April Fools Day Pranks

“April 1st: This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three-hundred and sixty-four.” – Mark Twain

Did you know that in the sixteenth century in France, the start of a New Year was on the first of April (Some documents said that the New Year was celebrated for 8 days, beginning on March 25 and this celebration culminated on April 1). Certainly, there was no “Happy New Year” of ABBA but people also celebrated the New Year in nearly the same way as we do nowadays with parties and dance into the late hours of the night. Suddenly in 1562 (under Charles IX), the new year fell on the first of January as Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world. It was a big change, however, some obstinate people did not accepted this change. 

Some people did not know anything about the new calendar (news traveled by foot on those days so many did not know what was going on in the world until much later), so they continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1.  People thought this was so ridiculous that they played tricks on them and called them “April fools.”

The word “April fool” or “Poisson d’Avril” (which means “April Fish”) has become very popular and the first of April has become a very special day of the year for tricks and pranks and making other people believe that something false is true.

With the unlimited creativeness of human beings, tricks and pranks are performed in several ways from simple, such as “Hey dude, there is some mud on your face” to elaborate ones, such as setting your roommate’s alarm clock back an hour. Whatever the prank is, the pranksters usually shout to their victims “April Fool!” at the end of the prank.

In France today, French children fool their friends by taping a “paper fish” to their friends’ backs. When those friends discover this trick, the pranksters yell “Poisson d’Avril!” In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called ‘gobs’ or ‘gobby’ and the victim of a joke is called a ‘noodle.’ It was considered bad luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.

The news media has flavored April Fool’s Day with more humor and hilariousness. For instance, a couple of years ago, one of the most popular magazines for teens in Asia informed that Westlife – the super band in Ireland and the U.K – had died in a plane crash. Many teen girls went on a hunger strike with countless teardrops in 1 week until the next issue of the magazine said it was only a joke on April Fool’s Day. One other example, a British short film showed on April Fool’s Day a fairly detailed documentary about “spaghetti farmers” and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. Of course, it was also a prank but in fact, there were many people who believed it.

Do you have any plans to fool somebody on that “for – fun – only” observance? This year, I suggest a funny and polite way:  make a prank call to your buddies with your voice changed.   Just buy a device called a  “Voice Changer”  which helps change your voice from male to female and can imitate the voice of movie stars, famous singers and more. Imagine your friends face when they receive that call from you!

Other Top April Fools Day Pranks:

1) Get up early in morning and fill the hair dryer with baby powder.  Whoever uses it first will get a big surprise!

2)  Find a box that is the same size of a small cake.  Cover the box with lots of frosting so it looks like a cake and then put it on the kitchen counter.  Whenever someone tries to cut a slice from this ”cake”, they will get an “April Fools”. 

3) Do you own a pet, if yes this one is for you can put in a small walky talky near the place where the pet is playing and then go into another room.  At some time, when anyone from your house goes to play with the pet say something from the walky talky so they will feel that your pet is speaking to them. 

4) Place a small alarm clock under someones bed and set it for a late night time, such as 3 am.  It is fun to watch them at 3am jumping all over the place to stop the alarm clock.

These pranks are for having fun…please be sure that you are not hurting anyone.  You should also make sure that you know how someone will react to a prank.  They can make some people very angry, which is not the purpose of an April Fools Prank.  Those who do not have a sense of humor are not worth your time planning a prank.

 

April Fools Day Activities

April Fool’s Day is quite an appropriate way to begin National Humor Month.  Here is some background information plus a few activities for you to enjoy.

Did you know that April Fool’s Day began in France in 1564?  Before then, the new year was celebrated on April 1!  As some Europeans continued celebrating the new year on that day, they were called April fools and their friends would play silly tricks on them.

The harmless pranks of April Fool’s Day take place in the US, Germany, France, Great Britain, and other countries.  In France, an April fool is a poisson d’Avril, an April fish, and chocolate fish are a special treat.  In Scotland, people call you an April cuckoo.

Be sure not to play a joke after 12 noon or you will be the fool!

Now, for a few activities:

1. Cut out a 1″ square for every child playing this game. Write “A” on one of them and put them all in a bag. Have all children choose a square, not telling anyone which they chose, and put them back in the bag. As children sit in a circle, a child is chosen to go first. If he did not choose the “A”, he will walk around the circle and return to his spot; another child is chosen. Only the child who chose the “A” will walk around the circle, tap another on the shoulder, say “April Fool!” and start running. The tapped child chases him. If the tapped child does not beat the first child back to his spot, he continues walking around the circle and taps someone else; if he DOES beat the first child back, the first child has another turn to walk, tap, and run.

2. For older children, follow the same directions for the squares. After the squares have all been chosen, let the children scatter in the play area.  At the Start signal, have children start moving around. The child who chose the “A” is IT and tries to tag the other children by whispering “April Fool!” each time he tags someone. Children that are tagged must freeze into statues. IT must be subtle in order to sneak up and tag the other children.

NOTE:  The top two games are easily adapted to any letter of the alphabet for any theme. Try one for a birthday party!

3. Have children create their own lists of ten things (a good way to review nouns) or create a class list. Have an interesting variety. Without letting children see the silly story they are going to create, call on ten to say one of their words or to call out one from the class list. Fill in the blanks of this story (from Spring is Here, Macmillan Seasonal Activity Packs, 1987) as they provide the words:

One day, I put on my beautiful brand- new _____. Then I went out for a walk. The first thing I saw was a funny _____. It was right next to a striped _____! Then a tiny little _____wearing a huge _____walked past me. I was so surprised that I forgot to watch where I was going. I walked right into a big _____and bumped my _____. Then I saw a huge _____riding on a small _____. I laughed so hard I almost dropped my _____. What a silly way to start the day!

4. See if you are fooled by these riddles!

a. Which animals can jump higher than a tree?
b. What are the things you’ll never eat for lunch?
c. What do you lose every time you stand up?
d. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
e. Why can’t you tell a secret in a vegetable garden?

5. Remember that any time is great for a SMILE BREAK! Try it when you feel tense!

I hope these ideas are useful and ignite your own creativity. Enjoy!

ANSWERS to riddles: a. Every animal can jump higher than a tree because a tree can’t jump! b. Breakfast or dinner c. Your lap d. At the bottom of the page e. The corn has ears and the potatoes have eyes.