April Fools’ Day Pranks for Parents to Play on Their Kids

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April Fools’ Day Pranks for Parents to Play on Their Kids

One of our favorite holidays is just around the corner—and this year, April Fools’ Day is on a Saturday! That means we’ve got an entire weekend to plan for, as a gift from the parents to the kids. 

Like anything else we care truly about, we’re going to do this holiday justice and pull out all the stops. From goofy gags to fun fake-outs to punny pranks, we’re going to keep the practical jokes joking all throughout the day. Prepare for a whole day of April Fools’ pranks, all the way from good morning, sunshine to goodnight, moon!

Prepare: March 31st

The best pranks take a little bit of time and preparation. In this case, the set-up is you sneaking into your kids’ room on April Fools’ Eve (that’s the night of March 31st). While you’re there, make some changes: turn the books in the bookshelf upside down or if your kid is a heavy sleeper, turn them so their head is at the foot of the bed!

Clean Teeth

For the second prank of the morning—after they’ve had a chance to see what’s happened in their room—hand them a toothbrush topped with frosting, mayonnaise, or any similar gel-like substance that isn’t toothpaste!

“Empty” Bottle

This fun and easy prank is sure to cause a double-take or two while getting ready for the day! Unscrew the cap from your kids’ shampoo or body wash; put a small piece of plastic wrap over the opening of the bottle, and screw the lid back on. When they try to squeeze some out of the bottle, nothing will come out, even though they’ll be able to tell the bottle is full.

The Coolest Breakfast Cereal

This one also takes a bit of set-up the night before: after your kid is asleep and you’ve moved some things around in their room, go pour them a bowl of cereal for the next morning. Pour in cereal and milk, add a spoon, then pop the whole thing into the freezer! The next morning, you’ll serve up the coolest breakfast cereal there is, and your kid will dig in to find the whole thing frozen solid.

It Sounds the Same

Ask if anyone wants some of the brown-Es in the kitchen. You meant the plate covered in the letter “E” cut out of brown construction paper, but they heard something else…

New Oreo Flavors

Take some Oreo cookies apart; remove the filling, and swap it out for anything that looks close enough. We’re thinking toothpaste, mayo, horseradish, or cheese slices. Sweet swaps include marshmallow fluff, hazelnut spread, Jell-O slices, or fun flavored frosting.

Afternoon Juice

Make a batch of Jell-O, and put some into clear drinking glasses. Add a straw, then let it set up in the fridge. Serve up this “juice” and have some fun watching your kid’s surprise when they try the straw and get nothing! Add sliced fruit for a bit of added tradition, or make up some clear Jell-O “ice cubes” to go into the colored Jell-O “juice” for a bit of added realism.

Do You Ever Feel Like You’re Being Watched?

Trust us, taking 15 minutes or so to put googly eyes on everything is the prank that will continue to pay off for the rest of the year (at least) as everyone slowly discovers all the eyes you’ve hidden!

It’s funny if you put eyes on everything in one location, like the food inside the refrigerator or the books in your kids’ backpacks, and it’s equally funny if you have only one item in a location that randomly has eyes on it, like on the saltshaker (but not the pepper) or on the TV remote.

Blue Milk

Use food coloring to change the color of any drink in your fridge that comes in an opaque container. Turn the orange juice red and the milk blue or green! When you’re adding color to drinks that already have a color, make sure to remember color theory or look up what color you’ll get first—or risk it and enjoy the black V8!

Sponge Cake

Looking for a weekend arts and crafts project for older kids? Pick up a few different colored household sponges and different colored tubes of caulk at the hardware store, then slice the sponges into triangles and decorate them with the caulk.

Add sprinkles and let dry completely. Now your kid has a surprisingly realistic piece of fake cake that will never spoil or get eaten. What pranks will they pull with such an ingenious device? We have no idea but we’re sure it’s going to be great!

The Spirit of the Holiday

April Fools’ Day is a fun and frivolous excuse to play pranks on family members, participate in mass media hoaxes like fake product launches, and celebrate the uplifting experience of being in on the joke. Keep all celebrations fun and harmless, especially when kids are involved, and you’ll have an April Fools’ Day weekend to remember!

If you want another way to celebrate April Fool’s Day, do it by ordering a custom cornhole board with one-of-a-kind graphics—designed by you! Simply fill out our design request form, and our digital artists will get to work on your new cornhole board. Is this a traditional way to celebrate the holiday? Nope! Our custom Cornhole boards are the opposite of foolish, and there’s no bad time to get a new board!

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