April Fool’s Day is always a fun day, but sometimes a fun prank can be hard to pull off on students. Most teachers will try to convince them they have a pop quiz, but students are immune to such tactics. If you tell them they have a quiz, they’ll either know it’s a trick or assume they just forgot about it.
If you want to have some fun with your students, here are some creative and friendly pranks to try this April Fool’s Day. If you teach older kids who switch classes, your best bet is to do a different prank for each class period so the joke doesn’t get out!
1. Pick Up the Pieces
Glue a few pencils and other objects to the ground and insist students pick them up. Watch as they struggle to pull them off of the floor! (Hint: You can use either warm soapy water or nail polish remover to pry everything up when you’re done).
2. Whole School Shuffle
This one is going to take the whole staff to pull off. Before students arrive, switch classrooms with a neighboring teacher and start the day like normal. Watch the students try and figure out what is going on!
3. Give Your Voice an April Fool’s Break
If you teach older students who switch classes, use this prank on your first class. When the students come in, write a message on the board that you have lost your voice (you can really build up to it by acting hoarse in the preceding days). Act out the class using charades and make the students figure out what you are saying. At the end of the class, smile and tell them in a loud clear voice to have a nice day!
4. Change Your Clothes
This will work no matter what age group you teach. Bring several sets of clothes with you and randomly change your outfit throughout the day. In a nonchalant tone, say that you have no idea what they are talking about when they ask why you changed.
5. The April Fool’s Fakeout
During the days and weeks leading up to April Fool’s Day, tell students that you have the best prank ever planned and that no one is going to see it coming. Remind them every chance you get. For example, if they are rambunctious one day, tell them to just wait until April Fool’s Day when you get them back. Then on April Fool’s Day, sit back and watch them wait in anticipation for what’s coming—all day long, while you do absolutely nothing.
Bonus Prank for Your Fellow Educators
6. Not So Baked Goods
Empty a small box, such as a cereal box, and make sure all sides are sealed. Pick up several canisters of icing from the store and apply them thickly to the box, making it look like a sheet cake. Place the cake in the teacher’s lounge before anyone arrives, then watch as the teachers try to “cut the cake!”
