April fools ideas appropriate for toddlers?

When I was little, I tied all my dad’s shoelaces together :)

Agreed. Find a trick they can play on an adult or older child (who you are certain will go along with it) rather than on another child their own age.

You guys are way to nice. I was thinking of a trick I could play on them. (But I also like the idea of conspiring with them to do sn April fools tricking their parents!)

Serve them weird colored food. Mix a little food coloring with the mashed potatoes or in their milk before you give it to them. If you have the time, maybe you can make up a dessert that looks like vegetables wo they will be really confused when they eat it.

Yes, I’d do something with their food too. Say something like.. We’re going to have dog food for lunch and make something that might look like dog food, but isn’t.

Or, turn their mashed potatoes pink and tell them that it’s mashed flamingo or something.

I remember my mom short sheeting my bed on April Fools day, and I once made meatloaf cupcakes with pink mashed potato frosting for dinner. They looked like real cupcakes.

Replace the filling in an Oreo with toothpaste. I think I’m going to do that one to my 5 year old.

Toddlers are often confused by tricks. If you offer them funny colored mashed potatoes, they might refuse to eat them, even if they taste better than the usual way you fix them. That’s why it’s best to teach them by helping them play an innocent trick on someone they love and know well.

@Supacase, that IS an appropriate joke for a 5 year old, but remember that whatever joke you play on them might be turned back on you, immediately! Also, tooth paste should never be eaten. Some children are so literal, they might just eat it all just to show you! I’ve known a few 5 year olds like that!

Call me a wet blanket, but I wouldn’t be in any hurry to introduce this idea. For one thing, it’ll be a long while yet before they’re able to exercise good judgment about what is and isn’t a safe or appropriate joke to play. For another, the idea of doing something once a year has no meaning to a little kid. You may be up to here in tricks for weeks.

If you must, do something that’s instantly reversible and not something that requires an inadvisable move such as eating something that looks bad or scary. For instance, try putting their clothes on backwards or serving their milk in a coffee cup. Don’t compel them to overcome some natural instinct or aversion. What’s funny about that?

I would also say emphatically, don’t do something that requires you to tell them any lie. That people think it’s okay to lie casually to children astonishes me.

My mother introduced me to this prank holiday by tipping me to the joke she was playing on her father. They both wore gold-rimmed spectacles. She swapped hers for his where they lay next to his waiting breakfast. Grandfather put them on and couldn’t read the newspaper. She let him puzzle for a moment and then declared “April Fool!” and restored his own glasses. It was funny and harmless and could be set right in an instant.

Anything that makes their eyes begin to well up with tears.

that way you know you got ‘em good

I told my grandson ahead of time it was a trick day, so we both thought up tricks together. He said “I pooped on the rug – April Fool!” and mine was to say “Chuck E Cheese is here – April Fool”. The newly four year old took it quite well. The nearly two year old doesn’t have a clue.

I loved the meatloaf cupcake idea and told my daughters. One said, if only my kids would eat stuff like that! And instead had a backwards clothes day. The othe daughter has kids who will eat anything and had meatloaf cupcakes gor dinner tonight. Thanks for the great ideas! Next year this grandma will be more prepared.
I think we will work on ways to April fool their parents. That’s brilliant. :-)

I didn’t see this yesterday, but maybe you can save some ideas for next year!

I did something similar to the meatloaf cupcakes one year, but made a meatloaf cake. The mashed potatoes stayed white and I decorated it with cherry tomatoes. My kids weren’t really fooled because it didn’t smell like cake. My youngest was five at the time, and he thought it was funny.

This year my 7 year old (who was home from school sick) helped me make fake sushi from Rice Krispie treats and candies. There are lots of ideas on how to do this online, from simple to complicated. He had a lot of fun helping with it and giving “sushi” to his siblings for an after-school snack. It was a big hit for everyone.

I’d skip it all together if your grandkids are sensitive, like what @Jeruba fears.

I forget not all kids are as funny and fun loving as mine.