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10 April Fools’ Day Pranks for Every Kind of Prankster

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

April 1st marks a day of many important celebrations: the official farewell to winter, the welcoming of rainy, spring weather, and of course, Easter. However, there’s an annual celebration that you only have one chance out of the year to participate in: April Fools’ Day. This is the one day when pulling multiple pranks on your friends, family, or strangers is mildly socially acceptable – and if you fail in your pranks or pull a lame one, you’ll for sure be teased about it for the REST. OF. YOUR. LIFE!

Fear not, here are ten foolproof pranks for all the diverse pranksters out there:

 

1. For the foodie:

Everyone knows that one person who’s always hungry or is always preventing everyone from eating by taking a million pictures. Prank this person by presenting them with harmless filled donuts, but instead of jelly or cream, replace the insides with ketchup or mayonnaise. Sure, they may never accept food from you again, but their reaction will totally be worth it.

2. For the tech geek:

This prank is mainly for those iPhone users out there. If you go to Keyboard → Shortcut, you can program a commonly used phrase like “IDK” to always AutoCorrect to “Ask my mom.” Get creative with it. It’ll be sure to drive your victim nuts.

3. For the furry friend:

Wild card. Your pet deserves April Fools’ Day love too! This works best with dogs or cats, but go ahead and try it on any of your lovable creatures. When your pet is relaxing, grab a blanket and in a standing position, cover your entire body. Then drop the blanket and quickly disappear behind a nearby wall or room. They won’t see it coming.

*No animals were harmed in the making of this prank.

4. For the clean freak:

Easy. Take a bar of soap. Coat it in clear nail polish. Let it dry. Bam. There won’t be any bubbles in sight. Your germaphobe friend will cringe so hard. P.S. – don’t forget to hide the other usable soaps too!

5. For the “insect enthusiast”:

Your friend hates bugs and you’re a good friend, so you’re just going to help your friend face his/her fears – right? All you need is a printer and a lamp of some sort. Print and cut out pictures of cockroaches. Then stick them to the inside of a lamp. When he/she turns the light on, the unwelcome guest will surprise them.

6. For all the dads and moms out there:

Hi, mom and dad. This is for all of the times you forced me to choose who I love more. If you’re in the prankster spirit but don’t want to be kicked out of the house, this prank is for you. Simply replace all of the family photos in your house with a picture of your choice. Pro tip: a popular face to use, for many reasons, is Nicholas Cage (“Not the bees!”)

7. For the pun master:

This prank is most effective on those who either love puns or hate puns. Time to bring your best puns to life. For example, “There’s a leak in the sink!” Cue an actual leek chilling in the sink. Or “Someone just slashed your tires!” Slap a picture of rock star, Slash, on their tires. Make the prank more realistic with your amazing acting skills. It’s your time to shine!

8. For the coworker:

Basically if you haven’t watched The Office, the office relationship between coworkers, Jim and Dwight, is a prank show in itself. Take tips from ultimate prankster, Jim. In one episode, he pranks Dwight by wrapping his entire workstation in gift-wrap. Let’s just say it was totally epic.

9. For the scream queen (or king):

Scary pranks are seriously the most entertaining for the prankster and those watching. You can be directly involved in the prank by donning a scary mask (preferably related to what they’re scared of) and hiding for that jump scare. You can also strategically place scary artifacts (Amazon’s got you covered) around their environment.

10. For the stranger:

Play a light-hearted joke on strangers by gluing (use strong glue) cash or coins to the sidewalk and watch them scratch their heads in confusion as they try to pick it up. Optional: Reveal your identity to them. Most decent people will get a good laugh out of it.

There are so many possible pranks to pull on April Fools’ Day. All it requires is a bit of creativity, time, and money depending on how extreme of a prankster you are. These are just the tip-of-the-iceberg pranks. Remember to be safe and responsible with all pranks!

 

Monica is currently a Junior at Penn State University. She is studying International Media Studies with minors in Women's Studies and Korean Language. She loves traveling, spicy food, and all things Pinterest. If she were an animal, she'd be an alpaca because of her docile, yet goofy nature. Apart from writing for HC, you will most likely find her organizing her room, searching for the next song to obsess over, or pondering her next meal.
Allie Maniglia served as the Campus Correspondent for Her Campus at Penn State from 2017-2018. She majored in public relations with minors in international studies and communication arts and sciences. If she's not busy writing away, you can find her planning her next adventure (probably back to the U.K.), feeding an unhealthy addiction to HGTV or watching dog videos on YouTube.