Client Portal10 Office Friendly Prank Ideas for April Fools’ Day
April Fools’ Day is right around the corner and we’re here to tell you that when done right, your office can pull out your bag of tricks and join the fun. Pick one of these office friendly prank ideas and add a little fun and laughter to your April 1st workday.
Office Prank Rules
All office environments, team relationships and company rules are different. But if you follow these basic office prank rules, you and your team should have a blast this April Fools’ Day.
- • Focus on humor-based jokes and pranks only.
Stay away from any pranks that could humiliate, degrade or embarrass your staff. Keep your April Fools’ jokes lighthearted and fun.
- • On April Fools’ Day, everyone is a target for pranks.
If you want to celebrate this goofy holiday in your office, no one should be safe. Make sure that your entire staff (bosses included) are treated equally; ready to give and receive fun pranks.
- • Don’t single out a specific employee to prank.
To avoid feelings of bullying, design April Fools’ pranks that give all of your employees a chance at getting fooled.
- • Crown the best prankster for the day.
Reward the employee that pulls off the biggest prank of the day with a gift card. List out the rules and perimeters for the day and get your team excited. Making a contest will also encourage all employees to follow the rules you lay out.
Following these rules will ensure that your April Fools’ pranks are well-received and office friendly. To help you get some ideas to celebrate this jokester holiday, here are 10 lighthearted pranks that are great examples of office friendly jokes.
10 Office Friendly April Fools’ Day Pranks
- 1.) The Mysterious Paperclip
This prank can be super fun as you watch your colleagues try to find the paperclip in the copy machine. All you need to do is take several photocopies of a paperclip. Take your photocopies and place back into the paper tray.
People will drive themselves crazy looking for the paperclip on the screen of the copier.
- 2.) Extra, Extra… Read All About It
You can make a faux newspaper that looks and feels like the real thing. If you’re the boss, plan on not coming in for the first part of the workday. Create a semi-believable crime spree and plaster your face all over it. You can create a whole mock newspaper at a website called In The Paper, or you can create newspaper snippets for free at Fodey.
To add a touch of authenticity, end your “breaking news” article with a 1-800 number readers can call with any questions or tips. A virtual receptionist would be able to follow a script according to your specifications.
- 3.) Plug in Your Mouse
On oldie, but still a good, a wireless mouse could really psych out your April Fools’ victim. Plug the mouse’s USB into the computer you want to control from afar. Each time you see your colleague at their computer, move the mouse and see their reaction.
To make this simple prank last longer, be sure to create only small disruptions at first. You don’t want to overdue the cursor takeovers; it’ll give the joke away fast.
- 4.) A Subtle Shocker
Out of all the office friendly prank ideas, this one could very well be the saddest. Place 1 or 2 boxes of doughnuts in the office kitchen. Instead of having yummy, sugary doughnuts, fill the boxes with healthy vegetables.
May we suggest bringing real doughnuts at the end of the day just to get back in the good graces of your staff.
- 5.) Get Geeky With IT
Talk your IT guy or gal into working with you to prank the entire office throughout the day. Your tech person will be able to slowly drip a geeky prank that flashes The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)screensaver on all office computers. Start with one person seeing the BSOD and slowly add employees as the day goes on.
Do you want to learn how to create a fake BSOD and play a prank on your entire team? Click here to read more about how your IT employee can make this April Fool’s joke a reality.
- 6.) Block Certain Sites for Fun
Do a lot of your employees enjoy cruising social and personal sites while they’re at work? How about, for one day only, you block those sites and see how it freaks out the team. They’re put in a funny spot because they can’t very well complain about not being able to log onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or even Gmail.
Small Business Chron walks you through how to block certain websites on your company network.
- 7.) Spell It Out for Them
Swap keys on their keyboard and get a quick, “What’s going on?” moment from your victim. If you know that your April Fools’ target pecks out their words letter by letter, you can have fun by changing out the vowels. If your employee or colleague types with looking, switch out the keys to spell out “April Fools!”
If your office works with numbers, change out the 789 and 123 to mix people up for a subtle office friendly prank.
- 8.) Turn the Fridge into a Puzzle
This April Fools’ gag will work if you have a few tools and an hour or so to setup. Most refrigerators come with the ability to reverse the door; allowing it to fit into any space easily. The funny part comes when you reverse the door but don’t change the location of the door handle. People will pull and pull before realizing you’re about to jump out and say, “April Fools!”
Click here to learn how to change your fridge to keep the hinges and handles on the same side.
- 9.) Write an Urgent Note
Place a plain post it on someone’s computer with a note that appears to be very urgent. It can be a new client, customer complaint or some other matter that would be important to the person being pranked. Make the name and telephone number illegible and ambiguous.
If you want to take it a step further, tear a hole into where the note has a name and/or contact number. Place some tape on the note and design a way to adhere the note onto the bottom of the person’s shoe.
- 10.) Funky Hand Sanitizer
This last prank is strictly for offices that have a more fun, casual environment. Take your office’s hand sanitizer and replace the germ killing liquid for a surprised reaction from everyone who uses it.
Use actual soap for an odd foaming reaction; baby oil for a slick surprise; or hair gel for a sticky encounter.
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We sincerely hope you get some use out of these office friendly prank ideas. Just remember that all jokes and pranks should be in good fun.
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