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After enriching minds and making a difference in the lives of young people, my next favorite thing to teach is deception.
Sometimes I use deception for good, such as tricking students into thinking grammar is fun. But sometimes, like on April 1, I use it to… well, trick.
I must first stress that I am not a fan of tricks that may cause stress or panic in a child. We shouldn’t tell students we’re expelled, pretend our students have flunked grades, or make elementary students line up to get a flu shot at the nurse’s office. However, I also believe that gentle teasing and light pranks can be a way to connect with students in a funny and memorable way (especially if you invite them to prank you again). As with anything in teaching, use your professional judgment as well as your knowledge of your students to determine which jokes are appropriate for your students.
Here are some of my favorite pranks for any age.
April Fool’s pranks for elementary school students
At an elementary level, April Fools’ Day jokes should lean more toward silly surprises.
1. Change seats
You can stack desks on top of each other, have them facing the opposite direction they normally would, or remove them entirely if you’re close to a library or another place where you can store them temporarily. When students ask about strange seats, pretend you have no idea what they are talking about.
2. Create a silly new workout
Tell the students that you have a fun new exercise you can practice if the floor turns to lava. Have students practice crossing the room, getting all of their belongings off the floor, etc. Other silly exercises: a glacier of ice cream drifting toward the school, or dragon training, or “Anna of… Frozen They made everything an arctic tundra drill.
3. Lure the elusive Lirpa Loof
Students will remember this joke for years! paying off We loved this joke on Reddit:
“Last year I told my 4th and 5th graders that there is a very rare bird called the ‘Lirpa Loof’ (you write ‘April Fool’ backwards)’ and I had them read a completely fake article and answer comprehension questions about the bird. The bird loves carrots and will come out if you shout ‘Lirpa Loof.'” “I raised the carrot to the sky. They all fell for it. It was hilarious.”
EDIT: When I did this last year, I took the kids outside and we held up little carrots and called out Lirpa Loof. It was so funny when they all discovered it. They talked about it for the rest of the school year. One of those students who is in my class again this year remembers it and still remembers it. He laughs at him. It’s the little things! —abbreviation m
4. Come to school dressed as another teacher
One April Fool’s Day when I was in elementary school, a lot of the faculty came to school dressed as each other (and stayed in character). Most memorable was the kind librarian, who came to school dressed in the uniform our physical education teacher usually wore, and spent our library time throwing a tennis ball at the brick wall. She repeatedly asked us to take tours around the library and pretended to be angry when we told her no.
5. Come to school dressed as your “twin”
Teachers are geniuses. Check out this super easy prank from someone April Fool’s thread on r/Teachers:
“Around Purim this year, one of the fifth-grade teachers at my school told her students that she would not be coming the next day and that her twin sister would be coming to take their place.”
“She came in the next day dressed and wearing her makeup so different from usual that it was completely believable. She had changed her voice a little. All the teachers even did a double-take when we saw her in the teacher’s room! —VeryFineDiary
6. Place a mock bonus question on the test as a scan and sniff option
See how many students lift the paper or lean close to the laptop screen to smell it.
7. Give students a search for unsolvable words
Tell the students that you have a word search for them to complete, and then monitor the students as they do the search until they realize that none of the words are in it. Download us for free! (Note: This may cause anxiety if you pretend to associate your search with a grade or award or make it time-bound. Proceed with caution!)
8. Treat your students to cake
When students arrive, tell them that you brought brownies for them to enjoy. Then pass on the letter E that you cut from the brown construction paper. get it? For a fun twist, you can then serve the actual cupcakes if your school gives you the green light.
April Fools’ pranks for middle and high school students
In high school, earlier classes often spoil a joke for later classes in the day. But with this list, you can have a different trick for each class all day long!
9. Write on the board that school has been canceled for April 31
You can also make up a fun reason, like: “Didn’t you guys hear? They’re shutting down all the WiFi in the city for maintenance.”
10. Dig into the mayonnaise jar
My favorite (and found all over Reddit) is filling an old mayonnaise jar with vanilla pudding, breaking out a spoon, and watching your students freak out when you accidentally eat straight from the container during class.
11. Crush an insect and then eat it
We loved this idea April Fool’s thread on r/Teachers:
“Chocolate covered raisins. Leave it on your desk/table. During class, shout “BUG!” He grabbed a book, smashed it, and then picked it up very quickly. I do this every year. Kids are going crazy.” —com. teacherdrinker
12. Tell them that their laptops are now voice activated
Announce that a technology provider in your area has announced an update that laptops have voice activation. To get started, you have to say “Activate voice control” loudly enough to be heard, and then give different directions. “No, no, you should say that much slower.” “An online help forum says you should try a British accent?” I’m laughing just thinking about this.
13. Destroy a fake phone
First, get one of your old non-working cell phones or ask around (someone you know has one). Then choose a very trustworthy student who is a good actor to participate in your prank. Give them the broken phone and have them pretend to text on it during class and then argue with you about handing it over. On April 1st, let this happen in the classroom. At the end of your increasingly heated argument, tell the student, “That’s it! You’ve got it!” Grab the phone and throw it on the floor, drop it dramatically into a large glass of water, or stomp on it. Then have fun with your joke.
14. Teaching a mock lesson
Use these resources to start a fake lesson and see how long students believe you before they find out. (This can be a good part of the conversation about using reputable sources, evaluating online content, conspiracy theories, etc.)
Hydrogen monoxide awareness (aka water!)
Spaghetti tree: Be sure to read the students’ video commentary afterwards, explaining how many people believed the 1957 BBC hoax.
Flying penguins: Another classic BBC trick.
The birds are not realMy personal favorite is Birds Aren’t Real, a satirical conspiracy theory group whose view is that birds are actually government spies. Pick up a “If They Fly, They Spies” T-Shirt. To wear for more legitimacy.
Don’t you see an imaginary lesson speaking to you? Get ChatGPT to write a fake essay on any topic you want and use it as a reading passage, essay assignment, etc.
15. Communicate with the ghost of your class
You will need a teacher in another room to play this prank with you. Before class, set up a FaceTime call so the other teacher can see and hear you but can’t hear any noise that might be made on their end. Have a blank Word document already displayed on your screen. Then, a minute or two into the class, have the “ghost” begin typing a message on your screen via a wireless keyboard/mouse. Pork it up!
16. Make a mock introduction slide for your lesson
Make your students believe that you are about to teach the most boring lesson of their lives. Wherever you post instructions or an agenda for the day, write something like this:
“Please make sure you have a writing utensil to take notes. The next three days of class will be lecture covering ____.
Sample topics: Lenstra-Lenstra-Lovász lattice basis minimization algorithm, development of water-cooled chillers, creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Markov mixed decision processes, and professional ergonomics.
17. If you’re good with technology, create a self-shadow
I love everything This is a joke, but especially the deadpan man’s dialogue. A+ in my book.
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