Classroom Activities for April Fool's Day
April Fool's Day has a relatively obscure beginning, but it is now a day to enjoy playing jokes or pulling pranks on your friends and loved ones. Make the most of a fun day with your students by taking a break from your normal schedule and doing something fun and different.
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Learn the History of April Fool's Day
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Have your students research the history of April Fool's Day. There are a number of theories, so they will have a lot of research to go through. They can present it to the class at the end of the day. This research will necessitate the need for a library trip, computer usage and writing their information down. If your students are too young to do the research, simply teach it to them during the day.
Pull Jokes
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Enjoy the day as much as the students do. Print their worksheets backwards or mirror image so they can't read it; just be sure to have a correct copy, as well. Make word searches or crossword puzzles using joke words. Pull a harmless prank on them or dress in a funny manner. Wear a water-squirting flower or a use a giant pencil --- anything to get a laugh from your students is fair game.
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Read Silly Books
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Children love to have silly books read to them. During story or library time, read books about pranks or April Fool's Day. Early readers can read "April Fool!" by Harriet Ziefert or "Mud Flat April Fool" by James Stevenson. Children will recognize and love the popular Arthur series book "Arthur's April Fool" by Marc Brown. Younger children will enjoy hearing the rhyming book, "April Foolishness" by Teresa Bateman.
Jokes and Hoaxes Around the World
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Study the different pranks and hoaxes that have been generated around the world. One of the best known is The War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938. You can download and listen to the actual broadcast that scared millions of listeners into thinking the world was being taken over by martians. Other examples are the Feejee Mermaid and the Cottingley Fairies.
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References
- Photo Credit man in funny cap image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
