10 April Fool’s Pranks That Won’t Send You to Jail

April Fools' Day is right around the corner and it's time to have some fun. April Fools' Day pranks are a right of passage. Have some fun April 1st without landing in jail.

While April Fools' Day is always on April 1st, the only thing I know about it is that it is the day to do terrible pranks to friends and family and hope that they still love us. While it dates back to the 1500's, it shows that people had a sense of humor hundreds of years ago. Reader's Digest says:

April Fools’ Day always occurs on the first of April. In 1561, a Flemish poet wrote some comical verse about a nobleman who sends his servant back and forth on ludicrous errands in preparation for a wedding feast (the poem’s title roughly translates to “Refrain on errand-day / which is the first of April”). The first mention of April Fools’ Day in Britain was in 1686, when biographer John Aubrey described April 1 as a “Fooles holy day.”

It’s clear that the habit of sending springtime rubes on a “fool’s errand” was rampant in Europe by the late 1600s. On April Fools’ Day in 1698, so many saps were tricked into schlepping to the Tower of London to watch the “washing of the lions” (a ceremony that didn’t exist) that the April 2 edition of a local newspaper had to debunk the hoax—and publicly mock the schmoes who fell for it.

One of my favorite April Fools pranks I pulled was getting a dozen students at the MSU International Center to read our "station info" and we aired it all day long. It was a lot of fun and listeners were puzzled to say the least. Check out the list below for some fun ideas for this year.

10 Fun April Fools' Pranks For 2023

Coffee Talk

Make a cup of coffee for your loved one but put salt into the coffee instead of sugar. Having a regular cup with sugar ready, you know how people can be without their coffee in the morning. Tread lightly.

Peanut Butter On The Boot

Grab the best can of crunchy or smooth and spread a nice table spoon or two on top of a family member or members shoes or boots.

Silly Sucker

You could do one of two things. Grab a sucker that has a bug in it or you can take the suckers off the sticks and replace them with brussel sprouts and dip them in chocoloate.

Soupy Shower

This one could get ugly but it's hilarious. Unscrew your showerhead and pop in a bouillon cube. Your family members will love you.

Shopping Spree

Save all of your boxes from your deliveries over the past months. Reconstruct them and leave them on the front porch. Your significant other will think you went on a shopping spree.

Candy Ants

This sounds fun. Pack your kids lunch and put candy ants that look real in their lunch box.

Mess With the Mouse

This is easy, cut a tiny piece of paper to fit undetected under your target’s computer mouse. Write “Gotcha!” on it then stick it on the device with some tape. When they try to use the mouse, it won’t work. They'll see the bottom and know that they've been "had".

Fish Paste

While that terrible looking fish isn't a anchovy, this trick is easy to pull off. Replace the lavel of a tube of anchovy paste with the toothpaste label and sit back and watch.

Cream Cheese vs. Deodorant

Dig out a half inch of deodorant from the top of their deodorant stick and replace it with cream cheese.

Confetti Your Home

Much like the confetti above, it makes a mess. Stop your celing fans at home and place ample amounts of confetti on the blades. Leave the fan off. The next person to turn it on will be treated to a magnificent display of confetti.