April Fools Day or ‘Joking Day’ comes but once a year but has its roots in ancient times. The Roman festival known as ‘Hilaria’ (March 25) and the Medeival festival known as ‘Feast of Fools’ (December 28), is still a day on which Spanish-speaking countries play pranks.
This jape-filled day is popular around the world. Â In UK, April Fools Day is celebrated by people shouting “April Fools” at the recipient. Â If a prank is played after midday, the joker becomes the ‘April Fool’. Â In Scotland, April Fool’s Day is traditionally known as ‘Hunt the Gowk Day’ (“gowk” is Scots for a cuckoo or foolish person). In Iran, jokes have been played on either April 1 or 2 as far back as 536BC. Â It is called Sizdah Bedar and is the oldest known prank tradition in the world. Â This is where, it is thought, April Fool’s Day has it’s origins. Â In Poland, this day is called ‘Prima Aprilis’ and dates back to April 1, 1683.
In Italy, France, Belgium, and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and Canada, the 1 April tradition is often known as “April Fish” (poisson d’avril in French or pesce d’aprile in Italian). The traditional joke is to attempt to attach a paper fish to the fool’s back without being noticed. Phew eee – stinky stuff indeed!
Here in the US, we have inherited this silly, fun-filled tradition from our many global immigrants. Â Here are a few ideas to put your own twist on tomorrow morning’s usual activities.
* Swap older kids clothes with younger kids clothes
* Wear clothes backwards and inside out for the day
* Â Fake bugs are a real treat left around the house – bathroom sinks, in shoes and bottom of morning juice are our favorite spots
* Remove lightbulbs, hide car keys and hide all of the spoons, knives and forks
* Â Superglue some coins to the sidewalk and watch as your friends try to pick up a penny – hee hee!
* Bunch up toilet paper and stuff into someone’s shoes
* Hide the corner of a dollar bill in a book and attach a silly picture once the intrigued fool opens up the book.
* Really, really cold cereal. Â Fill up a bowl of cereal with milk and a spoon, pop it in the freezer and tomorrow morning watch as your child/sibling tries to dig into breakfast.
* Pop some gummy worms in tomorrow’s apple for lunch – yikes!
* Safety pin underwear or socks together. Â When the fool goes to get their undies out for school tomorrow they will get lots more than they bargained for.
Photo Credits: Parenting.com, I Stock Photo, Surf Sweets
