The spring season has begun, and mischief will be in the air as the Champaign Central High School students pull the best harmless April Fools’ pranks.
April Fools’ Day has consistently held the tradition of humor, and pranks go all the way back to the 1500’s in France. When the country switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, resetting the year from April 1st to January 1st, and as people celebrated the new year, people who weren’t aware of the changes were mocked. The unofficial holiday has evolved and pranks have gotten more elaborate, sometimes dangerous, but the best pranks are harmless pranks that make people laugh.
Food Fun:
As TikTok has become a larger platform, the number of videos have multiplied, and for April Fools’ Day, it’s the perfect place to get inspiration for a great prank. Max Areeg gave her kids chocolate-covered bagels instead of chocolate donuts. She also rewrapped onions in chocolate wrappers, switched ice cream with mashed potatoes, and blended black beans with milk to make “chocolate milk”.
“I like to prank people by putting toothpaste in their Oreos,” sophomore Kenzie Martin said.
On Instagram, there is a pool of users supplying creative and fun ideas for April Fools’ Day. On March 30, 2025, Carolina_charm published three pranks on her Instagram page. The slides she posted demonstrated how to cut out brown E’s, call them brown E’s, and give them to people as brownies. Making red Jell-O in a cup to give it to someone saying it’s juice is the third prank is to freeze someone’s milk and cereal before giving it to them.
Morning Mischief:
Wikihow published an article called “How to Pull a Prank for April Fools,” that suggests to “create alarm clock fun” by messing with someone’s alarm clock and setting up multiple alarm clocks and hiding them around someone’s room or setting them to go off at random times.
On March 29, 2024, JoGmaBeck posted a TikTok to share the best pranks she was playing on her family. JoGmaBeck starts her trickery by taking off the end part of the faucet and shower head and adding water packet flavoring before screwing it back on to change the water color. She then terrorizes the toilet by loosening the brackets on the toilet seat and adding vaseline on the space where you sit.
“Ding Dong Ditching is my favorite way to prank,” said freshman Esosa Ogbebor.
Schooltime Schemes:
As for school, the number of pranks is unlimited. For students, the LovetoKnow blog posted an article with twelve hilarious pranks for students to pull at school. If you know a teacher who loves to pull loose threads, put a spool of thread in your shirt and let your confused teacher pull it out. Or if you can get your whole class together, make it a silent day where the whole class is silent the whole time. My favorite is the “prank that never was,” which is where you say how your prank for April Fool’s Day will be amazing, while exaggerating in detail until everyone believes you, and then pulling no prank.
“If I were to pull an April Fools’ prank on the school, I would use washable spray paint everywhere,” senior Anna Sanks said.
Students aren’t the only ones who can prank. WeAreTeachers has a list of great pranks for teachers, too. Giving students an unsolvable word search is a funny and harmless prank. You could also make a fake lesson or intro slide to throw the class off guard. Hosting a fake test with humorous questions is also a funny way to prank the class.