Funny Pranks to Do at Home to Your Parents

Choosing a good, funny prank for your parents is worth the risk of getting grounded, if you’re going to do it. Here are some ideas for safe practical jokes you can play at home this April Fool’s Day.

How to Trick Your Parents With Jell-O Water

Using Jell-O and some creativity, startle your parents with potentially contaminated drinking water.

1. Choose an orange or green Jell-O.
2. The mesh cap on the underside of the bathroom sink faucet should be unscrewed. If it is too tight, use the pliers.
3. Powder should be filled into the mesh cap.
4. The faucet cap needs to be replaced.

She will be shocked by what she sees when she turns on the water for a drink or brushing her teeth.

Lighting Problems

It doesn’t take much to turn your house into a dimly lit horror movie set with a few choice purchases and some stealthy maneuvers.

1. Light bulbs that flicker or are low wattage should be purchased. You should look for something that is no more than 40 watts because most homes use 60 to 100 watt bulbs. A variety of flickering bulbs can be found at Halloween stores or online. Ensure you have them in advance so you can use them when necessary.
2. You can sneak around the house when your parents are asleep and replace common lights with the new bulbs. It is best to begin with places where light is most important, such as the bathroom.
3. You should hide the regular bulbs in your room.

It will be really confusing for your parents when they wake up and turn on the lights. You can also pull this prank on your parents if they go out and come home late at night. This would also make a great April Fool’s Day prank for your parents.

Key Swap

Swapping all your parents’ keys onto each other’s keyrings will prevent them from leaving the house.

1. Catch your parents’ attention and snag their keys while they’re distracted.
2. Keeping track of which ring each key came from, remove all the keys from each.
3. Put all the keys from the first ring onto the second ring and repeat for the other keys. They won’t have the right key when they try to start their cars!

In the morning or when your parents usually leave the house, this trick works best. Unless each person has a car and a specific key ring, the prank will not work.

TikTok Upside Down Mug Prank

Looking for a fun way to get your parents involved in the epic prank war. Turn your mug upside-down and see what happens.

1. Add water, sprinkles, etc., to a mug.
2. Turn it upside down and place a cutting board on top.
3. If spills occur, wipe them up as soon as possible.
4. On top of the mug, put whipped cream.
5. Make your parents some hot chocolate and tell them about it.

Upon lifting the mug, the liquid or sprinkles will spill out, giving them a surprise. It’s also a fun prank to play on your siblings.

Unhealthy Vitamins

Try this fun switcheroo if your parents take vitamins every day.

1. Tic Tacs, Mike and Ike’s, Good and Plenty’s, or mini M&M’s work depending on the shape, size, and color you need.
2. Take a look at your parents’ vitamin containers when you have some free time.
3. Choose just one vitamin to start with if they take multiple vitamins. Dump all the vitamins from the container into a baggie labeled with the vitamin’s name. Candy should be filled to the same level as the container.
4. Step 2 should be repeated for each vitamin.
5. Put all the baggies in a safe place where kids or pets won’t find them.

You’ll have to wait and watch as your parents realize what you’ve done. Make sure all the real vitamins are returned to their containers once the prank is over.

Bloody Hands

With this simple prank, you can give your parents an early morning scare.

1. A few minutes before your parent will use the mug, color the underside of the handle only with red dry erase markers.
2. If your parent keeps the mug on the coffee maker, place it back in the cupboard, near the front. You shouldn’t be able to see the underside of the handle at first glance.

The moment your parent sets the mug down, their hands will be covered in red and they will think they are bleeding. Use a dry erase marker so it will be easy to remove.

TV Troubles

You can make shows look wacky by messing with the television’s image controls. To begin, you’ll need to find your TV’s picture settings menu. The quality of the picture can be changed in many ways from there.

1. You can restore the quality later by taking a picture or writing down the current settings.
2. Make the picture on the screen look as bizarre as you can by playing with different controls.
   • Changing the tint of a color changes its appearance
   • The brightness of a picture determines how much black there is in it
   • White in the picture is contrasted with the rest of the picture by how bright it is
   • A picture’s sharpness is how clear it appears

Wait until someone else turns on the TV before exiting the settings menu.

Screen Fun

Get your parents in on this creative prank because they aren’t always tech-savvy. A basic understanding of computer screen images is required.

1. Your parent’s desktop background on their computer should be captured with a screenshot.
2. Create a folder for all their desktop icons. Don’t forget where you saved the folder.
3. Create a new desktop or lockscreen background using the screenshot from Step 1. There will appear to be icons there, but they are just a part of the image!
4. It is likely that when your parent gets on the computer, they will try clicking on the icons and become concerned that the computer isn’t working.

Be kind and reset the desktop after the prank is over.

Mouse Troubles

Are your parents working from home? Make them think their mouse isn’t working by making them think it’s not working.

1. Take a little square of paper and cut it out while they are still sleeping.
2. Put Got Ya! in the message section.
3. The paper should be taped over the light on the bottom of the mouse.
4. Return it to its original position.
5. Waiting begins.

You can watch the frustration start if you know when they begin working.

Clothing Swap

It takes some expert planning on your part to pull off this tricky practical joke. When your parents aren’t around, as well as when they’re getting dressed in the morning or changing into their pajamas at night, you’ll need to strike.

1. Put everything from his top drawer in hers, then put her clothes in his.
2. Follow their dressers all the way down.
3. Alternatively, you can swap clothing in their closets if they do not have a dresser.
4. You can get a little more complicated by mismatching their shoes.

Watching them scramble to find their clothing items will elicit a chuckle, even though this prank won’t fool them instantly.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Kids love the frozen cereal in milk trick that parents play on them. Using a single-cup coffee maker, this prank turns the tables on parents.

1. Using a mug your parents typically use for coffee in the morning, make hot chocolate according to the package directions.
2. Place the full mug in the freezer overnight.
3. Pull out the frozen hot chocolate in the morning and drizzle a little hot water on top to melt it.
4. Ensure that the coffee cup is positioned correctly on the coffee maker.
5. Try not to laugh while your parents add sugar and cream to their coffee.
6. Watch them stirring or drinking the frozen ‘coffee.’

If you use a one-cup maker like a Keurig, be sure to replace the coffee flavor with an empty K-cup so you don’t accidentally overbrew.

Phone Swap

If two people in your household have the same phone, or phones with the same size and shape, and use phone cases, this trick will work.

1. Remove the phone cases from both phones and swap them so they are on the wrong phones.
2. You can replace your parent’s phone case with a new one if you have a little money to spend.

Watch how long it takes them to realize what has happened.

Battery Bandit

There is no doubt that this will elicit a groan from the parents.

1. Batteries should be removed from all household remote controls, including those for the TV and your parents’ car.
2. Replace the battery compartment covers before putting the remotes back where they belong.

Parents might not think much of the living room TV remote not working at first, but as they discover all the remotes are “broken,” they will be confused.

Stuck Toilet Paper

You’ve seen the trick of drawing a spider on toilet paper and leaving a message behind as it unravels. Is there a way to unravel the toilet paper roll even if it doesn’t unravel?

1. Glue a line of hot glue down one side of the roll holder.
2. Once the roll of toilet paper is in the roll holder, slide the cardboard inner tube onto the hot glue line and let it dry.
3. You can also use duct tape. Backward fold a few thin pieces of tape so the sticky part is on the outside. Put the tape on the cardboard tube of the toilet paper roll, then stick it to the roll holder.
4. It is necessary to replace the roll holder on the part that holds the roll.

The shenanigans can’t be witnessed, but you can hear your parents’ displeasure on the outside of the bathroom door.

Dish Soap Swap

Dish soap swap is a simple and easy prank that will irritate any parent. An empty container and some food coloring are all you need.

1. Swipe the container next time your parent runs out of dish soap or dish detergent.
2. To match the fluid color, fill it with water and food coloring.
3. The water should be replaced with their normal container.
4. Wait for them to try it.

There is no doubt that they will be irritated. Drink the water from the dish soap container and see how they react if you really want to get them. Make sure the container is really clean before attempting this.

Pranks to Do on Your Mom and Dad

Playing pranks on family members and parents can be a fun way to beat boredom. You only need some creativity and a few resources to trick your parents. Use pranks you’d play on your friends to trick your parents for more practical jokes. 

Why don’t you pull some April Fools pranks on your teachers while you’re at it? Make yourself the legendary prankster everyone will talk about for years to come!