Tag: April Fool’s Day

Appropriate April Fool’s Pranks at the Office

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I guess the word to adhere to is “Appropriate.” We can all think of pranks that would be totally unacceptable for your place of work, whether it’s an office or not. So let’s not go there.

One fun prank that works, but doesn’t hurt your co-workers, is the “fake cast.” It’s great if you like to hike, bike, bowl, or play some sort of team sport, etc. because the cast and your explanation will be very believable. If April Fool’s Day is in the middle of the week you’ll have to dream up some accident other than the weekend recreation scenario. Be creative.

Now, the night before, wrap your knee with stretch gauze and secure it. Then apply some plaster of Paris and let it harden. Don’t forget to cut a slit in the back for easy on-and-off access to your knee the day of the prank. Reserve some fresh gauze to cover the slit in the cast the day you wear it. A cane is a must if you don’t have some old crutches somewhere around the house. You have to look the part.

“Oh, Bob. What happened to you?” you’ll hear as soon as you hobble into the office. “Well, I was …” and regale them with a really sad expression on your face & shocking tale! Ask someone to please get you a cup of coffee and bring it to your desk. Play it up outrageously and see how long it takes for someone to catch on. It’ll be fun – I know because I’ve already tried it!

Appropriate April Fool’s Day Pranks in the Office

April Fool’s day has a bad reputation because some people take their pranks a bit too far. Here are harmless pranks that’ll put a smile on anyone’s face:

  1. Unattended mice. Putting tape over the bottom of the mouse’s laser tracker will stop it from working. This’ll drive some people nuts, but it’s a classic prank that’s completely harmless. Wait until your victim gets up for something and do the prank. If after a couple of minutes they can’t figure out they’ve been pranked, let them know about the tape.
  2. Turn on the radio. This prank requires you to work in an area where there are many filing cabinets. Turn on the radio (or other device with music/sound) and situate the volume so that you can hear a low enough sound but still loud enough to hear something. When someone asks “Can you hear that?” just keep saying no.
  3. Post it notes. This is another classic. Wait until your victim leaves (for lunch or a break) and cover their cubicle with post-it notes. You can leave them blank or write something funny on them. One funny idea is to label everything on someone’s desk with post-it notes. This is a fun prank because it’s easy to clean up.

As always, it’s important to remember to not let pranks go on for too long, especially if it hinders on someone’s ability to get work done. The best rule of thumb here is: if it disrupts work for more than a couple of minutes, don’t perform the prank.