5 Easy April Fools' Day Pranks

April showers may bring May flowers but April 1 brings the jokes! Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery, according to History.com.

No matter the origins, it has become a beloved tradition for hoaxters, pranksters or anyone who likes a good laugh and Patch has five ways for our readers get in the spirit.

1. Keep the kids occupied with a word search puzzle. Although it looks like a normal word search, none of the words listed are actually in the puzzle. Your victim will search endlessly for the words while you egg them on to keep searching. The puzzle, created by Aprilfoolzone.com, conveniently includes spring time words like basket, bunny and garden to throw your victim off the trail. To download the word search, click here.

2. Take one of your old jewelry boxes—the kind jewelry comes in—and give your loved one or spouse an unexpected gift. Cut a hole in the bottom big enough to fit your finger in. For this trick the index, middle or ring fingers work best. Then decorate your hand with make-up, paint or lipstick to look like a bloody finger.  Stick your finger through the hole, making sure to add tissue paper or some other decorative bedding. Then present the victim with your “gift.” Be as sweet and romantic as possible, opening it for them.

3. For cellphone users, there’s an app for that! There are many a free applications available in the Android and iPhone markets that can help you fool your friends. For example, the Android app "Scary Zombies” allows you to scare your friends. This free app allows you to set a timer with the alarm being a graphic photo of a zombie of your choosing. Set the timer and have your friends use your phone to get directions or play a game. What they get instead will have you laughing for the rest of the day. For those more gullible, download the "Fingerprint Lock" app. It’s a lock screen that allows your friends to think it can scan fingerprints. While this app responds to touch, the victim won’t know it!

4. This one is for all the mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, yogurt, or sour cream lovers. Switch any of these for another of the same consistency and your victim will get a spoon full of something they aren’t expecting.

5. If you work on April Fool's day, prank your co-workers with a stale joke suggested by AprilFoolZone.com. Purchase a box of donuts the day before before and leave them in your fridge with the top open. On April 1, put the donuts in the break room so all can “enjoy.”

Fun Fact: 

On April 1, 1957, the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland, according to Museumofhoaxes.com. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the "virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil." The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti." The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Museumofhoaxes.com states “to this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time. It is also believed to be the first time the medium of television was used to stage an April fool’s Day hoax.”

Northfield Patch wants to know, what's your favorite April Fool's Day prank?

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