Looking for some harmless jokes to play on your students in observance of April Fool’s Day? Look no further! I’ve compiled a list of innocent tricks teachers of all grade levels can pull off, because sometimes a good prank is just necessary.
- List all the students names on the board, and put random information next to each name – dates of no significance, random letters of the alphabet (excluding A-F), compass directions, etc. Do not explain the list. If they ask you what it is, say, “I’ll explain after lunch.”
- Put tape over the pencil sharpener hole.
- Act like there’s a joke coming (mention the date, look at the clock a lot, suddenly stare at the door). Then don’t play one.
From Squarehead Teachers:
- Switch classrooms for the day. When kids come in the door, it’s not their regular teacher they’ll see.
- Re-arrange every kid’s desk or table in the room.
- Announce that the fabulous field trip planned for today was cancelled because nobody brought in their permission slips on time.
- Ask everyone to turn in their homework that was due TODAY and is worth 90% of their grade for this 9 weeks.
- Tell your class that lunch is cancelled because the cafeteria ran out of food but everyone else at the school got to eat.
- Send several kids to the principal’s office for no reason. (Maybe warn the principal ahead of time.)
- Assign the kids new seats and then re-assign again several times during the day.
- Wear a Halloween costume and tell all the children they won’t get any candy this year because they didn’t dress up.
- Tell your students you’re all going on a field trip to someplace fun at the end of the day – When it gets to be almost the end of the day, tell them that the ‘fun’ place is actually their homes! Zing!
In need of free April Fool’s Day lesson plans and resources? Check out these links:
- Foolproof Fun Lesson Activities for April Fool’s Day from BusyTeacher.org.
- TeacherPlanet.com has worksheets, clipart, lesson plans, and other resources for April Fool’s Day.
- For highschool students, this PBS Newshour Extra lesson plan asks students to explore satire’s role in current events.
- Read about the history of April Fool’s Day at EducationWorld.com.
- From PBSLearningMedia watch a quick video about April’s Fool’s Day (geared for elementary grades).
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