On March 20, the United States Congress officially declared the new date of April Fools’ Day, March 31. Ha! Just kidding, fooled you! It’s a good thing that isn’t true, so you have more time to prepare your pranks for your friends and family. Wait, don’t have any ideas? Luckily, this prank guide has plenty of options for anyone to use this April 1, including some pro tips on what to avoid. Remember, it’s best to be on the offensive to avoid being the victim, so take notes!

Honk if you’re ___!

This prank requires supreme execution, but it can be done on anyone with a vehicle. First, acquire a piece of paper and write in bold letters, “Honk if you’re happy,” or “Honk at me,” or honestly, any phrase that starts with “Honk.” Get creative, a sign saying “Honk if you’re single” always seems to work especially well too. Next, tape it on

the back of your victim’s automobile, where it can be visible to other drivers. This is crucial; you must do this without the target noticing. Wait until they’re just sitting down in their car so they don’t walk up to the vehicle with the sign already taped up. Once you have the paper secure, your work is done! Hopefully, you can take a ride with the victim to have the satisfaction of watching their face turn red as others on the road start beeping nonstop.

Celebrity invasion

While this next prank calls for a bit of extra preparation, it is the perfect way to get a good laugh for yourself and a shock for your victims. The first step is to find photos of different celebrities online, ranging from professional and serious to goofy. Next, determine the sizes of all the picture frames in your house and order your selected celebrity photos to be printed in those specific measurements. You can do this through Shutterfly, CVS Photo Prints or any way that is easiest for you. Once you have the photos in hand, there’s no harm in editing the pictures with markers if you need to add a mustache or two. Then, find a moment when your family members are asleep or distracted to swap out the normal photos for your celebrity shots. For the best reaction, don’t mention anything and let your family slowly notice as the day goes on. If one of them realizes the change before the others, let them in on the prank and you can have an even better laugh when the rest finally see the swap! Another fun variation of this prank would be to replace the normal photos with silly pictures of your family members and expose some of their very awkward photo faces. 

Link and wink

Here’s one that you can pull on virtually anybody (pun intended), even friends or family you won’t see on April Fools. The idea is to create a fake link that looks like something legitimate, for example, a link to an article or online product that you send to your victim. When they click on it, they are unexpectedly taken to a funny video. Some simple but effective website options you can use to generate your prank are The Redirector, which you can customize to send any video to your victim, or the Rick Roll link generator – Nihal Navath, which sends your victim to the classic Rick Astley “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video, a common prank known as “getting Rick Rolled.” However, these are just two choices and many others do the same job. All you have to do is come up with a believable theme for the appearance of your link. Most require you to customize the link title and URL and sometimes include a description or a photo. Once finished, have the website generate the link and send it to yourself first to test it out. Make sure the link seems reasonable so your victim doesn’t get suspicious. After you are satisfied with your creation, send the prank to your target with a text underneath that incentivizes them to click on the URL. While you don’t get their reaction, the confused text messages that follow will leave you rolling on the floor and laughing. 

Bubble mat, not bubble bath

Who doesn’t love a little sibling competition? I know I for sure want to stir up some sibling rivalry, so here’s an idea just for that! The object of the prank is to place bubble wrap under a mat or rug in your house, so that when your sibling (or any victim) steps on it, they jump from the unexpected popping noise. Pretty self-explanatory; the only material you need to locate is some bubble wrap. The size and thickness of the bubble wrap sheet depends on the

mat or rug you want to place it under, as it should not poke out enough for someone to see the hidden plastic. Once you have the bubble wrap, find a time to slip it under a mat or rug that you know your victim will step on, and then wait in the next room over to hear their little scream when they hear the popping beneath them!

Good luck pranksters!!! Make sure to also carefully read over the list of things to avoid.