Article Categories

»	Arts & Entertainment
»	Automotive
»	Business
»	Careers & Jobs
»	Education & Reference
»	Finance
»	Food & Drink
»	Health & Fitness
»	Home & Family
»	Internet & Online Businesses
»	Miscellaneous
»	Self Improvement
»	Shopping
»	Society & News
»	Sports & Recreation
»	Technology
»	Travel & Leisure
»	Writing & Speaking

Reprint Article Code

Category: Articles » Arts & Entertainment » Humor » Article » Article Code

April Fool's Day Activities

April Fool's Day is quite an appropriate way to begin National Humor Month. Here is some background information plus a few activities for you to enjoy. Did you know that April Fool's Day began in France in 1564? Before then, the new year was celebrated on April 1! As some Europeans continued celebrating the new year on that day, they were called April fools and their friends would play silly tricks on them. The harmless pranks of April Fool's Day take place in the US, Germany, France, Great Britain, and other countries. In France, an April fool is ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

April Fool's Day is quite an appropriate way to begin National Humor Month. Here is some background information plus a few activities for you to enjoy.

Did you know that April Fool's Day began in France in 1564? Before then, the new year was celebrated on April 1! As some Europeans continued celebrating the new year on that day, they were called April fools and their friends would play silly tricks on them.

The harmless pranks of April Fool's Day take place in the US, Germany, France, Great Britain, and other countries. In France, an April fool is a poisson d'Avril, an April fish, and chocolate fish are a special treat. In Scotland, people call you an April cuckoo.

Be sure not to play a joke after 12 noon or you will be the fool!

Now, for a few activities:

1. Cut out a 1" square for every child playing this game. Write "A" on one of them and put them all in a bag. Have all children choose a square, not telling anyone which they chose, and put them back in the bag. As children sit in a circle, a child is chosen to go first. If he did not choose the "A", he will walk around the circle and return to his spot; another child is chosen. Only the child who chose the "A" will walk around the circle, tap another on the shoulder, say "April Fool!" and start running. The tapped child chases him. If the tapped child does not beat the first child back to his spot, he continues walking around the circle and taps someone else; if he DOES beat the first child back, the first child has another turn to walk, tap, and run.

2. For older children, follow the same directions for the squares. After the squares have all been chosen, let the children scatter in the play area. At the Start signal, have children start moving around. The child who chose the "A" is IT and tries to tag the other children by whispering "April Fool!" each time he tags someone. Children that are tagged must freeze into statues. IT must be subtle in order to sneak up and tag the other children.

NOTE: The top two games are easily adapted to any letter of the alphabet for any theme. Try one for a birthday party!

3. Have children create their own lists of ten things (a good way to review nouns) or create a class list. Have an interesting variety. Without letting children see the silly story they are going to create, call on ten to say one of their words or to call out one from the class list. Fill in the blanks of this story (from Spring is Here, Macmillan Seasonal Activity Packs, 1987) as they provide the words:

One day, I put on my beautiful brand- new _____. Then I went out for a walk. The first thing I saw was a funny _____. It was right next to a striped _____! Then a tiny little _____wearing a huge _____walked past me. I was so surprised that I forgot to watch where I was going. I walked right into a big _____and bumped my _____. Then I saw a huge _____riding on a small _____. I laughed so hard I almost dropped my _____. What a silly way to start the day!

4. See if you are fooled by these riddles!

a. Which animals can jump higher than a tree?
 
b. What are the things you'll never eat for lunch?
 
c. What do you lose every time you stand up?
 
d. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
 
e. Why can't you tell a secret in a vegetable garden?

5. Remember that any time is great for a SMILE BREAK! Try it when you feel tense!

I hope these ideas are useful and ignite your own creativity. Enjoy!

ANSWERS to riddles: a. Every animal can jump higher than a tree because a tree can't jump! b. Breakfast or dinner c. Your lap d. At the bottom of the page e. The corn has ears and the potatoes have eyes.

Author Bio:

Some other recently published humor articles

Ugly people – more than a joke by Ken Wilson
We can think long and hard about what makes us humans. The truth of the matter is that we are not perfect and we all have our own defects. Ugliness ...

Do ugly women feel the same as ugly men? by Ken Wilson
There have been a lot of research studies made about ugly people. When I say ugly people I don't just mean ugly men, but also ugly women, even though they are trying very hard to ...

Ugly men and ugly women – ugly on the inside/outside? by Ken Wilson
The Internet is one of the most amazing things ever invented. It can offer us all the info we need and much more. The online ...

Ugly women and men facing the issue of beauty by Ken Wilson
From ugliness to beauty – nothing can be more representative than examples. If you look it up on the Internet, you'll ...

Ugly people and charisma by Ken Wilson
We are sure that the idea of ugly women who nonetheless possess unbelievable, charming and persuasive powers is not new to your ...

Why are ugly men ugly? by Clint Jhonson
We have all met the occasion of hearing people call others ugly, unpleasant, and so on. Well, maybe not in these words precisely, but the phrases that are frequently used to refer to ugliness are ...

Publisher Guidelines

You may reprint this article electronically in your newsletter or on your website, free of charge.

If you reprint this article from our site, then you must keep everything intact. This includes the articles title, author name, articles body, authors bio / resource box, the links contained within the article, all copyright notices and the link pointing back to our site. All links within the article must also be made active / hyperlinks.