April Fool's Family Fun: 3 No-Fail Pranks to Get Kids Laughing

April Fools

April Fools Day is a great excuse to sneak in a few extra laughs, some silliness, some second glances, and some smiles. Even eye-rolls are okay if they come with a crooked smile. Here are three no-fail pranks to get kids laughing.

Three pictures in a collage. A sushi plate with real and fake sushi. A bowl of cereal with eyes in the cereal. Fake chicken wings and sauce on a white plate.

Every year we try to have a little lighthearted fun on April Fools Day. This year is no different. Instead of mixing up socks and shoes or even having one of the kids call a number on a Post-it note (the zoo) and ask for Mister Bear, I decided to focus on food pranks. Sweet pranks are the best pranks around here and they always manage to get the kids laughing!

Get ’em Laughing This April Fools Day

Sushi plate with a sauce bowl, a real sushi roll and fake wooden sushi

Real Food or Fake Prank?

Let your kids figure it out! The kiddos may not have been totally tricked when I substituted some of their favorite Melissa & Doug toys for real food, but the expression on their faces was priceless when I tried to pull this on ’em.

Fake Chicken Wings and Celery!

These wings and celery look so real, there’s no doubt your kids will be tricked!

Step 1

Prepare Rice Krispie Treats, the normal recipe. 3 Tablespoons of butter, the whole bag of marshmallows, and then Rice Krispies to taste.

You may want to add about a 1/2 a cup less Rice Krispies than the recipe calls for so that they are extra soft and chewy.

Rice Krispy Treats formed into wing and drumstick shapes

Step 2:

Form softball sized clumps of Rice Krispie Treat. And then comes the real fun–forming the treats into chicken wings.

I made three drumsticks and three wings, squeezing the Krispies tightly because I wanted them to be heavy enough to really feel like wings.

Apricot preserves, a box of dark brown sugar and a white bowl with fake wing sauce

Step 3

Create the ‘wing sauce’. Use 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup of apricot preserves. Microwave the mixture for about 45 seconds so that the brown sugar is dissolved.

Step 4

Make the celery and bleu cheese. You can use Laffy Taffy for the celery. It is hard to mold, but the result is worth it.

Bleu cheese? Vanilla yogurt.

Plan to ‘sauce’ the ‘wings’ just before lunch on April Fools’ Day. Watch out, family!

A bowl of cereal with fake eyes set in the cereal.

Cereal that Watches You Back

While you’re making Rice Krispie Treats, whip up some real looking eyes that will stare out from the kids’ cereal bowls at breakfast.

Form tight little Rice Krispie balls that will function as eyes, then melt some white chocolate.

Rolling the Rice Krispy balls in melted white chocolate

Dip each ball into the melted white chocolate, because eyes are white, right?

Add a dark chocolate chip to complete the eye. Really smash it down so it will dry in the melted white chocolate and stay put.

Put them on a plate to cool.

Then into cereal bowls they go–ready for breakfast in the morning.

Finish off with Fake Juice

Is it Cranberry juice or red jello? With this breakfast red jello might be in order.

This is a simple prank. Just substitute cranberry juice for red jello. Pour a layer of liquid red jello into the bottom of the kid’s cups and let it set-up.

Enjoy April Fools Day this year but remember, a prank is only a good one if everyone thinks it’s funny!