April Fool's Day Fun for Families
Backwards Day, Wacky Foods and Other April 1st Jokes
“Hey, your shoe’s untied” is an age-old, standard April Fool’s Day trick. The day set aside for pranks, tricks and foolishness can be much more creative and fun for children and families.
By setting aside the trickery, parents can use April 1 as an excuse to do the crazy, wacky things they’ve been waiting all year to try!
There are lots of April Fools Day ideas that will bring out the kid in every parent.
Make April 1 ‘Backwards Day’
Make April Fool’s Day a chance to do everything backwards. Try wearing your clothes on backwards (the kids might need help with this one). Serve dinner for breakfast and eggs and pancakes for dinner.
Say goodbye when you enter a room and say hello when you leave. Say “good night” in the morning and “good morning” when you’re tucking the kids into bed.
You can even switch roles for the day – kids can be the parents for a day and the parents can be the kids.
April Fool Foods
Use breakfast, lunch and dinner as excuses to play surprise tricks on your family. Check out April Fool Foods for some ideas. Let the kids play with their food and don’t worry about the mess. Help your kids cook up some crazy concoctions and food combinations to try to trick each other.
Have a Family Joke Contest or Family Riddle Contest
Can the kids stump the parents with a riddle that will keep them thinking all day long? Make your April Fool’s jokes funny ones by making up your own. Challenge everyone in the family to make up a joke or a riddle that is unique, and have everyone vote on the winner. The prize for the winner? A pair of nose glasses, a whoopee cushion or a hand buzzer.
Dispel Some Urban Legends
Tweens and teens are fascinated by urban legends. In fact these stories are proliferated most often by young people who so want to believe they’re true.
Snopes.com dispels many urban legends and modern myths, which are in some ways simply stories that only a fool would believe.
Family members can challenge each other to pick out the true story and the urban legends. From old wives tales like the claim that it takes chewing gum seven years to pass through the human digestive system, to modern Internet scams and claims, Snopes is a fun way to debunk some myths.
Parents should be careful not to get carried away with their April Fool’s tricks. Don’t tell your kids they’re going to Disney World or the “April Fool” letdown will be a major disappointment. Conversely, don’t tell the kids their long awaited vacation has been cancelled. Keep it light and fun and your pranks won’t cause anyone distress.
