April Fools Day is a great opportunity to share some laughs with our students. Those who I will remember for the next few years.
But let’s face it. Not all pranks are created equally. As teachers, we know the importance of keeping things light and not crossing the lines.
Some pranks can bring joy and promote stronger connections with students, while others can cause confusion, stress, or anguish. We alleged pranks about grades, were fired by students, asked for “flu shots” outside the nurse’s office, and told students they were lined up jokes that could make them feel high takes. I won’t. So, if you are thinking about taking part in April Fools’ action, it’s important to choose a harmless, entertaining, and memorable prank, especially when inviting students to enjoy. Are you ready to create creative ideas to remember this April 1st? Let’s jump in!
Below are some of our favorite pranks categorized as age/grades.
April Fool’s Day prank for elementary school students
At the elementary school level, April Fool’s Day jokes should be heading towards stupid surprises.
1. Change your seat.
You can stack desks on top of each other, face them in the opposite direction, or completely remove them if they are close to libraries or other places where they can be temporarily stored. When students question the strange seating, they pretend they don’t know what they’re talking about.
2. Create a stupid new drill.
Tell students that they have a new fun drill to practice in case the floor turns into lava. Expanding students to cross the room, remove all their belongings from the floor, etc.
3. Attract the elusive lirpa loof.
Students have remembered this joke for years! Check out this prank on Reddit we loved:
“Last year, I told my fourth and fifth grade students there was a very rare bird called “Lilpa Leaves” (where “April Fool’s Day” is spelled backwards), and after reading the entire fake article, I was able to read the birds. I answered questions about understanding. The birds like carrots, screaming “lirpa loof” and appearing when they pour the carrots into the sky. They all fell for it. It was hilarious. ”
“Editor: When I did this last year, I actually took the kids outside and we lifted up the baby carrots and asked for the roof of the liquidpa. When they all realized that, it was It was so funny. They talked about it for the rest of the school year. One of the students who are in my class again this year remembers it and still laughs about it. It’s a little bit!” —ABBREVIEDM
4. Please come to the school you dressed with another teacher.
On the day of April Fool’s Day when I was in elementary school, many faculty members came to school dressed each other (and remained in character). The most memorable was our sweet librarian. He came to school with what our PE teachers normally wore and bouncing a tennis ball off the brick wall at our library. She repeatedly asked us to run around the library and pretended to be angry when we said no to her.
5. Come to the school where you dressed your “twins.”
Teachers are geniuses. Check out this very easy prank from the R/Teachers April Fool’s Day thread.
“Around Purim this year, one of my school’s fifth grade teachers told students that they weren’t coming the next day and that twin sisters were coming to the submarine for them.
“It’s totally believable because she was dressed the next day, put on makeup and did it completely differently than usual. She changed her voice a little. We made her the teacher’s room When I saw it in, even all the teachers did a double take!” – Very well-known
6. Ask fake bonus questions to the quiz as an option for scratch and sniff.
Look at the number of students lifting or bending the paper near the laptop screen.
We are teachers
Staff pick
7. Provide students with unsolvable word searches.
Tell students that they have a word search to complete, and monitor them as they hunt, until they realize they have no words. Download it for free! (Note: This can be a bit of anxiety if you are trying to tie your word search to grades, prizes or pretend to timing it. Be careful!)
8. Treat students as brownies.
When students arrive, please bring your brownies and tell them to enjoy. Then pass the cut E from the brown construction paper. get it? For a fun twist, if your school gives you a green light, you can provide a real brownie.
April Fool’s Day pranks for junior and high school students
At the secondary level, previous classes often ruin the pranks of the class after that day. But with this list you can create different tricks for each class all day!
9. Write to the board that the school was cancelled on April 31st.
“You guys didn’t hear? They’re shutting down all the Wi-Fi networks in the city for maintenance.”
10. Dig a bottle of mayonnaise.
My favorite (and Reddit as a whole) is to casually eat out of a container during class and smash the spoon and fill in with vanilla pudding to see students go crazy.
11. Crush the bug and eat it.
We loved this idea from the April Fool’s thread on R/Teachers:
“Chocolate covered raisins. Leave them on the desk/counter. During class, shout, grab the ‘Bug!’ book, crush it, then eat immediately. I do that every year. The kids get hooked. ” —TeacherDrinker
12. Tell students that their laptop is audio-activated.
The district’s technology provider announces that its laptop has been updated with voice activation features. First, you have to say, “Activate voice control.” “No, no, I have to say it later.” “Does the online help forum say they’re going to try it out with British accents?” I’m laughing just thinking about this.
13. Destroy fake phones.
First, grab one of your old, unworked phones or ask around (someone you know has). Next, choose a student that you are very trustworthy and a good actor who will take part in your pranks. Give them a broken phone and pretend they’re texting them during class and discuss handing them over. On April 1st, we’ll play this in class. At the end of your increasingly intense debate, tell your students: I had it! “Get the phone and throw it on the ground, or drop it dramatically into a large glass of water, or stomp it. Then enjoy the prank.
14. Teach fake lessons.
Use these resources to start a fake lesson and see how long your students will trust you before you understand it. (This could be a good segue to conversations about using reputable sources, rating online content, conspiracy theories, and more.)
Hydrogen monoxide recognition (also known as water!)
Spaghetti Tree: Then read the video caption to the students and explain how many people believe this 1957 BBC hoax.
Flying Penguin: Another classic BBC hoax.
Birds are not realistic. My personal favorite, “The Birds Are Not Real” is a group of satirical plots and theory, in which the position is that birds are actually government spies.
Can’t you see a fake lesson you tell? Get ChatGpt and write fake articles on the topic you need, and use them as reading sections, article assignments, etc.
15. Communicate with the ghost of the class.
A teacher in another room needs to take part in this prank. Before class, set up a fassety time call so that other teachers can see and hear you, but you won’t hear any sounds that could happen at their end. There is a document on the screen with blank words that have already been predicted. Next, for 1-2 minutes to class, “Ghost” starts typing messages on the screen via the wireless keyboard/mouse and humm!
16. Create a fake intro slide for your lesson.
Make your students think you are trying to teach the most boring lessons of their lives. Wherever you post your instructions or agenda for the day, write something like this:
“Make sure you have written tools to take notes. The next three class days are lectures that cover ____.”
Sample topics: Lenstra – Lenstra – Lovász lattice base reduction algorithm, evolution of water-cooled chillers, establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, mixed Markov decision process, professional ergonomics.
17. If you’re good at technology, create your own shadow.
We love all of this prank, but we especially love the deadpan dialogue of guys. + of our book.
