoe and replace it with the left black shoe. Be sure to hide the matching shoes. They’ll go to work or school with 2 shoes that don’t match.

• Put some powder on top of the ceiling fan blades and wait for someone to turn it on!

• In a Stitch – Grab a few pair of hubby’s or the kids’ undies and sew them together. Next time they go to grab a clean pair, they’ll get more than they bargained for!

• Translation Please - Change a family member’s cell phone language from English to another language. Just make sure you are able to change it back to the proper setting!

• Put a sheet or two of plastic-wrap over the toilet seat.

• Put some Vaseline on a few door handles.

• Sticky Mouse - Use double-sided tape under someone’s computer mouse or on the telephone receiver.

April Fools' Food Pranks

• Make a sponge cake for that special someone by frosting honest-to-goodness real sponges in a cake pan! Just don’t bake it!

• Just in time for Easter, hard-boil all the eggs in the refrigerator and place them back into the carton.

• If you know someone who loves Oreo cookies, scrape out the white creamy filling and replace with white toothpaste.

• Switch the sugar and/or creamer for salt. Just don’t forget to switch it back!

• If you have non-see-through bottles for ketchup and one for mustard, pour mustard in the ketchup bottle and ketchup in the mustard bottle.

• If you have salt and pepper shakers, switch the salt for pepper and vice versa.

• Sour Milk - Before you go to bed, add some green or blue food coloring to your carton of milk. The kids will get quite the surprise when they pour their glass of milk in the morning.

• Mash It - Whip up these interesting Ice Cream Potatoes that look just like mashed potatoes and gravy.