April Fools’ Day is fast approaching and I’ve been brainstorming jokes to play on my favorite people. I love laughter, jokes and surprises, so naturally I love April Fools’ Day.
I wanted to play a joke on my son this year as well as teach him how to play jokes. I 
headed over to the library to grab a few children’s books on April Fools’ Day. One we love is “Barnyard Fun” by Maureen Wright. It’s about a joke-playing sheep who gets a joke played on him at the end. It’s really cute and explains the whole concept of laughing at others as well as yourself. I adored “Arthur’s April Fool” by Marc Brown. It showed how Arthur dealt with a bully by playing a trick on him.
My uncle is a huge practical joker. I fell asleep at his house once when I was a kid and he put shaving cream in my hand then tickled my nose with a feather. As you can imagine, I had a face full of shaving cream. He would wear a scary mask and then scare all of us kids. He was always playing jokes and we loved it!
My son tends to be on the serious side, especially as he’s gotten a little older, so it’s been important for me to teach him not to take everything so seriously. I want him to able to laugh at little mistakes he makes or other silly things that happen that would otherwise be seen as inconveniences.
Here are some ideas I was thinking about:
1. Put a plastic spider under his morning toast so he gets a scare when he starts eating.
2. My son always sets his clothes for the next day in the bathroom the night before. I think I might turn them all inside out.
3. Replace all his super hero figures with dolls.
4. Give him a baby bottle to drink out of instead of a cup.
5. Put food coloring in the toilet to tint it.
6. Swap his toothpaste for a tube of frosting.
Here are some other great ideas to try:
10 April Fools’ Day Pranks For Kids
Just remember that April Fools’ Day is a difficult concept for most adults to accept, let alone a child. Set a good example by laughing at yourself. Don’t make jokes that involve lying, either. That’s too confusing for young children who are trying to understand the difference between a joke and a lie. Enjoy this silly day and bring a smile to someone else’s face!
About Meghan Zeile