65 April Fools’ Day Pranks For Kids

If laughter is the best medicine, I would personally like an extra dose of it on the first day of April. One way to ramp up the laughs is to get your kids involved in the fun with these April Fool's Day pranks for kids. Most of these pranks are quick, easy, and don't require much planning to pull off, so they're perfect for kids. There are also a few ideas for pranks that parents can play on their kids that they'll really get a kick out of.

In this digital day in age, there are actually a ton of pranks you can play on friends and relatives from afar. Some of the most hilarious virtual pranks are sprinkled throughout this list of ideas. Just be sure your kids know to follow up these harmless jokes with a hearty "April Fools!" so that your friends and family know that your pranks are all in good fun.

Pranks For Kids To Play On Friends

• Replace the filling of an Oreo cookie with toothpaste and offer it to your friend as a treat. Just be sure to have a real one on standby.
• Dip Brussels sprouts in melted chocolate and roll in sprinkles. Once the chocolate has dried, offer your friend a "cake ball" to try.
• An oldie, but a goodie — tape a silly sign on your friend's back. You can write something like "Gotcha!" or "Happy April Fools!"
• Another classic prank is to hide around a corner and jump out when your friend walks by to scare the pants off of them.
• When your friend talks to you, move your mouth like you're talking, but don't make any noise. They'll be so confused by the lack of sound.
• Convince your friend that you're moving to a different country.
• Download this maze with no end to pass out to your friends and watch them keep trying and trying to solve it.
• Fill a donut box with veggies and offer your friend a "donut."
• Register your friend's phone number to receive fun facts about cats from this app every day.
• Slip a rubber snake underneath your friend's desk before they arrive at school or into their backpack at some point during the school day. (Just make sure to clear it with the teacher first.)
• Let your friends know there’s a hidden basket of candy under the sink in the bathroom at school. They won’t be able to find it when they go look.
• Tell your friends that the school lunch menu has changed. Today, they’ll be serving cold sardine soup.

Pranks For Kids To Play On Parents

• Put a piece of clear tape over the faucet on their sink and watch them get sprayed when they turn on the water.
• Blow up a bunch of balloons and use them to fill up your parent's car, closet, or bathroom while they're asleep.
• If dad's a heavy sleeper, put a full face of makeup on him and watch his reaction when he wakes up.
• Put a toy snake under the sheet in your parent's bed and watch them gasp when they turn down the covers.
• Offer to make your parents a sandwich, but slip a fake bug between the bread (even the edible gummy kind will work).
• Put a piece of clear tape over the end of the TV remote to block the sensor and render it useless.
• Coat mom and dad's bar of soap with clear nail polish so that the next time they pick it up, it won't get sudsy.
• Flip all of the framed photos in your house upside down and see how long it takes parents to notice.
• Write a funny message on a square of toilet paper with a permanent marker and put it in the toilet facing up so your parents will see it when they open the lid.
• Stick a sign in the back window of the car telling people to honk or wave as they drive by.
• Go outside for a moment, come back in, and then yell “Someone slashed all the tires on the car!” Watch your parents scramble outside in a panic.
• Tell your parents you won a big award at school and convince them to take you out for ice cream to celebrate — it’s a win for you all if they believe it!
• Use a cotton swab to apply some gel food coloring to the inside of your parent’s bathroom faucet. When they turn the water on, it will appear colored.
• Swap everything in two kitchen cabinets. Your parents will be so confused when they go to grab a coffee mug and are met with a stack of plates instead.

Pranks To Play On Grandparents

• Add a ridiculous photo to Facebook and tag the grandparents in it. Having to figure out how to remove their tag from the snout of a muddy pig will surely have them giggling.
• Cut out a photo of grandma and grandpa's faces for kids to wear as a mask during an April 1st FaceTime call.
• Let your kids draw on your upper arm. When the grandparents notice, proudly explain that you have a new "tattoo." They'll be shocked when you swear it's real.
• Send the grandparents a text with a photo of a new "pet" — something exotic and scary that you convince them totally lives in your house now.
• Fill a baking pan with brown construction paper Es and cover it with foil. Then, drop it off on their porch with a note attached that reads, "Enjoy these brownies!"
• Unroll a roll of toilet paper and write silly messages on the squares. Roll it back up and stick it in a care package for the grandparents so they'll have a sweet surprise during a future potty break.
• Fill a planter with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and some candy pebbles and add some faux flowers to gift grandparents during a visit. At some point during the visit, take a huge bite of the "dirt" and offer them a bite.
• Unplug the grandparents' TV and watch their frustration when they try to turn it on.
• Replace the salt in their salt shaker with pepper and fill their pepper shaker with salt. (Hint: This only works if the shakers aren't see-through.)
• Put a few drops of food coloring in their milk jug so they'll be surprised the next time they open the fridge.
• Decorate a sponge with icing to look like a piece of cake and pretend like you made it for them.
• Call up your grandparents and convince them that you’re doing so great at school that you get to skip ahead two grades next year.
• Change the settings on your grandparents’ phone or TV to a different language. (After they struggle with it for a few minutes, be sure to change it back for them.)

Pranks For Kids To Play On Teachers

• Add a still Snap Camera filter to your class Zoom chat, but then pretend like you have no idea what your teacher is talking about when they point it out.
• If your class meets online, plan to swap backgrounds with a classmate mid-lesson.
• Pretend you're on mute by mouthing the answer to a question when asked, but then shout "April Fools!" when your teacher asks you to unmute yourself.
• Sit on a whoopie cushion during an especially quiet time in class.
• Gift your teacher with a "caramel apple" that's actually an onion covered in caramel and sprinkles. (Just be sure you have a real treat for them on stand-by.)
• Leading up to April Fool's Day, tell your teacher that you have an amazing prank you have planned for them. Really hype it up all the way up until the actual day, and then the joke is that you don't actually pull any pranks.
• Remove the tips from dry erase markers so that they won't work. Before class starts, replace your teacher's markers with your non-working ones.
• When your teacher steps out of the room, have your classmates all turn their desks so that everyone is facing backward.
• Plan a silly dance that you and your classmates can do and break it out flash mob-style on your unsuspecting teacher.
• As your teacher calls roll, plan to have every classmate answer with a silly phrase instead of simply saying "here."

Pranks For Parents To Play On Kids

• Download this broken screen app to make your kid's device look like it has a cracked screen. They'll either run screaming to blame it on a sibling or try to hide it from you — either way it's hilarious.
• Serve up a meal filled with imposter prank foods.
• Change all of the clocks in your house and on your kid's devices to leave them utterly confused.
• If your kids pick out their clothes for the next day before bed, swap them for an identical outfit a few sizes too big while they're asleep. When they put them on in the morning, convince them they must have shrunk in their sleep.
• Poke a hole in an apple and add a gummy worm for a trick that's also a treat.
• Fill a juice container with water and food coloring and pretend nothing is wrong when your kids notice that it tastes different.
• Short sheet their bed.
• Freeze a bowl of cereal and serve it to your kids for breakfast the next day with some fresh cereal sprinkled on top. They'll be so confused trying to dip the spoon in.
• Freeze a faux bug in an ice cube and drop it in a drink for your kiddo.
• Fill your kid's shoes with something unexpected like pom poms or sequins that they'll have to dump out before they can put them on.
• Put a "for sale" sign in your front yard and tell the kiddos that you're moving all the way to Alaska. (This is also a great prank to play on visiting grandparents!)
• Hide the “parent” end of an old baby monitor in your kid’s room and make scary noises into the “baby” end.
• Swap out the underwear in their drawer with bathing suits.
• Fill your child’s pillowcase with a few partially inflated balloons. They’ll be super surprised when they lay down to go to sleep on April 1.
• Glue a quarter to the ground and watch your kids try to figure out why they can’t pick it up.
• Turn off the wifi or block your kid’s favorite TV channel and pretend like you have no idea why it’s not working.