Mar 31 2009
April Fool’s Day Ideas
April Fool’s Day is rapidly approaching- tomorrow to be exact- and I thought I’d share some ideas on how to celebrate this wacky holiday with the whole family.
Not everyone thinks of these smaller holidays as “real holidays”, but around our house, we love them. The big holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, and Christmas are full of “must-do” activities like trick or treating, fireworks, big meals, parades, gift giving, visiting family, etc. The smaller holidays like Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, President’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Cinco De Mayo, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc are days that my husband and I, along with our kids, can have fun, enjoy each other’s company, and celebrate however we want.
Sometimes these minor holidays actually become more fun than the biggies because it’s low stress, unadulterated fun. Valentine’s Day at my house this year featured a fancy dinner party put on by my 5 year old. He invited his grandparents, great grandparents, an aunt and cousin to come over for supper. He chose the menu: eggs, homemade cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy and pancakes. We used last year’s valentines, crepe paper, and mommy’s fancy pink depression glass dishes to decorate the house, and had a great time.
I challenge you to this year, take April Fool’s Day, and make it a memory maker for you and your kids. Simple but goofy pranks like placing morning essentials like backpacks, shoes, and toothbrushes in unexpected places can get big belly laughs from young children, and it may just become a tradition.
After school, make dinner an event by mixing things up. Make dinner look like dessert, and make dessert look like dinner. Here’s some great ideas from my favorite website, All Recipes: http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/April-Fools-Day-Dinner/Detail.aspx.
Have dinner for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner, or wear your pajamas backwards in the morning when everyone gets up, and see how long it takes the little ones to notice that something’s up. Kids love to see their parents acting goofy, and as long as you don’t mind them telling the whole world how silly you are, it will be a memorable day for everyone. 
Happy April Fool’s Day!
