You love your kids, of course you do. But don't you ever daydream about pulling a harmless prank or two on your little creators of chaos? Their endless energy can be downright exhausting and even when you go out of your way to do something special for them, they can be unappreciative. So it's totally natural, as my friends who are parents have reassured me, to execute a few funny, not mean, pranks to play on your kids from time to time. In a way, you're basically helping your children learn how to have a good sense of humor and that's totally a great skill for them to have.
They key to pulling off a good kid-friendly prank is that you don't want the end result to be traumatizing. The only tears that should be flowing are ones of happiness or from laughing too hard. Obviously you don't want to set an example that being sneaky or vindictive is a good way to behave; so you kind of have to be aware of that fine line when goofing around with your child.
Hopefully, if done in a good-hearted way, the jokes you play on your kids will provide the whole family with priceless pictures, hilarious stories, and great memories. So check out some of these funny prank ideas.
1Make A "Sponge" Cake
If your child has an insatiable sweet tooth, then see just how strong their ability to resist temptation is when you leave on the counter a fake cake made from sponges, like the one from Inner Child Fun Media on YouTube. Bonus points if you use real frosting to make it look extra legit.
2Flip The Switch
From the family-friendly folks over at Kids Activities, you can keep it simple by placing a piece of clear tape over the light switch so they can't turn it on or off. It's probably best to do this in the daytime in case your child is scared of the dark.
3Eat A "Bug"
My parents used to get me with this one all the time. Using either a raisin, blueberry, or other small and dark piece of food, they'd shout, "Bug!" Then would run over, swoop it up, and pop it in their mouth. Since it happens so quickly, the food will look like a bug at a glance, and your kids will be sufficiently grossed out.
4Freeze Breakfast
The joke experts at howtoPRANKitup on YouTube came up with a harmless food prank where you freeze a bowl of cereal the night before. The following morning for breakfast, pour a little milk over top so it looks normal, then watch as your kids can't figure out why their cereal is solid.
5Kid Swap Out
This one really only works if your children are heavy sleepers and are easily moveable. My childhood friend's mom was always pulling pranks on her four children, two boys and two girls. One of her favorites was to wait until the children were asleep, then move the girls into the boys beds and vice versa. When they woke up the next day, they were properly turned around.
6Polish The Soap
Soap can be pretty slippery all on its own, but PrankintheAM takes it to a hilarious level by putting nail polish on a bar of soap making it impossible to handle.
7Change The Wi-Fi Password
I've actually played this joke on my husband, but I'm sure it could work on your kids, too. All you have to do is change your Wi-Fi password without telling anyone and wait to hear frustrated groans come from the other room when Netflix or the internet won't load.
8Color The Water
In a kid-friendly prank article, The Today Show came up with a cute and colorful prank. Put a bit of food coloring or a color tablet on your kid's bathroom faucet so they'll be shocked when the water comes out in a bright hue.
9School Schedule Fake-Out
This one has been around for ages but is still just as funny. Pretend you got a phone call from the principal on Saturday saying that they have to go to school on the weekend. Your kids will be bummed for a minute, but overjoyed when they find out it's a joke.
