April Fool’s Day : Food and Trick Ideas
(Disclaimer: if you are averse to or offended by 13-year old boy humor, you may want to skip this post!)
So, in my family there are several events/qualities that we take very seriously:
- We take education very seriously
- We take being honest and trustworthy very seriously
- We take fulfilling your obligations very seriously
- We take creating quality family time very seriously
- We take April Fool’s Day very seriously
April Fool’s Day : Food and Trick Ideas
For years, if you had asked my children their favorite holiday, they would have said “April Fool’s Day!” The tradition started when they were probably 7 and 4 and I spent an entire day (while they were at school) making ‘meatloaf’ from cereal and chocolate, as well as forming peas, carrots and green beans out of warmed up starburst candy which was then served to them at dinnertime. So, yeah, of course they thought it was a good thing.
The next year, I inadvertently brought Rob to tears when I served cupcakes for dinner which were in fact meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato ‘frosting’. I told them it was our dog Brandy’s birthday and we were having a little party to celebrate. When he took a bite out of what he thought was a cupcake, his little 5-year old disappointment truly got the better of him. #FunnyNotFunny #BadMom
The key to my early April Fool’s Day successes was that they were still a little unaware of the holiday. As they grew up and became more aware, it became harder to fool them; which meant that each year I had to try to up my game. The original intent of ‘fooling’ sometimes also went a little ‘uck’ for the fun factor.
Table of Contents
My family would unanimously agree that my April Fool’s Day Coup de Grace was the year that I set the dining room table as if we were having a ‘fancy’ dinner. Everyone was seated at the table and I served ‘dog food’ in individual dog bowls for dinner followed by kitty litter poop desserts, complete with individual litter pans and litter scoops. My sweet Kate absolutely ‘ate it up’, but my boys were a little more hesitant to indulge in the cat litter goodness.
In the best interest of spreading the fun of April Fool’s Day everywhere, I feel it’s my duty to share the recipes we’ve used for this auspicious meal.
Shockingly, the internet is full of cat litter cookie recipes, which is where I sourced this recipe. I will tell you that after years of making them, the key is in the ‘shaping’ of the logs cookies…you want them to not be so very neatly formed.
As my kiddos got older, it really became more difficult to live up to their expectations and surprise them each year. The pressure was intense I tell you! For several years we resorted to a funny dinner game I found online. Essentially, you gave hints for each item you would need at the dinner table, the meal is broken up into 4 courses and you get 4 choices for each course. So technically, you could get an ice cube, a napkin, a toothpick and some goldfish cookies for your first course.
Here are the riddle and key from the last meal we did. Some of our clues are family-specific, as well as for middle and high schoolers, so you can tailor them to your family as needed.
In addition to the food side of April Fool’s Day, one year I got on Rob’s computer and changed the language to Spanish…except I didn’t think about when I would have to switch it back and couldn’t read the instruction as they were in Spanish. #Jokeisonme!
So, now that the crew has grown up, often the tables are turned, which isn’t quite so fun for me, but I guess I must reap what I sow. Last year, I woke up at my normal early hour, turned on my computer only to find everything upside down and all my icons replaced with some strange character only a 15-year old boy would recognize. #FunnyNotFunny
But that was O.K. because I got a hold of my kid’s iPhones while they were sleeping and installed iPhoneception on them. Now that was fun. There are several options from showing all icons as kittens to a Zombie attack (just a warning…when I just checked their site, they just recently added a ‘porn’ option).
I hope that you’ve found some great ideas to bring a little April Fool’s Day fun to your family this April 1. I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve for my crew this year…but can’t spill them here…State Secrets and such.
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Hugs,
I can completely relate to starting something and unintentionally building up expectations for bigger and better with each new year.
Oh I feel better now. I am sharing our family April fools later this week and I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who messes with her kids like that :D. Have a great week Lynn
-Jenny
Hi Jenny…seems like you and I are cut from the same cloth. I know we also share picky eaters…writing this post made me reflect that maybe I did permanent damage with the meatloaf cupcake oh so many years ago! Can’t wait to read what mischief you’ve cooked up!
Thanks for coming by.
Hugs, Lynn
Oh my Goodness Lynn, I have to do this, it is all brilliant! We don’t do anything that day, in fact, sometimes forget about it, although I grew up with this day, I just have never taken it to THIS level! But this year, oh my. The cat litter is just eeeky good! I should change it to bunny pooh. Brilliant, oh you got me inspired, they don’t know what’s coming, lol!
Oh Katrin, you must! Your girls are the perfect age to start the mommy mischief! The bunny poop is a fantastic idea!!!! My head is whirring with all the options you could do for that. PERFECT!!! Do take pictures and share them.
Wishing you a beautiful monday!
Hugs, Lynn
You have turned April Fool’s into an art form Lynn! What a great sense of humor. The only thing I can remotely remember which was a big success was when I told the family that I was pregnant. After 4 kids it wasn’t funny! But I got a big laugh out of it. You know that you are giving me ideas with this post, right? If anything goes wrong, I’ll blame you and let them come after you! 😉 Happy Spring my friend!
Mary, I’m sure the look on their faces with your announcement was priceless! Please do give the mischief making a try and do report back. I’d love to hear what you did and how your crew reacted! I’m a glutton for mischief making.
Hugs, Lynn
We played a lot of April Fool tricks when I was a young child. Whenever I do it now, everyone knows it’s a trick. I’m not good at playing tricks.
Hi Celeste…I don’t have much of a poker face either…it takes alot of practice! But truthfully, the family is on high-alert on April 1…so it’s really hard to actually trick them anymore. But it’s the thought that counts!
Thanks for swinging by today.
Hugs, LYnn
This is hilarious!!! What funny ideas!
Hi Julie…we have such a fun time with it. I need to up my game this year as I have one away in college and we’ll be traveling with the other on April 1! I’ve got some ideas though.
Thanks for coming by today.
Hugs, Lynn
ROFL – my 7 year old grandson, who is so into “bathroom humor” would love the kitty litter recipe. We tear each other all the time. Going to try it!
Cathy, I’m so glad! You really must stop back by and let me know how it went over. I still really enjoy the holiday, but it’s getting harder and harder to come up with new ideas…and…now I’m on the receiving end of some of their mischief!
Thanks for swinging by today.
Hugs, Lynn
This post cracks me up! I used to love April Fools as a child. You can just ask my family about the tricks I played. They definitely infuriated my older sibling at times. 😉 But, I haven’t celebrated in years. The meal tricks you did are priceless! I should really get back into the swing of the trickery.
Gina…you really must…has your husband been on the receiving end of your mischief? You can start honing your skills on him. I need to get really creative this year with Kate away at school…I’ve got something in the works though!?
Thanks for swinging by today friend.
Hugs, Lynn
April Fool’s Day is one of my favorite days, too. I love that you enjoy pranking your kiddos! It must be such a fun day in your home.
Hi Jess…what fun things do you do? Your kiddos are still young, but it’s not too early to start the fun. There are so many great ideas out there.
Thanks for swinging by today. Happy Easter weekend.
Hugs, Lynn
Great ideas, Lynn. My daughter loves that dinner game having played it at youth group. I’m not quite ready to play it with hungry toddlers, though, much to her disappointment. I think it’s wonderful you have so many awesome memories around this holiday!
Hi Kathryn, I’ve got to be honest…my hungry kids weren’t so sure about the dinner game either. I probably enjoyed it more than they did…until they got enough food in their belly. But as they’ve gotten older, they’ve had their fair share of payback.
Wishing you a wonderful Easter weekend.
Hugs, lynn
Nice idea on April fool’s day, I am still laughing after reading your post.. The best part for me is- We take April fool’s day seriously. Even meat cupcake is also very a good idea.
Hi Sadhna…I’m so glad that your family takes this not-so-serious holiday so seriously! Obviously, we do too. I just realized we’ll be travelling this April 1, so I need to get myself well organized before hand. Wishing you a lovely spring weekend.
Hugs, Lynn
What brilliant ideas, Lynn. My daughter is with me in hysterics at your litter tray prank – you have definitely given her some ideas to prank her brother this year!
Sarah…I love the image of you and your daughter giggling at my pranks and so honored to have given her some ideas. Watch out!!! April Fool’s Day is right around the corner. I’d love to hear what you and your daughter cook up for the 1st.
Hugs, Lynn
Lynn, you are such a fun mom! These are some pretty involved, intricate, hilarious pranks that you’ve staged and pulled off. I can’t wait to see what happens this year, either from you to your family, or your family towards you! Now that the kids are older I’m sure that you are very wary on April Fool’s Day! This sounds like so much fun.
I used to have a boyfriend whose birthday was on April 1st, I guess I should have given that more thought when we first began going out. LOL A year later I kind of figured it out. And then he became an ex boyfriend. LOL the joke was on me!
Happy April fools day in advance.
Aw thanks Nikki…we do love April Fool’s Day in this home and you are right in realizing that my family has already turned the tables on me…especially Rob! He is downright evil…guess he comes by it naturally! This year will be a challenge as we will be travelling…still working out those details.
Hugs and Kisses….Lynn
One of the featured posts on the mysideof50 FB page today!
Thanks Cathy! Very much appreciate the love.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
Hugs, Lynn