Water Cooler: Are you ready for April Fools’ Day?

April Fools’ Day is Thursday – do you have a plan? If not, you still have time to think up and prepare some great pranks to have a bit of mischievous fun with the family. Here are a few prank ideas that are certain to cause just enough confusion and chaos to give the whole family a good laugh.

What’s in the water?: Use a cotton swab to apply food coloring to the inside of a faucet or two inside your home. When someone goes to turn on the water, they will be shocked to discover the water has turned color. Maybe it’s the old pipes?

Not-so dentist approved: When getting the kids to brush their teeth, prepare their toothbrush for them but swap out the toothpaste paste for a look-a-like, such as frosting or cream cheese, to throw a hilarious wrench into the bedtime or morning routine. You can add a bit of food coloring if they usually use a colored toothpaste or gel.

Waiter, there’s a fly in my drink: When filling up the ice tray, drop a few toy bugs into the ice cube mold. Use boiled water to make sure the ice cubes are clear. Serve up a refreshing chilled beverage and wait for your victim to notice the buggy surprise.

Worst-reviewed pillow: Before bed, remove the pillows from their covers and replace them with inflated balloons. When someone goes to rest their head and end this day of exhausting tricks, they’ll discover you had one more up your sleeve after all.

A not-so-sweet dessert: Get everyone psyched and tell them you’re serving brownies for dessert. Instead, present them with a platter of letter Es cut from brown construction paper. Mmm, delicious brown Es. You may want to have a backup platter of real brownies depending on how much everyone was looking forward to dessert.

My lunch is staring at me: Pack a fun lunchtime surprise by gluing googly eyes to the packaging or peels of all the lunch items.

Now that’s cold: Before going to bed, pour a bowl of cereal with milk (or water if you don’t want to waste the milk) and put it in the freezer. Pull it out in the morning to serve and watch the confusion unfold.

Is it a liquid or a solid?: Make some Jell-O, but use a clear cup for the mold. When your children ask for juice, hand them a tall glass of Jell-O instead. Insert a straw into the Jell-O to make it extra convincing.

Selfie revenge: When your family members are sleeping, take some fun selfies on their phone and replace their background with your grinning face.

High-tech rubber bands: This trick isn’t so clever, but it sure is frustrating. Wrap your family member’s cell phone or other piece of favorite technology in rubber bands. Next time they go to check social media, they’ll have to work a little harder for it.

Don’t open that door: Place a balloon behind a door, then tape something sharp like a thumbtack where the door will make contact behind the balloon. It’s guaranteed to result in a good jump scare, so make sure you only play this one on somebody that can handle being startled.

Battery thief: Go around your home and remove the batteries from remotes, computer mice, toys, etc., and leave an April Fools’ note where the batteries would be.

Short the sheets: For this classic summer camp trick, remove the top sheet from a bed and tuck the bottom of the sheet around the top of the mattress as if it were the fitted sheet and fold in half. The sheet will appear as normal, but when someone hops in the bed, they won’t be able to extend their legs.