April Fools' Day

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35 Easy, Hilarious April Fools’ Pranks To Play On Your Husband

Because he totally deserves it.

by Kristin Manna
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Maybe playing tricks on your husband is a regular thing in your household, but on April Fools’ Day, it's practically a requirement. Even if you’re not a regular prankster, there are tons of fun April Fools’ pranks to play on your husband for all levels of mischief so you don’t have to miss out on a whole day that’s dedicated to having a good laugh.

For some couples, keeping it simple and small is best. For example, you could tell a little white lie that you know will get a satisfying reaction and probably freak him out a bit (but won’t break his heart). But doing something big, like covering their car with wrapping paper, will definitely provoke a response, so it’s good to be prepared for a bit of retaliation. Your April Fools’ joke for your husband may even start an all-out spousal prank war, so go ahead and get your game face on if that’s how you want to play it.

Yes, there are all kinds of pranks that you can play on your husband, but the key is to keep from going overboard in order to avoid losing their trust. The last thing you want is to start a fight over a silly prank. When it comes to practical jokes, the best ones are silly and easy to pull off, while maintaining the element of surprise.

1

Autocorrect fury

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If your partner uses Microsoft Word or another word processor often for work, you can adjust the settings to auto-correct a simple word like “the” or “and” to something silly like “potato” or “booty.” He’ll likely spend all day trying to figure out what he’s doing wrong.

2

Takeout

Put in a takeout order at a local restaurant and ask your husband to go and pick it up. Use an embarrassing alias. When he calls you from the restaurant because there isn’t anything under your name or his, you can finally tell him it’s under Booboobutt or whatever nonsensical moniker you’ve picked out for him.

3

TP bandit

Hide all the toilet paper in the house. He’ll need it eventually during the day and when he does, you’ll be ready to torture him as long as it takes for him to promise you something you’ve been wanting in exchange for a roll. (Just make sure to tell him afterward that it was a joke and be prepared not to hold him to the gift-giving.)

4

A magnificent meal

Totally botch a meal — undercook some rice, burn chicken to a crisp, slice up raw potatoes — but serve it up as if there’s nothing at all wrong with what you’ve made. When he questions it, you can pretend to be offended or just act like it’s completely edible and there must be something wrong with him because the food is totally fine.

5

Lonely socks

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When your husband is sleeping, take all his socks and pair them incorrectly. Watch him get frustrated trying to find a complete set. If you really want to get the best of him, only leave one of each pair in the drawer so that he literally can’t find two of the same socks.

6

Smoking toilet

Squeeze an empty toilet paper roll between the toilet seat and the bowl, so it’s hanging out like a cigar. Then use two rolls on top like eyes. Yell for your husband and tell him the toilet is smoking. Make sure to set up a camera because it’s going to be a reaction you want to save forever.

7

Popping toilet seat

You know those little firecracker poppers you throw on the ground to make a loud noise? Tape a handful to the underside of the toilet seat before your hubby goes to take a poo. When he sits down, the sound will scare the (literal) crap out of him.

8

Boo in the loo

Make it look like someone is stuck inside the toilet by printing a photo of someone’s face looking trapped and taping it to the toilet base (but under the seat). Put the toilet lid down. When he sleepily wakes up for his morning pee, he’ll be greeted with quite the surprise.

9

Wrapping paper

This is a fun one. Just cover something important to him in wrapping paper. It's harmless, yet playful. The key here is to go big or go home, so try wrapping up something that's really inconvenient, like their car. Fans of The Office may even want to go all out with boxes covered in wrapping paper to make a fake work-from-home desk.

10

In-laws

Want to get your husband good? Just tell him your parents are about an hour away for that visit they had been planning for weeks. Even if your husband and your parents are on the very best terms, surprise visits can definitely be rattling.

11

Balloons

This is my personal go-to. While your husband is out, blow up as many balloons as you can and use them to fill an entire room. The bedroom, their office, the bathroom, or whichever is their favorite spot to spend their time. Watch their reaction when they open the door to said room, from confusion, to annoyance, to pure happiness.

12

TV chaos

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Unplug the TV and cover the sensor on the remote with a piece of clear tape. When your spouse gets ready to relax, he’ll try to flip on the TV and won’t be able to. Even if he does discover that the plug is out of its outlet or the remote sensor is covered, it’s unlikely that he’ll figure out both issues.

13

New pets

Your partner’s reaction can go either way with this one: They will either be super excited to have a new addition to the family, or pissed that you brought home yet another pet. Regardless, you will definitely get a response — hopefully the one you were hoping for. If you don’t think that bringing home a whole animal will go over well, you can always opt to text a pic of a new furry friend first to test the waters.

14

Donuts

Here’s another classic. All you need is an empty donut box. Leave it on the kitchen counter with nothing in it, or fill it up with a colorful assortment of crudités for an unwelcome surprise.

15

Broken soap

Here’s a perfect last-minute prank that uses items you probably already have inside the house. Once your partner goes to bed, pull out the clear nail polish and put a coating over their bar of soap. What does this do? The polish seals the suds, so when they try to use it in the shower, it won’t do much.

16

Multilingual phone

This can only work if you know your SO’s passcode. While they are sleeping, hack into their phone and change the settings to a language that they won’t understand.

17

Engagement ring

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This one will make him feel like he was punched in the gut — metaphorically speaking. We all know how expensive engagement rings (and even wedding bands) can be, so pretending that you lost yours will give your partner all the feels. Bonus points if the ring is a family heirloom.

18

Car for sale

You can do this prank a couple of different ways. If your spouse doesn’t see the back of their vehicle before they get in, put a “for sale” sign in the back window with a really low price and their cell number on it. Alternatively, you can post a photo of their car for sale in local Facebook groups with the same info so that he has to field calls about the deal all day long.

19

Sweet treat swap

Offer your husband a “cake ball” for dessert that’s really a Brussels sprout dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. He’ll be excited that you made him a treat, but then totally grossed out when he pops it in his mouth and bites down.

20

Pat on the back

Before he heads to work for the day, give your husband a big hug, and sneakily tape a sign to his back that reads “My wife is the best” or “I got April Fooled.” You could also have the sign instruct people to do something like “If you can read this, clap for me” and he’ll be confused all day long.

21

Email subscription sign-up

OK, this one is kind of mean, but so good for the right person. Sign your spouse up for a bunch of random email newsletter subscriptions for things they have zero interest in. They’ll continue to pop up until they unsubscribe, which is especially infuriating for people who like to keep their inboxes nice and tidy.

22

Vanishing vehicle

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If you have access to a spare set of keys to your spouse’s car (and they don’t work at home), head to their job and move it to a completely different area of the parking lot while they’re working. If they work from home, you could move the car around the corner overnight and then watch them freak out the next time they try to go somewhere.

23

Jell-O surprise

Remember the episode of The Office where Jim put Dwight’s stapler in Jell-O? You can do the same thing with your husband’s office supplies if he works from home, or pick something else he uses every day like his toothbrush to encase in some jiggly gelatin.

24

Salt & pepper switch-up

Before dinner, fill your salt shaker with pepper and your pepper shaker with salt. My husband puts salt and pepper on absolutely everything, so this one would be especially frustrating for him.

25

Mystery text

If your husband isn’t especially sensitive and you have a solid relationship, this one can be quite hilarious. Delete a friend’s name from their contact info in your phone and have them text you a message that says something along the lines of “I know what your husband did last weekend.” It will look like a message coming from a random number and he’ll be totally confused when you show him the text.

26

Wardrobe change

If you’re both home all day, make it a point to change your outfit every half hour or so. Act confused when he points it out and pretend like you’ve been wearing the same thing since you got dressed that morning. It’s likely he will eventually try to catch you in the act, at which point you can yell, “April Fools!”

27

The un-prank

Leave him notes around the house and send him texts for a couple of weeks leading up to April 1 warning that you’re going to get him so good this year. He’ll be expecting a mega-prank on the day of, but the real prank is that you won’t actually do anything at all.

28

Stuck like glue

Superglue the cap of a pen in place. Once it’s totally dry, casually ask your spouse to help you get your stuck pen cap off. When he can’t get it open, pretend to be super frustrated and leave the room. Return with a pen that looks identical, but isn’t superglued, and show him that you were able to get it off without his help, thank you very much!

29

Leaky sink

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Pour a small amount of water under the bathroom or kitchen sink and tell your husband there’s a leak somewhere. He’ll drive himself nuts trying to figure out the source of the so-called leak.

30

Super splurge

Find a ridiculously expensive (I mean like way out of your budget) handbag online. Pull it up on your phone to show your spouse and tell him that you decided to splurge and bought yourself an early Christmas gift the day before. He’ll probably freak out immediately, so you can either act like it’s no big deal and keep it going for a bit, or just laugh it off and let him in on the joke.

31

Stuck shampoo

Unscrew the lid to the shampoo bottle and place a small piece of plastic wrap on top before putting the lid back on. When your husband goes to wash his hair, he won’t be able to get the shampoo out of the bottle.

32

Honk & wave

Tape a sign in the back window of your significant other’s vehicle that instructs passersby to honk and wave. With any luck, he’ll be utterly confused during his entire commute.

33

Healthy Cheetos

If cheese puffs are one of his favorite snacks, swap out the contents of his bag for some baby carrots. He’ll be better off, but he won’t be happy about it.

34

All eyes on him

This one would work just as well for your kids: If you pack your husband’s lunch in the morning, stick a pair of googly eyes on every food: His sandwich, his apple, etc. It’ll be super funny when lunchtime rolls around.

35

Gross coffee

Bring him coffee in bed, but make it a terrible cup. If he takes sugar, add in salt. If he normally takes it without any sweetener, dump in lots of sugar. But don’t give him any reason to think this is a bad cup, just tell him good morning, hand him the mug, and start to walk away. He might spit it clear out across the room, but no matter what, the reaction will be good.

April Fools’ Day is a great time to rekindle the fun in your relationship, and these pranks are perfect to play on your husband.

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