Top 10 April Fools' Day Pranks for Fathers

April Fools' Day is a favorite of many fathers and kids.  It is a time to get a little crazy and have some good natured fun.  Many dads have fond memories of the times their children surprised them with an April Fools' prank. One dad reported that his favorite was his kids putting a rubber band around the spray nozzle on the kitchen sink so when he turned on the faucet for a glass of water, he got a full spray to the belly. 

This collection of great ideas for April Fools' pranks for parents to play on their kids will generate a lot of fun for fathers and families alike. Take one and get prepared for April 1. Turnabout is fair play! 

01
of 10

Hide the Cell Phone

Children smiling at breakfast table
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Get up a bit earlier than your child and take her cell phone and tape it underneath their chair at the kitchen table.  Then, when they are eating breakfast, call their cell phone and watch the reaction.  They will look everywhere for that phone and will not think of looking under the kitchen chair!  This one is a great way to start the day and get them thinking about their own April Fools' revenge.

02
of 10

Empty the Drawers and Closets

Empty closet
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Once again, a middle of the night trick is to tiptoe into the bedroom and remove all the clothes from the kids' closets and dressers and stash them away somewhere.  When they try to find their clothes, pretend that you don't know what is going on.  But don't carry it so far that they are late for school!

03
of 10

Dye the Milk a Weird Color

Pouring milk on cereal
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If your kids enjoy having a glass of milk for breakfast or pouring it on cold cereal in the morning, dye the milk the night before a color like red, green, yellow or blue the night before.  A little food coloring will work well, or you might use the coloring that bakers use for cake frosting to get an even deeper color.

04
of 10

Glue Coins to the Sidewalk

Penny on a sidewalk
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This is a favorite of one dad blogger.  A few years ago, he got some coins and superglued them to the concrete sidewalk in front of the house, right where the kids walked on their way to school.  Of course, they tried to pick them up off the sidewalk but found the task to be impossible.  It was totally fun to watch them try to figure out what had happened and why the coins just sat there.  Then they waited for their friends to come along and played the same prank on them.

05
of 10

Set the Alarm Clocks Ahead an Hour

Alarm clock near bed
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This one takes a bit of advanced planning.  Stay up a bit later or set your own alarm clock for about 3:00 a.m. and then set all the alarm clocks, cell phones, iPods and other electronic time keepers ahead an hour.  Therefore, when the alarm clocks ring, they will ring an hour before they should.  Then surprise the kids with your plan to go out to breakfast before school since they are all up so early!

06
of 10

Swap Beds

Girl sleeping in bed
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This prank only will work if your kids are sound sleepers.  One dad wrote last year that he got up in the middle of the night and carried each of his kids out of their beds and put them into another kid's bed so when they woke up in the morning, they were all in the wrong beds.  He said it was pretty funny when they came wandering into his room wondering how they ended up in the wrong spot during the night.

07
of 10

The Old Fake Food Trick

Fake food
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Another dad stopped by the toy store and picked up a bag of the toy, plastic food that sometimes little girls use in their play kitchens.  Little plastic fruits, fake fried eggs, and miniature meat patties are usually in such kits.  Then, on the morning of April 1, he invited his kids downstairs to "breakfast" made of these plastic foods.  They looked realistic enough on the plates to his sleepy-eyed children and when they started to eat, they discovered the prank.

08
of 10

Falling Balls

Balls falling down
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This is another good one to do before breakfast.  Gather up all the balls in the house.  Big ones and small ones, but just not heavy ones like golf balls.  Then load them into the cupboard where you keep bowls or cereal - one the kids will open at breakfast time.  When they open the cupboard door, they will be really surprised!

09
of 10

The Frozen Cereal Trick

Father and son eating cereal
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This is another breakfast trick for April Fools Day.  The night before, put cereal and milk into a bowl and fill it about half full.  Then freeze it overnight.  In the morning, get it out of the freezer and fill it the rest of the way with cereal and milk.  your child will get quite a surprise when he or she tries to eat it in the morning.

10
of 10

Fill it Up

Car full of balloons
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For the older kids, filling up a locker or a car interior with balloons is an awesome prank.  Try it at school while they are in class.  They will know that you love them!