April Fool’s jokes over the years

April Fool’s Day is here! Our family has had a few fun adventures on this day. There was the year that my brother and his wife announced her new pregnancy; we thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true! We still laugh about that, and my niece is four years old. Then there was the year when I tricked the kids by filling juice glasses with red Jello. I slipped a straw into each glass before putting them into the fridge to set up overnight. The next morning, I served them breakfast, complete with “fruit punch,” which they found quite hard to sip!

It might take a bit of thinking ahead, but you can probably pull over a good one on your kids this year. I think that playing April Fool’s tricks is a great way to stay young, and it definitely creates fun memories for the kids. It’s been a few years, and my kids still talk about the April Fool’s Jello! Here are a few ideas to ponder as the day approaches:

• Surprise their palates. Switching up their food is an extremely easy and funny way to tickle their funny bones. Think about foods that are similar in appearance to some of their favorites, but which have a very different taste or texture. For example, serve “cupcakes” made out of meatloaf and tinted mashed potato “frosting” as an afternoon snack. Or, try switching their diced carrots at dinner with quartered orange Starburst candy.

• Switch the clocks. April Fool’s Day is on a Sunday this year, so if you don’t have plans, it won’t make much difference if you put the clocks ahead or behind a few hours. Act shocked when the sun rises at 4:00 in the morning or when everyone “oversleeps” until noon.

• Try old classics from your childhood. Rubber band the spray attachment on the kitchen sink, and ask one of your kids to spray out a pan, or balance a small pail of water over a doorframe, just waiting for an unsuspecting kid to open it. Have fun and don’t be afraid to let them get a little bit messy!

• Act as their partner in crime in order to play a trick on Daddy, Grandma or a favorite auntie. Give them some good ideas, and offer to help them carry out their April Fool’s mischief.

The name of the game on April Fool’s Day is to keep things light and fun, and to keep your sense of humor about you. Remember that last part, particularly if you’re the one who ends up getting squirted with the spray attachment!

It’s not a national holiday but it is celebrated all over the world as the day you play all sorts of practical jokes on one another. It is thought that April Fools began back in 1582 in France when Charles the IX reformed the way that the calendar was done. There was a change in the calendar of their main new year’s celebration from April 1st to January 1st and many refused to abide by it and they were called “fools” because the continued to celebrate on April 1. Over the course of time it became a sort of tradition to play a prank on the first day of April on the fools that were celebrating the wrong holiday. The tradition eventually spread to England, Scotland and later to the Americas. So be careful, today is the day of pranks – be on the look out or if your are a prankster yourself good luck !

What have been your favorite April Fool’s jokes over the years?