It’s April Fool’s Day!

Happy April 1, otherwise known as April Fool’s Day! This can be a really fun day for families, as we all love a good joke, and today is the day to get away with much silliness. You have so many possibilities for pranks… you could go with old classics, like using a rubber band to squeeze the kitchen sink’s spray attachment so that the next person to turn on the water gets soaked, or you could make up something completely new. Here are a few fun ideas to catch your family unawares:

• Tamper with their food. You don’t want to serve your kids anything inedible, dangerous or disgusting, but you can have fun seeing the looks of surprise on their faces if something unexpected happens during breakfast. Try hard-boiling all of the eggs, putting them back in the carton, then asking one of your kids to make scrambled eggs or crack an egg into your pancake batter. Another fun one is to dye the milk your favorite color with food coloring. Of course, this is only surprising if you buy milk in a cardboard carton, as opposed to a clear plastic jug.
• Do some rearranging. This is a fun prank to play on your spouse or your kids: Rearrange their drawers so that in the morning, when then go to reach for underwear, they find pajamas, and when they look for a shirt, they find socks instead. You could also switch the fruit and vegetable drawers in your refrigerator, or put the breakfast cereal in a different cabinet from where it’s usually stored.
• Rely on Scotch tape. Because Scotch tape is clear, inexpensive and available in just about every home, it can be part of your last-minute April Fool’s Day jokes. Tape a quarter to the kitchen floor, and see how many people try to pick it up. Try taping the telephone receiver to the base, then call from your cellphone and ask one of the kids to answer it. Another funny trick would be to use packing tape to tape the microwave shut.
• Serve them dessert that isn’t (or dinner that is). Think about what types of sweet foods resemble those that are savory. For example, mashed potatoes could be a substitute for vanilla ice cream. Serve it in an ice cream bowl and cover with dark brown beef gravy. (You’ll need to chill it first to make it believable!) Or fill a small pie crust with butterscotch pudding and “vegetable” pieces cut out of Starburst candy for faux pot pie.

While these are simply silly pranks, your kids will remember them for years to come, and will probably pass on the tradition to their own children! Did you play any April Fool’s jokes this year? Tell us about them?