If your children are like my children, April Fool’s Day is a great excuse to get away with a few, little, funny ideas that may not fly on any other ordinary day.  But, I have to say…I started it!  Over the past few years, I have enjoyed playing little tricks on them and watching them get the biggest kick out of it!  These are my favorites that work every time- easy, funny, harmless!

BALL AVALANCHE– The first thing I always do is gather as many of their balls as I can the night before…no heavy ones- beach balls work well and any light ones.

Before I go to bed, I put the balls on the top rack in our pantry- I put a bunch and keep stuffing them in.  It is a double door, and so I can open one and have the other closed to hold the balls in place.  I make sure one of the kids is the first one to open the door in the morning- usually by asking them to get something out of the pantry- and they get SHOWERED with balls.  My daughter remembers the trick now, and so I am going to have to throw her off a little this year by also putting balls in the refrigerator…as soon as the door is opened, the balls will come tumbling out.  I use more balls than this photo shows, but it was all I could do in order to take the picture.  They LOVE it.  And, they will be unsuspecting in the fridge~ you can put them in a cabinet or closet, too.

FREEZE THEIR DRINKS- Another of my favorites is to put their cups of orange juice in the freezer the night before so that it is solidly frozen when it is time for breakfast. 

I top the frozen juice with a little bit of orange juice from the jug to hide the frozen juice, and then serve it to them.  They try to drink it and only get a sip before their juice won’t come out anymore.  It, obviously, works for a drink at any meal and so do the one that is most convenient for you.

I also do silly things like replace their chairs at our breakfast table with kid-sized chairs from the playroom- they are much shorter and make them look funny sitting at the table in such a small chair.  I often put shoes on the feet of each chair and hang some of their undies from the chandelier- undies are always hilarious.  I have also put shirts on the backs of the chairs so that the chairs are wearing shirts.

This trick is for the kids to play on the adults.  The kids love to have a trick up their sleeves for a grown-up, and so this is our favorite trick for teachers, grandparents, aunts, etc.  We give them a bag of “popcorn”~

It looks so real, but it is actually soap!

The soap is made by LoveLee Soaps and looks so much like popcorn!  This trick has gone over very well because the recipient also gets to have some very interesting soap after being “fooled”!  This trick has a high success rate!  The soaps are clearly not meant for eating but, if someone takes a bite, the soaps are made of simple, harmless ingredients.  But, please don’t eat!

Remember to have a good sense of humor and let the kids play corny tricks on you and tell you silly, made-up jokes!  Read funny poems from authors like Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky.  Enjoy!

My kids’ favorite Shel Silverstein poem right now is “Crowded Tub”- it is goofy just like they are!  This is what it says…

There are too many kids in this tub,

There are too many elbows to scrub.

I just washed a behind that I’m SURE wasn’t mine…

There are too many kids in this tub!

~Shel Silverstein

ALSO, for a group of fun April Fool’s Day food ideas, head over to Dash for a list with links and tutorials on how to bake up some fun and fool your children- like these adorable “ice cream cones”- made with Rice Krispies by Cute As a Fox...