15 Kid-Friendly April Fool’s Day Pranks

Who doesn’t love one of the silliest, wackiest and most fun days of the year?  Our kids love April Fool’s Day!  They think that it is a hilarious, confusing and downright sneaky day that they’ve all come to enjoy.  The true amazement is that every year, the pranks, joke, and tricks just seem to get better and better.

How do people think up these new ideas each and every year?  It’s like they have a bank of ideas that they keep hidden, just for this one special occasion…and then, they unleash the fury of their fun tricks all day long.  If you’ve got a few jokesters in your family (we do!), or are one yourself, it’s always fun as an adult to pull some fun kid-friendly pranks on your little ones – as long as they are the type who like jokes like these ones.  I have two kids who love them and two who would rather be on the giving side than the receiving side, so I’ll just get them involved in pranking their brothers. 😉

It’s time to add to the foolery fun this April Fool’s Day!  If you are needing a bit of inspiration to help get you started, here are some fun kid-friendly April Fool’s Day tricks that are you can play on your children.  But be warned…if you trick them, they may find it necessary to trick you back!

 Last year our favorite trick was putting confetti on a ceiling fan.  When the kids turned it on… it was a FUN MESS! 🙂 

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1. Pan full of Brownies.
Literally, one of the best tricks out there.  Once your kids walk in the door from playing outside, tell them that you’ve spent the past few hours making them a made-from-scratch pan of brownies.  Their eyes are sure to light up as they sprint to the kitchen…then, the prank sets in as they see the baking sheet literally full of the letter “E” cut out in brown construction paper…priceless!  Check out the details of how to get the kids involved in this one at my friend Deirdre’s blog: 

2.  Keep those gummy worms handy.
Tell your kids that you are making then a homemade omelet for breakfast, but stick a few gummy worms smack dab in the middle.  Talk about a look of shock on their face!

3.  Toilet paper their room.
Think back to your younger days.  Were you ever part of toilet papering someone else’s house or car?  Well, it’s time to dig out those skills now and use them!  Once your child falls asleep, sneak in and toilet paper their room giving them quite the show when they wake up.

4.  The great grape trick. 
Grab some aluminum foil and wrap up individual grapes.  Then, tell your kids that you have a couple of pieces of chocolate left over for them to unwrap and eat.  Truly a silly surprise for them!  

5.  Let your little ones know that you are running low on marshmallows and you need them to go pick some from your marshmallow bush. 
It’s worth it, trust me!  A few moments before you make this request, head outside and take some marshmallows and stick them on the branches of a bush or tree out front.  The confusion that will happen will be picture worthy.

6.  Fake bugs.
In their glass of water… at the dinner table.   Be sure to have your camera ready. 🙂

7. Undrinkable Juice

Fill cups with gelatin and tell the kids that it’s juice.   Be sure to place a straw into the cup before you put it in the refrigerator to firm up overnight.  In the morning, offer your kids a cup of juice and get ready when they try to take a sip. (Oh- and have a spoon waiting because they will be more excited about the jello than the juice!)

8.  The great Oreo switcheroo. 
Plate them an afternoon treat of what they think is just some harmless, yummy and simple oreos…but switch out the middle cream for something else (we used peanut butter last year – still edible, but definitely a trick they didn’t see coming!) 

9.  Change the color of their cereal magically. 
Have their bowls of cereal waiting for them on the table, milk-free.  Under that dry cereal, add a few drops of food coloring and wait for them to pour that milk on top.  Once they do, the colors emerge!

10. Eating Rocks 
Your kids will think that you are crazy for this one, but it’s perfect!   Pretend that you found some pretty rocks in the yard – show the kids how great they are and talk about where you found them.  Then, when they are into your story, eat one.   They won’t know that you are actually eating candy rocks!  Here are some cute ones that you can find with my affiliate link on Amazon: Chocolate RIVER ROCKS: 1 lb. 

11.  Caramel “Apples”
Make caramel “apples” the night before…but instead of apples, dip a few onions in the caramel and let them dry overnight.  A unique and smelly trick for sure!

12.  Whoopee cushion’s galore.
Do your little ones have a favorite chair to set in?  Stick a whoopee cushion under it and watch ’em jump from the noise!

13.  Mashed potato sundae. 
Let your kids think that you have a nice ice cream sundae waiting for them, but in all reality, it’s just mashed up potatoes in a nice, sundae bowl.  

14.  Spooky Fruit
Stick googly eyes on your kid’s foods when you’re packing their school lunches. When they open up their bags, they’ll find two pairs of eyes staring back!

Image Source: Flickr user herr_hartmann

15. Frozen Cereal
Before you go to bed, place a bowl of cereal with milk in the freezer.   When the kids get up, sneak the cereal out of the freezer & give them their bowl (you’ll have to be up before them).    You can even freeze some cereal & milk on a spoon and place it on top… 🙂

There are so many kid-friendly April Fools Day Pranks out there that are appropriate for all ages.  Have fun with the options and see how many of these suggested tricks you can do to your kids this April Fool’s Day!