I love good teacher April Fool’s pranks for the classroom as much as I love a good prank at home. Quite frankly, I love them so much that I don’t understand why we only have one day of the year to celebrate the awesomeness of April Fool’s pranks!
Truly, I work hard to come up with fun pranks for the classroom.
What brings middle school kids together in unity more than their shared dislike of school lunches? Now, I really don’t think most of the lunches at my school are half bad. But I am fully aware that most middle schoolers cannot be convinced school lunches are edible – at any school. I decided to use this situation to my advantage and developed my own teacher April Fool’s prank for the classroom. I created a faux school lunch menu.
Creating Teacher April Fool’s Pranks for the Classroom – Lunch Menu Prank
Unfortunately, the first time I did this, I didn’t come up with the idea to play some teacher April Fool’s pranks until the night before. I had to hand cut and paste a lot of it and throw it together.
To start, I printed a school lunch menu from our district’s website and estimated the font size. On my computer, I tried to find a font of similar style and size. I came up with several bogus – and gross sounding – food entrees and a few side items, as well. I typed and printed the items to mirror the way the daily lunches are presented on our regular menu. Had I had the Microsoft Office version which allows PDF files to be edited on my home computer, this job would have been much easier! All I would have had to do was download the menu from our school website, edit the fields as I pleased, and print the file.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have such a program at the time. I had to go the good old-fashioned route and cut my typed information out into tiny little squares which perfectly fit inside the calendar boxes. Then, I glued them onto the paper on various days throughout the month. I made a smooth copy on my scanner/printer. Finished! If you look closely, you can see where the font is not a perfect match and some of the fake entries are a bit crooked, but I figured many of the kids would not notice at first glance.
One key, I think is to leave some of the items on the menu alone to further confuse the kids. In my original menu, I left some of the daily entrees in their normal form. In another menu I made for a different year, I made every single entree crazy, but left the side items in normal form.
Lunch Menu Prank in Action
Even though our lunch menu is offered in digital form online these days, I still like to post a copy of the monthly menu in my classroom. I hung the menu in place of the real one on the back of my classroom door.
Indeed, the kids rose to the occasion! In first period, several were standing at the door reading over the menu together before the tardy bell. Hearing the raised sounds of alarm in their voices made my heart soar. It took less than a minute for most of the 28 or so students to be all a buzz over this travesty of justice. Middle school mayhem at it’s finest!
“Can I go to the office? I need to ask my mom to bring me lunch.”
“Horseradish pudding?! Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. This school is just going to the dogs.”
“I’m calling my – lima bean sandwich?! – mama. Yep, I am callin’ my mama! There is no way I am eating that.”
“I’m telling you – it’s those Obamas. That Michelle Obama can’t stop stickin’ her nose in our lunch business and now our lunches have gotten worse and worse. Look at this! I feel sorry for those daughters of hers. I bet she makes them eat alligator stew and moose nose at home.”
That last quote had to be my favorite quote of all! I laughed so hard and still remember these quotes like they happened yesterday.
Oh, my goodness were those kids ever worked up! Of course, my teacher April Fool’s prank had to come to an end after a few minutes as I couldn’t really have kids calling home and reporting these bogus menu items to their parents. I think they actually embraced their real menu for that day as it wasn’t nearly as bad as horseradish pudding.
Printable 2023 Lunch Menu
Note: this lunch menu may or may not get updated yearly.
Many kids in my other morning classes found out about the classroom April Fool’s prank before the morning was up – as I knew they would since middle school kids are not exactly the best secret keepers. However, there were a few more who fell victim to the teacher April Fool’s prank and brought much delight to my morning. I mean the teacher has to have a little fun sometimes, too, right?
Obviously, students appreciate a good classroom prank. I mean I did find this in my desk drawer a couple months back when I returned from maternity leave:
For the 2019 school year, I will link a copy of my lunch menu prank for you to use in your classroom. In fact, I am posting six versions of my teacher April Fool’s prank because I know many of you teachers will have spring break at various points of April. Be sure to print the copy that you need. Optionally, you could print my copy and then possibly copy and paste your own district logo or school name or whatever is typically on your lunch menu. Run it through the copier and display it in your room.
More Teacher April Fool’s Pranks for Students
Now, for this prank, you may want to seek permission from your administrators first. Although it is a harmless prank, it does have the tendency to create some large groups of student gawkers in the hallway outside the bathroom. But I’m not gonna lie. I had too much fun setting this student April Fool’s prank up last year! I created this Area Under Investigation printable and taped it to the outside door of the boy’s bathroom (which happened to be right next door to my classroom). Also, I added a little caution tape. And, boom. Instant fun!
Copy Machine Prank for the Office or Teacher’s Lounge
Another dose of April 1st fun involves simply sticking a funny sign on the copy machine in your office or teacher’s lounge. Again, it might be best to run this idea by your administrators first since this is a prank that could throw a kink in someone’s day. Simply print out this handy dandy Copy Machine Prank Printable and watch the magic unfold. (Well, you may not actually be able to watch. That is the one thing about April Fool’s pranks at the office or at school. You often can’t be there to watch the magic happen!)
April Fool’s Pranks for the Office or Teacher’s Lounge – Donut Prank
No doubt, even the adults are not safe at my middle school on April Fool’s Day! If you have ever attended or worked at a school, then you know the disturbing affinity teachers have for donuts. We flock to the workroom like mad when we think there are any sort of sweet treats in there. Hence, the ole’ donut April Fool’s prank!
For this donut prank, so many coworkers fell victim! How my heart swelled with pride when I heard one of the coaches had rushed in with napkin in-hand only to discover my little devious switch-a-roo! Also, I was in the lounge when my friend Megan rushed for the box and then growled when she saw what was inside. Such fun!
Although the crazy menu April Fool’s prank was my own brainchild, I can’t take credit for inventing the donut prank. I’ve seen it all over the internet the last few years. However, I added one little tweak – a cute little “Donut You Know Better?!” printable to tape into the inside of the box.
One of many easy and fun teacher April Fool’s pranks for the classroom and/or teacher’s lounge!
However, I did have to think out this teacher April Fool’s prank a little bit. Because I run so late in the mornings, there was no way I had time for a donut stop. Therefore, the afternoon before (some donut shops close early), I stopped by the donut shop and ordered a couple of donuts but sweetly asked the employee if I could have the box that fits a dozen donuts. She looked at me funny but gave me the box. Then, I headed to the grocery store for the bag of fresh veggies.
Indeed, those errands were well worth it!
This year, I ran out of time to grab the veggies the night before. The fast thinker I am, I grabbed some cute toy donuts from my girls’ toy kitchen! Same prank, new twist!
What are your favorite teacher April Fool’s pranks for the classroom or teacher’s lounge?
Laura A Becker
Can someone email me the lunch menu please!?
Amy
Sent! I hope it worked out for you, Laura!
Amy
Thanks, Sonya! Next time, I will spend more time coming up with some additional "appetizing" entrees. Hehehee.
Sonya K
This was a great prank! I think my favorite menu item was jellied moose nose…it sounds extremely gross. Lol.