★ Funny Practical Jokes | Aprils Fool's Prank Ideas | Office, Home, School & College Pranks ★
Find Your Inner Prankster With These Hilarious Gags!
Whether it's April 1st, Halloween, muck-up day or you just feel like doing a prank for a laugh, this page should give you some fun ideas.
I've listed ideas for tricks to play at home, at work, in the office and at highschool, ranging from the easy and simple to huge pranks which need a lot of effort putting in. I've also displayed videos of some of my favourite flashmob pranks plus the funniest set-ups on TV shows.
I hope you find this page funny, and I also hope you find the cheeky trick you are searching for!
Balloons, Balloons, Everywhere Balloons!
A classic prank.
TV Pranks & Gags
From 'Just for Laughs' and 'Trigger Happy'.
Prankster Props
These funny pranking props are all so much fun and would also make brilliant little stocking filler gifts:
Prank Ethics
Just a few guidelines for pranking so that you don't get into trouble!
- No illegal pranks!
- No dangerous pranks!
- Don't go too far e.g. probably not a good idea to burst into a friend's house in a ski mask, brandishing an axe!
- Don't use weapons!
- Don't do something to scare someone so much that they call the emergency services!
- Only play pranks on close friends and family!
- Don't litter!
- Don't damage other people's property!
1-15 Ideas
- Buy a lot of small strange items e.g. 20 mini rubber ducks, and plant them in places where the recipient will find them - such as their locker, the toilet, the fridge, on their car, in their pockets, their desk etc. If you want to be naughty, you could plant some embarrassing items instead ;-), or if your victim has a fear of snakes or spiders you could plant fake plastic snakes/spiders.
- Send a weird/over-the-top and anonymous love letter to your victim. Perhaps with romantic gifts too.
- Fill someone's car or cubicle with balloons, boxes, chairs or anything else you can stuff in there!
- Note from the boss/headmaster/principal about a discipline problem that has come to their attention, with a 'please come and see me ASAP' message. You could try to send this to as many different people as possible to make it into a prank on the boss too. Best to only do this with laid-back bosses with a sense of humor though!
- Cover someone's car, cubicle, locker, desk etc completely with post-it notes, newspaper, foil, printed pictures or wrapping paper.
- Fill kitchen cupboards with ping-pong or bouncy balls.
- Make a web of string by wrapping it around everything in a room many times, thus tying everything in the room together. You could do this on a smaller scale with cotton thread wrapped around everything on a desk plus the office chair and desk drawer handles.
- Ice-cubes shoved inside clothes always gets a reaction.
- Put an embarrassing note on the back of your victim's car. Or you could put a 'For Sale' sign on the back for a ridiculously low price - and the victim's phone number too of course!
- Embedding office equipment e.g. staplers inside jello - a classic!
- Wrap everything in Saran wrap/clingfilm - including the toilet obviously.
- Get loads of disposable paper or plastic cups and cover every surface of a room with them - but also fill them with water to make navigating the room rather...tricky. For added interest, staple a block of the cups together.
- Change their screensaver to something embarrassing or incriminating (but don't go too far!)
- If it has snowed recently, pack a thin layer of snow against someone's house doors and windows to make them think they have been snowed in. If there is no snow, you could also print a brick wall print onto large sheets of paper and cover the outside of doors and windows with that instead.
- For someone who lives in your house: put their underwear in the freezer overnight and return them to their drawer just before they wake up. Put the underwear in water and wring it out before you put it in the freezer for an extra hard and frozen result.
Impractical Jokers
I love this show - so funny!
April Fool's Jokes & Flashmobs
16-30 Ideas
- If you're in school, pre-plan with the rest of the class what to do at particular times in the next lesson - for instance at 9:07, everyone put their hand up at exactly the same time (perhaps someone at the front of the class can be the leader of all of the actions), a coughing fit at 9:21, drop a pencil on the floor ar 9:30 etc.
- If someone is a deep sleeper, you can draw on their faces, put shaving foam in their hands or put charcoal on their fingertips.
- Make your own replica parking fine tickets and put them on lots of cars - with an 'April Fools!' message on the back.
- Stick a note on someone's back which reads something like 'I believe in aliens - wink at me if you do too'.
- Organise some friends to follow your victim in single file and imitate everything they do without speaking to them. If you have friends in a band or choir, they can play/sing to them randomly in public in an impromptu performance, then just walk off as if nothing happened.
- You could get a few volunteers who your victim doesn't know and get them to go up to your victim separately at different times of the day and act as though they are a famous celebrity and ask for their autograph. At the end of the day, a bunch of fake paparazzi could shout 'there he/she is!' and run up to them taking lots of pictures and asking Q's. Guaranteed to confuse.
- If someone usually has eggs for breakfast, either glue the eggs to the bottom of the carton, or hard boil them the night before.
- Put tape around the shower head so that water will shoot out at odd angles when the shower is turned on.
- Put your victim's watch and alarm clock forward by an hour or two.
- Put salt on their toothbrush.
- Put a paper cup full of confetti or water on top of a door that is ajar and wait for someone to walk into the room.
- If your victim's bedroom door opens into their room (rather than outwards), then whilst your victim is asleep and the door is shut, tape a newspaper barrier across the outside of the doorway almost up to the top. Push ping pong balls, packing peanuts, crumpled paper etc. through the gap - so when they open the door, they'll get a mini avalanche.
- Attach a magnet to the bottom of a coffee cup (or more than one) and put them on your victim's car so that they end up driving around with the cups still attached.
- If you live in a dorm or house with a few bedroom doors on one corridor, use a length of string to tie all of the door handles together. Then knock on all of the doors.
- Balance a glass of water/beer/other liquid on the back of your hand and say that it's actually physically impossible to do the same with both hands at the same time. Hopefully your friend will take the bait and try it. Then you can leave the room/pub and they won't be able to move.
Funny Gags & Prank Calls
31-45 Ideas
- Put a note on your victim's car which reads 'Sorry about the dent. Call me so we can swap insurance details.' Include a fake name and number and hide nearby to watch your victim search for a dent.
- Replace the liquid soap in the soap dispenser with fake tan, syrup, or add food colouring to a small amount of the existing soap.
- Borrow a few of your victim's belongings. Take a photograph of one item in an easily-identified location and mail the photo to your victim (perhaps with a ransom-style note with cut out letters and words from a magazine to spell out a message like 'We have kidnapped your pencil case. Find it within 24 hours or your pencil case gets it!'). When they go to the location shown in the picture, you will have left the item (e.g. pencil case) plus a photo of the next item in a different location. Carry on the trail until the last item is found and you can leave a message saying 'April Fools!'
- The night before April Fool's day, take your victim's toothbrush and place it in an airtight plastic bag full of water. Leave it in the freezer overnight and in the morning take it out and put the ice block where the toothbrush is usually kept. Or if their toothbrush is usually kept in a cup, fill the cup with water and put the cup with the toothbrush and water in the freezer.
- Put a small water balloon in their pillowcase.
- Get some hair extensions the same colour as your victim's hair and put them around their head as they sleep.
- Make some photocopies of just a paperclip and put those copies back into the paper tray of the photocopier. People will think there is a paperclip stuck in the machine.
- Borrow all of the victim's pens and replace them with cheap pens that have either had the caps glued on or had clear nail polish painted over the tips.
- Leave a phone message for the victim that says that a 'Mr Lyon/Mr Behr/Mrs Draff' called, and would like you to call them back soon. Then give the phone number of the local zoo.
- Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel and find 'Mouse' on the list. Double click. You can switch the primary and secondary buttons of the mouse around here, as well as slowing the pointer speed down under 'Pointer Options'.
- Serve a miniature April Fool's day breakfast by cooking a tiny slice of bacon, a quail's egg, perhaps a few baked beans and a small slice of toast. Put them on a big plate and serve with a shot glass of orange juice, a towel as a napkin and large knives and forks.
- If you are in school/college, you could organise a 'flashmob' music concert in secret - get a school rock band to agree to set up somewhere pre-planned and then at a particular time, everyone has to go to that place and rock out at full volume! For full effect, do it mid-lesson.
- Get all the girls in the school year to donate old bras and hang them from the trees in the ground, and in loads of random places.
- Put an ad in the newspaper; lots of potential for this, including advertising that your school is for sale, and putting your friends in the 'lonely hearts' column. Someone at my school put up an auction on Ebay for the very expensive school sculpture!
Links to More Prank Ideas
- Brilliant Links & Articles
A list of the best prank sites plus excellent articles. - 10 Harmless Computer Pranks
Fantastic pranks for an office environment. - Best Home, Office & Food Pranks
Including fun mock TV dinners. - Highschool Pranks
Involving hay, animals, bubble bath and much more. - Funny Office Pranks
Many good ideas for a laugh at work. - 100 Best Hoaxes of All Time
Including infamous media pranks such as the spaghetti tree. - 25 Best Dorm Room Pranks
Top dorm room tricks of all time - I love the Hasselhoff one! - Prank Ideas Central
Safe car tricks, plus phone, office and wedding pranks. - Prank Idea Articles
Lists of fab ideas for every occasion. - iPhone Tricks
Lots of apps you can put on iPhones for a laugh. - 7 Elevator Pranks
Several fun tricks to try. - Martha Stewart Gags
Crafty prank ideas including turning milk blue. - Best Prank Pictures
18 photos showing funny prank ideas. - 25 Brilliant Pranks
From cress keyboards to my favorite; the air horn behind the door! - How to Put a Stapler in Jello
Instructions on how to pull off this classic prank. - Creepy Eyes Prank
Funny ping-pong eye props. - Make Your Friends Like You...Not!
Some particularly disgusting food prank ideas here! - Easter Egg Fool
Fun breakfast prank involving jello and an egg.
Lecture Hall Pranks
More Ideas
Hundreds of cups of water in an office :)
- Put liquid soap on the door knobs.
- Make people jump with scary masks and fancy dress, film their reactions and post the videos on Youtube!
- Make new 'Push' and 'Pull' door signs, then put them over existing ones so that they're the wrong way around - just to confuse people all day.
- Hide people's family photos at work and replace them with photos of random TV stars, celebrities or historical figures. Perhaps make a 'shrine' to a particularly embarrassing famous figure, or to a work colleague.
- Move someone's possessions slightly everyday - perhaps a bit more obviously each time until you end of making a huge change like reversing everything on their desk, moving the desk to the other side of the room or covering everything in newspaper.
- Order random, bizarre and cheap items off the Internet and have them sent directly to your victim. If you buy the items off Ebay, contact the sellers to tell them not to include an invoice - and you also ask if they could include a message inside.
- Pay someone to serenade your victim as a surprise, but have the song contain someone else's name - then the serenader realises at the end that they have got the wrong address. Or you could get someone to deliver an envelope with 'April Fools!' written inside, after singing or half-stripping in front of your victim.
- Stuff shredded paper into someone's closed umbrella so they'll get a surprise when they open it.
- Write an official-looking letter which talks about the latest 'mission' and includes secret details (think James Bond or Mission Impossible) - and don't forget to write on the bottom that the letter must be kept confidential and must be destroyed immediately. The victim will be baffled at why it has been sent to them.
- If your friend is throwing a fancy dress party, find out what costume they are going to wear and get every guest to come as the exact same thing - then pretend it was coincidence!
- If your girlfriend has a sense of humour, try this gift prank.
- Sew up the fly of your boyfriend's underwear or pants with a temporary running stitch.
- Put a couple drops of (non-flavored) food coloring in the milk - but this works best if the milk carton is NOT see-through.
Please Leave a Comment!
williamslaw on April 16, 2014:
I love your prank ideas.
tjgurley95 on April 07, 2014:
These jokes are hilarious. I have tried a few myself and it always ends being something very funny to talk about!
anonymous on April 01, 2013:
lol these are some funny jokes i did post it on car and it sure worked thanks the victim was so shocked
momsfunny on February 17, 2013:
These are crazy funny ideas! I love them!
jeffritchie on December 06, 2012:
Haha :') some great pranks. Nice lens!
CraftyandClever from everywhere but mostly Cali on November 28, 2012:
Awww the old cups all over the place gag brings me back to my college days. Thanks for the memories!
RaidaMoon on April 01, 2012:
This lens is full of wickedly funny pranks. Great job! I love it and I will be nominating it for the "April Fools' Day" quest.
*cheers*
bikerministry on April 01, 2012:
A lot of fun here, I'm not real creative when it comes to jokes like this, they usually backfire on me, but some people certainly have a knack. Blessings.
iMorpheus on April 01, 2012:
This is very funny. I am nominating this lens for "lens of the day". Thanks for creating this lens :-)
Coreena Jolene on April 01, 2012:
Lots of fun stuff! I love silly little practical jokes. Great collection.
candidaabrahamson on April 01, 2012:
Too cute. This is a must, in my mind, for the April Fool's Day Quest! Here I go to enter it.
getwellsoon on April 01, 2012:
Funny things to do...thanks for the lens!
anonymous on April 01, 2012:
I love all those pranks! Very funny lens!
Jillynn on April 01, 2012:
Totally fun lens. Thank you very much!
Bradley Baker from Stephens City on April 01, 2012:
I'm the BIG joker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gamrslist on April 01, 2012:
cool lens liked the prank on the car thank you
MGuberti on March 04, 2012:
Wow, those are some good ones!
SquidooRocks55 on February 21, 2012:
Wow, tons of great pictures here. I Love both the one with a all the cups in the office and the post it car. I would love to see the photos of the person who they did it to as well. Those would be hilarious.
jeremykim2011 on January 11, 2012:
Haha! I love all those pranks!
luvsdragonflies1 on December 14, 2011:
Sweet Pranks!!! Check out my lens sometime plz and thank you
anonymous on November 07, 2011:
@anonymous: This is too funny! I've done it on countless occasions!
anonymous on November 07, 2011:
This was so much fun to read! Great pranks!!
AvidArchie on September 05, 2011:
haha I love this. I am a true afficianado of pranks. My roommate got so frustrated with me in college because I always had something up my sleeve. I wrote a lens detailing that full experience. Feel free to check it out!
anonymous on July 23, 2011:
love the post it idea! very funny
anonymous on April 13, 2011:
I love getting in practical joke wars with people, but you do need to make sure it doesn't go too far. Wise judgment is essential.
anonymous on March 30, 2011:
- This prank is really old but it still works. Put super glue on a 50 cent coin. MAKE SURE THIS IS AT SCHOOL AT RECESS OR BREAK TIME!! Then watch people try to break their nails off,
