35 Hilarious April Fools' Day Pranks & Practical Jokes For Couples
Laughter is a great way to bond. Take advantage of that fact with these April Fools' Day pranks for your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife.
Getty Monday, April 1, 2024 — aka April Fools' Day — is almost upon us. What better target for funny April Fools' pranks and practical jokes can there be than the person you love most?
So bring it on, pranksters!
If you want to plan a funny (yet harmless) prank or come up with some ideas for a series of little jokes that will leave your beloved questioning their own sanity — as well as wondering how you became as masterful at these tricks as you are — we've got your back.
You are sure to find the ultimate April Fools' pranks for your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or partner on this handy and creative list.
Get ready, because here are the 35 best April Fools' Day pranks and harmless practical jokes for adults and couples so you can get your partner good.
35 Best April Fools' Day Pranks and Practical Jokes for Couples
1. Convince them your parents are coming to visit... for a whole month.
How does your lover really feel about mom and dad? Now you'll know!
Call your parents in advance and tell them you're planning a prank so they're in on it as well. Then when you're in the room with your partner, text your parents to call you and let the acting begin. Get ready to see his face when you repeat, "You're visiting for a whole month!?"
In fact, don't let them in on the joke until 11:59 PM that night.
2. Trick him into think you bought way too much stuff.
Does your boyfriend ever nag you about how much money you spend online shopping? Ask him if you could use his credit card to buy just a few necessities for the apartment or for your space together. Then go ahead and gather as many cardboard boxes as you want (either from recent deliveries or from cheap boxes that you found from neighbors or friends). Tape them back together, and if there's no shipping label create a fake one, or scan a previous one and print it out several times.
Get up really early and put all the boxes out in the hallway or on the porch, and get ready for him to wake up and be terrified.
3. Get his boss to pretend to fire him.
"Don't worry, honey, there's always unemployment!" If you have his boss's phone number or are able to come into his work secretly and get the number yourself, call his boss and ask him if he could fire your boyfriend as an April's Fools' Day prank.
Who knows, maybe your boss will also get a kick out of it (but your boyfriend sure won't).
4. Make him think his Amazon Alexa is broken.
If your boyfriend is a big nerd about his tech and relies on Alexa in his everyday life, this one is for him. If he uses Alexa to turn on the lights, adjust the thermostat, and turn up the music, you can override all those commands.
Go to the Alexa app on your phone and switch the commands to the exact opposite — when he asks Alexa to do something, you can make Alexa do the opposite. He'll get so frustrated and you get to watch him waste time trying to figure it out. The power really is in your hands.
5. Show them a picture of a sickly, disabled animal and announce you've adopted it.
Pretend that you went to an animal shelter and couldn't resist. Take a screenshot from the shelter's website from a random one on Google. Run them through the medication/physical therapy schedule for the animal and watch them turn white. Then watch him turn red as guilty relief washes over him when you tell him, "April Fools!"
6. Leave a bunch of magnum condoms around for him to find.
Would your boyfriend ever suspect that you would sleep with other men? If so, this is the perfect prank for him. Leave Magnum condoms, specifically, all around the house. When he asks about them, reassure your boyfriend that they're not for him, just leftover from an old boyfriend. Then present him with "normal" sized condoms for his use.
7. Tell him you lost your engagement ring.
Did your boyfriend give you an engagement ring or special piece of jewelry that was passed down for generations in his family? Well, the best way to make him easily freak out as an April Fools' joke is to pretend you lost the ring, especially if it's an heirloom, and help him make you "find it," or watch him ask so many questions and freak out.
8. Make an utterly disgusting meal for him.
It's the thought that counts, right? Tell him that you're making dinner tonight and that it's going to be so amazing, hyping yourself up and the meal to get him excited for what's to come. Presentation is everything, so make it look as disgusting as possible or as presentable as possible, so when he eats it he'll try to hide his reaction. Whatever you do, make it fun and wait for him to try it.
9. Wake up way too early and act like it's normal.
Change the alarms because tonight you're getting up early. Change your clocks so that at 7:00 AM it's actually 3:00 AM, or however early you want when faking it. When your alarm goes off, act like it's normal and start your normal morning routine. If he asks why it's so dark outside in the morning, just say it's daylight savings time; he won't question it because he'll be so delirious.
10. Change outfits every 30 minutes and act like nothing is different.
Ever wonder if your boyfriend actually appreciates all the great outfits that you put together? Well, today is the perfect day to test that out and see if he notices. Plan out ten different outfits or so and change every 30 minutes. Once he starts to notice, if he even doesn't, serenely question if he's feeling all right. Make sure it's extreme enough to catch his eye; we know how men are about noticing clothes.
11. Paint his soap bar with clear nail polish.
Does your boyfriend use a lot of soap in the shower? Paint at least 3 bars of soap with clear nail polish so when he tries to sud it up, it won't work. Make sure you have your replacements on hand when he eventually calls you in to fix it.
12. Replace his underwear and socks with zany, crazy patterned ones.
Make sure to replace everything so there are no neutrals, just crazy patterns and bright colors. When he asks you about the change in his undergarments, insist you don't see whatever the pattern is or the color. Act completely normal, saying, "They're just white socks... I don't get it?" Watch him get so frustrated over a simple pair of socks and boxers.
13. 'Spill' nail polish on his favorite pair of pants.
In order to pull off this prank, pour a bottle of nail polish onto wax paper, let dry, and peel off. Place the dried nail polish on his favorite article of clothing, or his laptop — anywhere, really!
14. Pretend you crashed his car.
Does your boyfriend cherish his car more than anything? Ask him if you can borrow it to drive to the grocery store or run errands. When you come back, park the car somewhere he can't see it and then walk back to your place and come in crying hysterically.
To pull it off, carry a small bag of certain things in the car or a fake steering wheel (from a scrap yard) in your hand. Tell him the important thing is that you're okay.
15. Change his ringtone to something obnoxious — and then crank it to full volume.
Make your boyfriend embarrassed everywhere he goes by changing all his ringtones to completely obnoxious songs. Make sure his ringer is all the way up. It's especially fun if he's at work or somewhere public when you call.
16. Mix Reese's Pieces, M&M's, and Skittles into a candy dish together.
Make your girlfriend a nice candy bowl full of her favorite candy like M&M's or Skittles. She'll never suspect you to mix them both in the same bowl, especially adding some Reese's Pieces. Enjoy the ensuing pandemonium when she takes a big handful.
17. Leave cryptic notes for a few days beforehand, warning about an impending prank.
There's nothing that will make a woman overthink or feel anxious than the feeling of the unknown. Leave cryptic notes for her at the start of the week, teasing about a big prank. When April Fools' Day finally hits, do absolutely nothing the day of. Watch her squirm with anticipation.
18. Two words: Bug. Lamp.
Cut out pieces of cardboard in the shape of a roach, and tape it inside a lampshade she'll have to reach in and turn on. Voila! Insta-horror.
19. Give her the gift of glitter.
Treat your girl with some glitter that she won't be able to get off her clothes or out of her hair for days. Disguise a glitter bomb as a bath bomb package or a new package of homemade beauty products from Etsy.
After disguising the glitter bomb, wrap it up to her and give it as a gift of your love and appreciation. Once she opens the packaging, the glitter will explode. Get ready for the rage she will end up taking out on you.
20. Balloon bomb her room.
Surprise her with a room full of balloons as far as the eye can see, so when she wakes up, that's literally all she can see: balloons everywhere.
Go to the dollar store and buy as many balloons as you can that will fit the entirety of your bedroom. Make sure to have them ready the day before and store them in a similar room so you can wake up early and transfer them into her room. When she wakes up, see how surprised and confused she becomes.
21. Give her a new wall decor.
If your girlfriend isn't into balloons that much, how about adding more color into your room together? Nothing screams inviting than some brightly neon-colored walls. When she's out for the day, stay home and cover the entirety of the walls in your bedroom with post-it notes. (Bonus points if you can do the ceiling!)
22. Wrap her skincare and makeup all in tinfoil.
Help her shorten her skincare or makeup routine by getting her so frustrated from wrapping all her products in tinfoil. Then she will realize which products she uses the most. Try to wrap everything she uses — all of it. She might even thank you afterward, but that's probably unlikely.
23. Give her a 'toasty' bath.
After a long day of work, treat your girl right to a nice, toasty bath — literally. Prepare lots of toast in advance and draw her a bath. When the bathtub is full, add a bath bomb and put your pieces of toast on top, or maybe disguise them under all the bubbles. Get ready to see her reaction; it will be priceless.
24. Trick her into thinking someone stole her car.
Text a friend or maybe a neighbor up the street from you and ask them if you could park your girlfriend's car near their home. Do it overnight when she's sleeping so in the morning she'll wake up and notice it's gone. Act just as surprised as her when she tells you it's gone, and before she calls the cops, tell her "April Fools!"
25. Scare the living daylights out of her.
Did the two of you ever watch Stephen King's "It" movies? If so, all you need is a collection of red balloons. Throughout the night when she leaves a room, put a ballon where she was last. Then, wait for the paranoia to set in. It's even better if you have a friend come over at night dressed as Pennywise.
26. Make 'Groundhog Day' come to life.
Ever seen the movie "Groundhog Day," or the countless other movies that repeat the same day over and over again? Now's your chance to pull your own Groundhog Day on your girlfriend.
Start by changing the date and time on her phone to make her think it's yesterday. Do whatever else you can from switching out the newspaper, wearing the same clothes, and saying or doing the same exact things you did yesterday.
27. Prank her shower routine.
Does your girlfriend use a lot of products in the shower? If so, cover the caps to her shampoo, conditioner, body wash, exfoliator, and hair masks with plastic wrap, and make sure to tuck the edges into the lid so she won't be able to open or use them at all.
28. Spice her donuts.
If your girlfriend likes donuts, especially jelly donuts, this is a perfect prank for you. Get a donut that has some sort of filling, heat it up, and then squeeze out the jelly or cream. Take some siracha or hot sauce and fill the donut back up. Save some of the jelly or cream to close the opening, and then watch them take a bite.
29. Give her the sparkling wine she never asked for.
Does your girlfriend ever put ice in her sparkling wine? Freeze Mentos in ice cubes and when she takes them out to put them in her drink, she won't even suspect there's anything in the ice cubes. Get ready for her to be so confused as her sparkling wine starts bubbling.
30. Switch up her coffee routine.
Fool your girlfriend by switching her coffee, especially if she needs coffee to literally function in the morning. The best prank is to switch her coffee to decaf and watch throughout the day if she even notices.
31. Start their day with a dummy wake-up call.
Buy a dummy doll head on the internet and get up early. Disguise your body with pillows and put the dummy head facing your partner. To get a laugh out of it, secretly record after you leave the bedroom and see them freak out when they wake up.
32. Tape up the sink head.
Does your partner wash their dishes right after breakfast? Give them a shower by taking up the head of the sink. Get ready for them to have an unexpected morning rinse.
33. Create a toilet trap.
You know how everyone is delirious in the morning, going to the bathroom first thing? Create a messy prank by saran-wrapping the toilet. When your partner goes to the bathroom, they will be so confused with a not-so-nice morning surprise.
34. Leave a secret message for them on their car.
Get up early in the morning prepared with washable window markers. Write on the back of your partner's car to honk and wave with a message underneath saying they don't know it's there. Prepare for them to tell you this "crazy" story about all these people honking and waving at them on their morning commute.
35. April Fools! Do none of these things!
You didn't think we would actually advocate such heartless pranks, did you? We're bad, but not that bad!
Gwendolyn Bond-Upson is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to YourTango.