7 Hilarious Lesson Ideas to Trick Your Students on April Fool’s Day

April Fool’s Day is the perfect opportunity to shake up your classroom with some laughter and learning! If you’re looking for creative ways to prank your students while keeping lessons engaging, we’ve got you covered. From reading comprehension activities featuring satirical news articles to hands-on STEM pranks and interactive widgets, these ready-to-use lesson ideas will have your students second-guessing everything they know.

In the past, we had fun tricking teachers with our fake Aquarium widget—this year, we’re turning the tables and helping you prank your students instead! Get ready to mix fun with education and make this April 1st one to remember!

All these April fool’s day activities are free to use and created with BookWidgets. You can create a free BookWidgets account (if you don’t have one already) and copy the widgets to your account, which will allow you to make some changes where necessary and receive your students’ answers in your account. All these ready-to-use lesson plans for April Fool’s Day are available in this group.

Disclaimer

In today’s world, where fake news and political tensions are prevalent, it’s important for teachers to exercise caution when using tricks and pranks, especially on a day like April Fool’s. While humor can be a fun and engaging way to teach, it’s essential to remain mindful of your students’ individual sensibilities and backgrounds. Be thoughtful about the content of your pranks and ensure they are lighthearted and appropriate for the classroom setting.

1. Reading Comprehension: Social Media Ban Shocker! 📖

Kick off April Fool’s Day with a reading comprehension activity that will have your students questioning everything! This satirical news article claims that major social media platforms are banning users under 21—a headline sure to grab their attention. As they read, students will analyze the text, identify clues that hint at its authenticity (or lack thereof), and discuss the importance of fact-checking. This engaging activity is a perfect way to introduce media literacy, critical thinking, and the concept of fake news in a fun and memorable way!

💡 Pro tip: the text and images in this satirical news article are generated by AI. Creating your own fake news article on a different topic to trick your students is very easy with AI. As an example, here’s the prompt we used in a Large Language Model to generate the text that is show in the lesson activity:

For my B1/B2 level ESL-students, write a fake news article for April fool’s day. The article should be about social media companies deciding together that they will no longer be available for people under 21. They have had too many issues with younger users and understand that they need to decrease screen time. META will launch a sportswear brand and SnapChat and TikTok have shown interest in launching book series. Start the article in a serious way and make it sound more and more ridiculous the longer you read.

2. ziuQ esreveR (Reverse Quiz) 🔄

In this fun and puzzling activity, students will take a quiz where all the text is written backwards! For an added twist, have a normal version of the quiz displayed on the classroom screen, so students think there’s something wrong with their device — perhaps they’ve accidentally downloaded a virus while playing an online game! This clever setup will encourage teamwork and curiosity, all while teaching students to stay calm and critical when facing confusing situations.

💡 Pro tip: want to make your own reversed quiz? Here’s how to:

1. Use this website to reverse all the text in the questions (and answers);
2. In the widget editor, on the language tab, for Text direction choose Right-to-left;
3. In the widget editor, on the language tab, click on the gear wheel icon, select Save as… and name it “Backwards”. Now you can also “translate” the language of the interface (e.g. timbuS for Submit).

3. Video Quiz - The Spaghetti Tree Hoax 🍝

In this activity, students will watch the famous 1957 BBC segment The Spaghetti Tree Hoax, where a family in Switzerland is shown harvesting spaghetti from a tree. This April Fools’ prank tricked many viewers, as spaghetti was unfamiliar to many in the UK at the time. After watching the video, students will answer quiz questions to test their comprehension and critical thinking. This activity can also spark a class discussion on food production, helping students understand how much of the food they consume is produced and how easily misinformation can spread.

4. Reading Comprehension: Emojis Officially Declared a New Global Language! 📱

In this fun and engaging reading comprehension activity, students will read a satirical news article announcing that emojis have officially been recognized as a global language! After reading, they’ll answer questions that test their understanding of the article. But it’s not all serious—there will be fun questions and games involving emojis! This is a great opportunity to spark a class discussion about the significance of emojis in modern communication, how different generations use them, and whether they truly could replace words in some contexts. A perfect way to mix humor with learning while exploring digital literacy!

5. Quiz: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Giza Pyramids Discovery 🏺

This April Fools joke for History classes will engage students with a satirical news article about an alleged groundbreaking discovery beneath the Pyramids of Giza. The quiz will encourage students to critically evaluate the article’s content, identifying anachronisms and inconsistencies that reveal the story isn’t quite what it seems. This is a fantastic way to introduce historical accuracy and help students become more discerning readers in the age of AI-generated content. With a few subtle giveaways in the text and images, students will learn to question the reliability of online information, all while exploring fascinating aspects of ancient Egyptian history!

6. The “Opposite Day” Essay Prompt ✍️

In this creative writing activity, students will be challenged to take the opposite stance on a topic than what they truly believe. For example, you might ask them to “Write a persuasive essay on why books should be banned in schools,” even if they strongly support the importance of books in education. This activity encourages critical thinking and forces students to consider different perspectives, all while honing their persuasive writing skills. It’s a fun way to explore argumentation, as students will need to develop strong reasons to support an opinion they don’t agree with, enhancing their ability to think logically and articulate complex ideas.

7. STEM Pranks: Science Meets Shenanigans! 🔬

Looking for other ways to prank your students on April Fool’s Day? Science has never been this sneaky! These fun and simple STEM pranks will amaze your students while teaching them about physics, chemistry, and optical illusions. We’re linking to a video from the IncredibleScience YouTube channel, packed with 10 clever science-based tricks—from an invisible water trick to a sneaky soda explosion and mind-bending optical illusions. These hands-on activities are a great way to spark curiosity, encourage critical thinking, and, of course, pull off the perfect classroom prank!

Wrap up

We hope you enyoed these 7 April Fool’s Jokes for Teachers and are curious to hear what kind of April Fools’ prank you’ve got up your sleeve this year! Got a hilarious classroom trick planned? Or did one of our seven ideas spark a genius plan of your own? Whether it’s a harmless little joke or an elaborate prank masterpiece, we’d absolutely love to hear all about it.

Share your prank stories, photos, or classroom reactions with us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, or in our teacher community on Facebook. We can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with! 😄