19 Easy April Fools Pranks for the Whole Family

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More April Fools

Try these silly easy April Fools’ pranks for the family! This post is full of April Fools’ ideas that bring on the laughs! 

woman holding up prank cake pops for April Fools' Day

Do you like playing harmless and silly April Fools’ Day pranks on your family?

I personally think it’s fun to become a little bit of a prankster once in a while to lighten the mood and make my kids laugh. Here are a few funny and easy April Fools’ pranks for the family. These clever ideas sure to bring some giggles – even year-round when they least expect it! Ha Ha!

If you’ve been following Hip2Save over the years, you know that we LOVE April Fools’ Day! 😉

Here is a look back at some of our favorites April Fools’ Day posts from over the years:


Try these easy April Fools’ pranks for the family:


1. “Ice Cream” Sundaes that are savory, not sweet.

Ice Cream Mashed Potatoes, one of our easy april fools pranks for family

This is one of the best April Fools’ pranks for the family! Use an ice cream scooper to serve up these “ice cream” sundaes that are actually made from mashed potatoes and gravy. Don’t they look so realistic?

Collin actually played this prank on her daughter, Piper, a few years back. Check out this April Fools FAIL video as things didn’t go as planned. 🤣


2. Bug on a Lampshade is sure to create some jump scares!

spider inside a lamp, one of our easy april fools pranks for family

Tape a plastic bug (find plastic spiders at your local dollar store or on Amazon.com!) on the inside of a lampshade and then ask a family member to turn on the light. Yikes!


3. This Donut Box Trick is full of veggies no one expected.

April Fools Donuts, one of our easy april fools day pranks for family

This April Fools’ prank for the family is bound to get everyone! 😂 Grab a donut box and fill it with fresh veggies for a funny fake-out!


4. This Oreo cookie trick will result in disappointment.

Oreo Cookies April Fools Prank Hip2Save.com

It’s a classic prank! Replace Oreo cookie filling with toothpaste! Use a butter knife to scrape off the Oreo filling and place a little white toothpaste in the middle of one side. When you put it back together, it looks exactly like a real Oreo cookie!

You could even leave some of the outer edges of the original cream filling so that from the outside, the cookie won’t look tampered with at all!

Hip Tip: Worried about eating toothpaste? Instead of making prank Oreos, make prank toothpaste instead. Take an old toothpaste tube and fill it up with peanut butter. When your loved one goes to brush their teeth, they’ll get a tasty surprise!


5. That’s not orange juice!

mac and cheese prank in a pitcher

Do you know that orange powdered cheese packet that comes with packaged Mac and Cheese? Pour it into a pitcher, mix it with water, and it looks exactly like orange juice! 😂


6. Give out some Cracker Jack carrots. 

carrots in a cracker jack box

For a fun lunch box prank, replace a snack box like Cracker Jacks with fresh baby carrots. This trick also works well with a small bag of chips. Just remember to seal the package back up with a little double-sided tape for a more realistic effect!


7. “Spaghetti and Meatballs” cupcakes are the perfect April Fools’ dessert.

spaghetti and meatballs cupcakes

While it’s technically an April Fool’s prank, this easy cupcake recipe actually makes for a yummy treat amidst the joke. Plus, they look so realistic!

Hip Tip: Here’s a fun April Fools’ Day book for the kids!

8. Put a healthy surprise in your cake pops!

holding a brussels sprout cake pop april fools prank

Does your family love a little dessert? In just 30 minutes, you can whip up these prank cake pops that are made with Brussels sprouts! Eating healthy never looked so sweet!
Hip Tip: Have some extra chocolate? Use it to make chocolate-covered rocks or cotton balls. Your fam will think it’s candy! Just make sure the prank recipient doesn’t actually eat them!!

9. Put fake eyes on the inanimate objects in your home.

bag of googly eyes

Take a page from Hip2Save’s Liz. She gifted her nephews a pack of silly craft eyeballs. For April Fools’ Day, the boys stuck these googly eyes on inanimate objects all over their house. The family kept finding them for weeks, so this is one April Fools’ prank that can keeps the laughs coming!

10. Put some confetti in a vent!

confetti
You can either buy confetti or cut up some paper, stick it in someone’s car vents, and wait for them to be covered when they turn the air on! A few of our readers did this funny prank, and the results were hilarious.

11. Place plastic wrap over your toilet bowl.
Reynolds Plastic Wrap
Hip2Save’s Angie has a mom with a sense of humor! One of her easy April Fools’ pranks for the family included placing plastic wrap over the toilet bowl. When someone has to go, hopefully they notice the clear barrier first! This prank might get a little messy 😅 but it’s a tried a true April Fools’ Day idea!

12. Add a special “syrup” to their coffee.

a bottle of soy sauce
Angie’s daughter once pranked her on April Fools’ Day by putting soy sauce in the coffee. Angie didn’t even realize until she was in the car and sipping on her travel mug! 😂 This idea is one of the easy April Fools’ Day pranks for family. It’s truly a cinch to pull off and very affordable!

13. Serve up a salty breakfast.

a mans hand holding a jar of Happy belly ground white pepper
Start the day with a prank! For April Fools’ breakfast, serve up a grapefruit that’s covered in white pepper instead of sugar! Hopefully the victim doesn’t feel too salty about it afterwards!

14. Perform a manicure on a heavy sleeper.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Polish
This April Fools’ Prank was suggested by a Hip reader who tried it on her husband and we think it is too funny! If you have a very heavy sleeper in your family, surprise them on April 1st by giving them a manicure while they are sleeping. The weirder the paint job, the better!

15. Pretend you “peed” on the floor.

A bag of peas in the bathroom, one of our reader favorite April Fools Pranks for Family

This is another reader favorite prank! Grab a bag or can of peas and place it on the bathroom floor. Shock your family when you tell them that you had an accident in the bathroom. They’re in for a laugh when they find out what you meant by “peed.”
“Last year my best friend took a bag of peas from the freezer, brought it to the bathroom, set the bag on the floor, and told her parents that she had peed on the floor. her dad’s reaction was so hilarious!!!!”

16. Fake a shopping spree.

stacks of Amazon boxes

This hilarious idea came from Hip reader Tracey and we LOVE it! Save your empty Amazon packages throughout the year and “deliver” them to your doorstep for an unsuspecting family member to find!

“Last year I pranked my DH by saving up Amazon & Target boxes and putting them outside the front door; I even filled them with some books so they would have some weight. He was like, “umm, what did you order?!” The worried look on his face was too funny. Amazon doesn’t use too many boxes these days, but it’d be easy to save up some of their shipping envelopes if you open them carefully.”


17. Star Wars fans won’t be able to get enough of this “blue milk”!

glasses of blue milk
PC: Rimma_Bondarenko/Getty Images, courtesy of Reader’s Digest
Reader’s Digest brought up the perfect prank to get the kiddos into the April Fool’s spirit – blue milk! Simply add a few drops of blue food color to your milk carton, and you can serve up a glass of blue milk!

18. Serve up a bowl of cereal that requires a little extra work to enjoy.

bowl of cereal

Have kiddos that enjoy cereal? Good Housekeeping recommends creating some April fool’s prep a night in advance by pouring cereal and milk and adding a spoon then freezing it overnight. Your kiddos will be stumped trying to dig into this frozen bowl of cereal. 😆


19. Keep the lights off.

light switch
KidsActivities.com recommends using colored tape for little ones and clear tape for older kiddos, leaving them confused about the lack of light. 🤣

Have you pulled off a great April Fools’ prank? Please share with us! 


About the writer:

Lina has a Bachelor's Degree from Northern Arizona University with 11 years of blogging and photography experience having work featured in Today.com, Martha Stewart, Country Living, Fox News, Buzzfeed, and HGTV.


Join The Discussion

Comments 107

  1. Nancy

    We made Brown E’s !!!! Lol

    • Rachel

      This is a great one! I cut out the letter E from brown paper and share with everyone. Zero sugar, zero calories, and extra fiber!

  2. Jeanette---

    the mashed potatoes one is crazy!!! (ice cream look alike) —I also miss your april fool’s this year…y’all always did a great job!

  3. Vivienne

    This is a good site but I would like to see some more pranks to give to some other people

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