Life

12 April Fools’ Day Pranks To Play On Your Family That Are Funny But Not Annoying

by Jessica Booth

There's a lot going on on Apr. 1 this year. For anyone who is part of the Catholic religion, it's Easter, the holiest day of the year. For everyone, it is, of course, April Fools' Day, a day of practical jokes and hilarious pranks. If you celebrate Easter and April Fools' Day, this is probably going to be a pretty busy weekend for you! It's also the perfect time to pull a prank on your family, since you'll probably all be together. There are tons of ideas out there, but you might want to keep things family-friendly and pretty tame, since you're also in the midst of celebrating an important holiday. If you're looking for ideas, we've got plenty - below are a few funny April Fools' Day pranks to play on your family.

You could just prank your parents, since that's fairly easy and really doesn't require too much imagination (especially if they aren't tech-savvy and you can mess with their phone), but why not also prank your siblings, your cousins, or even your aunts and uncles? It's the only day of the year you can totally get away with acting mischievous! You might as well take full advantage of it.

You can pull some Easter-inspired pranks that are sure to be popular this year, or you can do something a little bit more out there. Again, though, just keep things funny and tame - there's no need to make anyone cry or freak out on Easter Sunday. Check out the ideas below and go from there!

1The Shoe Trick

If you're having guests over, you can prank anyone who slips their shoes off. Simply grab some napkins or some other piece of paper, then quietly stuff it into the toes of shoes you find laying around. People will put their shoes on, and they won't understand why they aren't fitting.

2Insect Lamps

Fake bugs are basically an April Fools' Day requirement, but that doesn't mean the pranks aren't funny. You can totally freak your family out by doing something a little bit more realistic than a fake rubber bug. Print out images of insects, then cut them out and tape them onto the inside of a lamp shade. When the lamp turns on, it will look like a huge bug is inside. Cue screaming.

3Red Water

Freak everyone out by making running water a different color. Dip a Q-tip into a brightly colored food coloring dye (red makes the water look bloody, which is extra weird, but you can use any shade), then use it to put the dye all around the inside of a faucet. The next person who runs the water will get completely freaked out.

4Jell-O Juice

Offer to be in charge of drinks, and then make some that will confuse everyone. Fill glasses with Jell-O, but tell everyone it's juice or some sort of bright cocktail. Watch everyone get surprised when nothing comes out as they try to drink it.

5Candy Swap

It's Easter, so you have to do something with candy! Try this one: swap out those mini chocolate eggs for something different. Before you see everyone, dip grapes in chocolate, then freeze. Take the chocolate eggs out of the wrappers, save the wrappers. When the grapes are frozen, wrap them in the foil wrappers, then serve as if they were candy.

6Messages On Toilet Paper

If you're going to be pranking a bunch of people, including little kids, go for something a little more subtle. Try writing messages on toilet paper. Grab the roll and a marker, and write random messages throughout the roll, then carefully put it back like new. As people grab the paper, they'll see your random messages.

7The Brownie Trick

Offer to bring a plate of brownies to your Easter celebration. When it comes time for dessert, present everyone with a plate full of brown "Es" cut out of brown construction paper. Get it? Brownies? Brown Es?

8Air Horn Doors

Get a little evil with this one: Find some air horns, then set them up so that when someone opens a door, the air horn goes off.

9The Clothing Swap

While everyone else is busy doing something for Easter, sneak into bedrooms and do some clothing swaps. Switch your mom's shirts for your little brothers shirts. Swap your sister's jeans with your dad's jeans. They probably won't even realize until later on, which makes it funnier.

10Mentos Ice Bombs

If you don't have an ice machine, you can pull this off. Get some Mentos, then fill an ice tray with water, placing one Mentos in each cube. When someone asks for a drink, give them the Mentos ice cubes. The mint with soda, especially, will cause a bubbly reaction.

11The Broken Remote

Before everyone sits down to watch TV, mess with the remote control. Take a tiny piece of tape and place it over the sensor... no one will have any idea what's going on.

12Jell-O Plates

Take a cue from Jim from The Office and out things in Jell-O. Grab some plates beforehand and set them in a Jell-O mound. Just make sure there are extras so that you can actually eat!