April Fool’s pranking guide

by Elise Tran & Anju Ito, Staff Writers

Up for some pranking? With April Fool’s coming up this Saturday, here are 10 April Fool’s pranks that you can use on your friends and families!

Delivery prank

Materials:

  • Large cardboard box
  • Another person
  • Styrofoam (optional)
  • Camera (optional)

Directions:

  1. Fill ½ the cardboard box with styrofoams if you have some (highly recommended)
  2. Step inside the cardboard box and close the lid
  3. Bring another person to ring the doorbell and hide so the people in the house won’t see you.
  4. Record the reaction! (optional)
  5. When a person comes out from the house and tries to open or carry the box, jump out!

Gatorade in the Windex Bottle

Materials:

  • Cool Blue Gatorade or any blue drink
  • Windex bottle or cleaning spray bottle
  • Water and soap to clean

Directions:

  1. Get an empty Windex or cleaning spray bottle and clean it thoroughly, washing and rinsing multiple times
  2. Fill the Windex bottle with the Cool Blue Gatorade or blue drink of choice
  3. Put it in a cupboard or drawer and pull it out in front of the person you’re pranking
  4. Drink in front of someone who gets nervous a lot!

Unusable soap

Disclaimer: The soap will have to be thrown away after the prank.

Materials:

  • Soap bar
  • Clear nail polish

Directions:

  1. Cover a soap bar with clear nail polish.
  2. Let the soap dry by leaving it alone.
  3. Put it back in the usual position, and wait until someone uses the soap.

Time Change

The time is changed on the alarm clock to make it seem later than it actually is. Photo by Calvin Tran

Materials:

  • Clock(s)

Directions:

  1. After the person you want to pull the prank on has fallen asleep, change some (or all) of the clock in your house by turning it forward a few hours (don’t forget to change their phone too if they go on it often).
  2. Close all the windows so people wouldn’t know what time is it by looking outside.
  3. The next morning, wake the person up really early in the morning and see them panic!

Screaming Furniture

Materials:

  • Air Horn or Whoopee cushion
  • Something to cover the air horn or whoopee cushion such as a blanket or if your couch already has pads over the seats, you won’t need it

Directions:

  1. Blow up the whoopee cushion (if you have one) and place it under the usual spot that the person you’re trying to prank sits on.

Paper mouse prank

Is your loved one a computer geek? Try taping a paper under their mouse and see them struggle as their mouse stops functioning. Photo by Calvin Tran.

Materials:

  • Computer mouse
  • Piece of paper
  • Tape

Directions:

  1. Get a relatively small piece of paper that will be able to fit under your mouse.
  2. Tape the piece of paper under the mouse.
  3. Put it back on the computer, and watch your friend/family as they try to use the mouse, which won’t respond.

Money on the loose

Materials:

  • One bill of any amount
  • About 15 feet of string that’s very thin and almost unable to see
  • Tape

Directions:

  1. Tape the string to one end of the smaller side of the bill.
  2. Drop the bill somewhere on the ground and hold the other end of the string.
  3. Hide behind something like a different building and be watchful of who tries to grab it.
  4. Every time they grab the bill, pull the string closer toward you.
  5. Reveal to them that they’ve been pranked and see their dignity lower just an inch.

Bug Lamp

Materials:

  • Lamp
  • Dark paper (preferably black)
  • Scissors
  • Tape

Directions:

  1. Cut out the dark piece of paper into a bug shape using a scissor.
  2. When no one’s watching, tape the bug-shaped paper onto an inside of a lamp.
  3. Wait and watch as your family/friend turns on the lamp and screams!

Pudding in a mayonnaise jar

The seemingly-normal mayonnaise jar with vanilla pudding inside. Photo by Calvin Tran

Materials:

  • Vanilla pudding
  • Mayonnaise jar
  • Water and soap to clean

Directions:

  1. Get an empty, clean mayonnaise jar and make sure to rinse thoroughly before using.
  2. Put the vanilla pudding into the mayonnaise jar.
  3. Walk around school or in front of your family and eat “mayonnaise” by the spoonful to see the look of disgust in their eyes!

Bonus Prank!

If you want, you could bring one jar of actual mayonnaise and one jar of the pudding. After you tell them it’s only pudding, put the jar back. Offer them to try some and pull out the jar of actual mayonnaise. They’ll end up eating actual mayonnaise! Make sure to mark one of them so you know which is which.

Phone Pranks

Materials:

  • Phone

Directions:

  1. Go on someone else’s phone and find your contact name.
  2. Change it into something else and save it.
  3. On April Fool’s Day, send them weird/funny text messages and calls and watch them get confused.