April Fool’s Day is just a few days away! You know what that means? It’s time to start planning some pranks to play on your kids! Here are 25 kid-friendly pranks to play on your kids, with emphasis on friendly! These pranks are easy to pull off, require little planning, and will be sure to inspire giggles (or maybe some eyerolls), but not tears!

Bathroom Pranks

• Write a Secret Message on the Toilet Paper: Unspool some toilet paper, write a message on it in magic marker, roll it back up, and wait for your unsuspecting victim to discover it. Some message ideas: “Thanks for wiping!” “Happy April Fool’s Day!” Or my old favorite: “Help! I’m Trapped in a Toilet Paper Factory!”
• Non-Sudsy Soap: Paint a bar of soap all over with clear nail polish and allow it to dry. When kids try to use it, it won’t suds up!
• Plastic Wrap Over the Shampoo Bottle: Unscrew the lid of your child’s shampoo/conditioner/body wash and cover the top with a bit of plastic wrap. Screw the lid back on. Now the shampoo won’t come out.
• Whoopie Cushions: Okay, so not necessarily a bathroom prank, but certainly a bathroom humor prank. Toss a whoopie cushion under your victim’s seat cushion. Nobody is above a fart joke. At least I’m not.

Mealtime Pranks

• Frozen Cereal/Yogurt/Oatmeal: So easy, but so funny. Stick a bowl of cereal with milk in the freezer overnight, then pull it out before your kid comes to the breakfast table. Confusion will ensue when they try to take a bite, only to find it’s frozen solid. This should also work with yogurt and oatmeal.
• Frozen Juice: Pour a bit of juice or milk in a plastic cup and freeze overnight. When you’re ready to serve up your prank, top the frozen portion off with a bit more milk/juice. Your child will drink the layer of liquid on top, only to discover that the rest of their drink is stuck in the cup.
• Jell-O Juice: Mix up a pack of red gelatin according to box directions, pour into cups, and put in the fridge to solidify. When your child tries to drink the juice, they’ll find a jiggly surprise instead.
• Magical Milk Cereal: Put a few drops of food coloring in the bottom of your child’s bowl, and top with their favorite cereal. Ask them to pour the milk in. They’ll be amazed to see the milk magically change color in the bowl!
• Meatloaf Muffins and Dessert Pizza: Serve up a silly meal! Bake a meatloaf in a muffin tin or in a round cake pan. Use mashed potatoes as your “frosting” and decorate with peas and carrots. For dessert, make a sugar cookie pizza with strawberry jam “sauce” and white chocolate “cheese.”
• Serve Miniature Food: Mini food is trendy, so inspiration is out there! Serve up “donuts” that are really cheerios dipped in frosting and sprinkles. Cut sandwiches into miniscule squares and serve with shoestring potato “fries.” Make cocktail weenies and canned biscuits into pipsqueak pigs in a blanket.
• Make Some Brown E’s: Cut some letter E’s out of brown construction paper and place them in a foil-topped baking pan. Tell the kids you made some brownies! (Just make sure you have a real, edible treat to ease their disappointment.)

Pranks Around the House

• Place Googly Eyes on Everything: Who can resist smiling at an absurd pair of googly eyes? Use double sided tape to stick google eyes to appliances, condiments in the fridge, family portraits, dolls, stuffed animals, and wherever else you thing will get a laugh.
• Replace Family Pictures with Funny Pictures: Slip funny pictures into picture frames around the house. Wait to see if anyone notices.
• Pose Dolls and Action Figures: Draw some inspiration from your Elf on the Shelf experience. Pose your child’s dolls and figures in silly situations around the house
• Put Tape over the TV Remote Sensor: Stick a small piece of tape over the sensor on the tv remote and watch the frustration follow.
• Fill an Empty Mayo Jar with Vanilla Pudding/Yogurt: Casually eat it around the house and offer to share with any kid who looks on with horror. You could alternatively fill an empty ranch dressing bottle with pudding and squirt it directly into your mouth.

Pranks for the Morning Rush

• Tell Your Kids a Giraffe Has Escaped: My dad actually played this one on me when I was a kid, and I fell for it hard. Explain that a truck carrying a giraffe to a local zoo crashed, and that the giraffe escaped. Remind them to look for it on the drive to school.
• Stuff Their Shoes with Paper: Only do this if you’re not perpetually running late. Stuff the toes of your child’s shoes with wadded newspaper. When they try to put their shoes on, they’ll find that they can’t.
• Load Up Their Backpacks: Fill their backpack with weights, cans, or any other heavy thing you can find. When they go to grab their bag for school, it will be much heavier than they expect. Just make sure to lighten their load before they leave!
• Pack a Silly Lunchbox Surprise: This is a way you can prank your kid, even while they’re away at school. When you pack your child’s lunch for the day, slip in some play food along with the real stuff. They’ll be amused to see it when they sit down to eat later in the day.
• Swap Out their Dresser Drawers: Replace the contents of their sock and underwear drawers with adult sizes. They’ll get a kick out of pulling out their dad’s giant socks when they expected their own. If there’s a baby/toddler in your home, you could also swap the older kids’ drawers with the contents of younger ones’.

Bedtime Pranks

• Slip a Fluttering Butterfly into a Book: Is it time for a bedtime story? Wind up one of these paper butterflies and slip it between the pages of their book of choice. When you open it, they’ll be surprised by the butterfly fluttering out. Just be sure to aim away from little faces when opening the book, so that no one gets hit by the paper butterfly.

• Wrap Their Pillow in Gift Wrap: Sleep is a gift; one they will have to unwrap. Wrap up your child’s pillow in giftwrap. If you’re feeling a little more “extra,” wrap up their whole bed. Or the whole room.
• Crinkly Sheets: Before your child goes to bed, place a layer of wadded newspaper, bubble wrap, aluminum foil, or giftwrap under their bottom sheet and inside their pillowcase. They’ll be confused by the crinkling when they jump into bed.
• Short Sheet their Bed: Definitely an older prank, but still good. Here you can find some step by step instructions on how to do it.

Do you play pranks on your kids for April Fool’s Day? Do they prank you? Please share in the comments!