10+ Easy & Hilarious Pranks to Play on Your Family & Friends

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Pull the ultimate April Fools with these harmless practical jokes!

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 Buggin’ Out

2 Cloud of Dust

3 Vehicle in EEEEE Minor

4 Donut Mess With Me

5 Urine Trouble Now

6 Launch the Confetti Cannons

7 Grape Surprise

8 All Greek to Me

9 Tip of the Iceburg

10 Popping Party

11 He’s Actually My Cousin

12 All That Glitters

13 Dyed Hands

14 Double Take

15 Sneaky as a Mouse

16 Freaky Friday

17 Release the Quackin’

18 Happy Birthday!

19 Shell Shocked

20 Feeling Watched

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Co-authored by Cheyenne Main

Last Updated: April 11, 2025 Fact Checked

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If you’re looking for the best pranks to play on your family members at home, you’ve come to the right place. From taping a plastic bug on the inside of a lampshade to switching your sibling’s entire rooms, we’ve compiled all the greatest practical jokes so you can name yourself the prank master. Read on for the best pranks to do at home right now!

Steps

1

Buggin’ Out

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1. 
   Tape a large plastic bug on the inside of a lampshade. This is a classic, easy prank that can make your family members jump. All you need to do is tape a plastic bug or spider to the inside of a lampshade. When someone turns on the light, they’ll think there’s a creepy crawler hanging out inside!
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2

Cloud of Dust

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1. 
   Put flour in someone’s hair dryer for a white powdery surprise. For this one, pour about ¼ cup (30 g) of flour inside your family member’s hair dryer. When they turn it on after they shower, the flour will puff out in a huge cloud all over their head!

3

Vehicle in EEEEE Minor

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1. 
   Tape a harmonica to someone’s car so it whistles while they drive. Before everyone else has woken up for the day, go out and tape a harmonica to your family member’s exhaust pipe on their car. When they drive off to go to work or school, they’ll wonder where the loud whistling noise is coming from!

   • Alternatively, tape the harmonica to your family member or friend’s bumper. This won’t make as much noise as the exhaust pipe, but it might confuse them for longer!
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4

Donut Mess With Me

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1. 
   Fill a Boston cream donut with mayonnaise instead of cream. Buy a cream-filled donut (or make one yourself) and scrape out all of the cream from the inside. Then take a piping bag, fill it with mayonnaise, and pipe it inside the hole. When someone bites into it, they’ll get a gross surprise!

   • If you get a box of donuts, eat the rest of them (or give them away) and fill the box with bananas and other fruits and veggies.
     • When someone opens the box looking for a sweet treat, they’ll be immediately disappointed!

5

Urine Trouble Now

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1. 
   Fill a sterile cup with apple juice and drink it throughout the day. Buy one of those medical drug-testing cups and pour apple juice inside to look like a urine sample. Then leave the cap off, drink it in the living room, and savor the disgusted and confused looks of all your family members!
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6

Launch the Confetti Cannons

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1. 
   Place confetti on the tops of all of the fan blades. Get a bag of paper confetti and carefully place the flakes on top of all the blades on one of the fans. When someone flips the switch or pulls the string to turn on the fan, all the confetti will come cascading down!

   • Do this prank on the fan in your living room to get everyone at once, or put it all on the fan in your sibling's or parents’ room to get a specific person.

7

Grape Surprise

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1. 
   Wrap grapes in silver foil to look like chocolate Easter eggs. If Easter is just around the corner, this might be the perfect prank. You only need to wrap grapes in silver foil or old chocolate egg wrappers to look like Easter treats. Then hand them out to all your family members or put them in a bowl and wait for the next unsuspecting victim!
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8

All Greek to Me

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1. 
   Change the language on someone’s phone or computer. Sneakily steal one of your family member’s phones for a few minutes and change its language. Once you put it back, they’ll be confused and frustrated when nothing on their phone makes sense!

   • Android: Open Settings and go to “System” > “Languages & Input” > “Languages.” Select another language from the list, then drag the new language to the top of the list.
   • iPhone: Open the Settings app. Go to “General” > “Language & Region” > “Add Language…” and select a language (that they don’t speak) from the list.

9

Tip of the Iceburg

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1. 
   Put baby carrots or other objects in your fridge’s ice dispenser. Open the door to your fridge’s ice dispenser and swap out the ice with an object of your choice. You can use jelly beans, brussels sprouts, plastic spiders, or other small items. When your family member tries to get ice in their drink, they’ll get a cup full of baby carrots instead!

   • If your fridge doesn’t have a dispenser, try putting jelly beans or other small items in your ice cubes before you freeze them.
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10

Popping Party

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1. 
   Tape balloons all over every window and door. Blow up colorful balloons and attach plastic wrap around any glass doors and windows facing the front of the house. Place the balloons between the plastic wrap and the glass to make it look like your house is filled with them!

   • For extra points, fill an entire room with balloons, like a bathroom or someone’s bedroom.

11

He’s Actually My Cousin

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1. 
   Replace all the photos in your house with photos of Danny Devito. Print out pictures of Danny Devito, your favorite celebrity, or yourself, and replace all the picture frames in your house with them. You can do this slowly over time and wait for one of your family members to figure it out, or replace all of the photos at once for a more shocking surprise!

   • Alternatively, edit all of your photos to include a celebrity in your household’s greatest vacation pictures and family photos.
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12

All That Glitters

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1. 
   Fill a small cup with glitter and put it on top of a cracked door. All you need to do is fill a plastic or styrofoam cup with glitter and open a door just enough so you can rest the cup between the door frame and the top of the door. When someone opens it, they’ll get covered in sparkles!

   • This prank is a little more messy than the rest, so make sure to help clean up afterward.

13

Dyed Hands

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1. 
   Place dye tablets or food coloring in the sink faucets. Unscrew the aerator from the tip of the sink faucet and pop one of those tablets of dye used for coloring Easter eggs or pour a couple of drops of food coloring inside. Screw the aerator back on, and when a family member turns on the tap, their hands will be covered in whatever color you choose!
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14

Double Take

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1. 
   Put a straw inside a mustard packet and slip it into a tasty drink. Get a packet of mustard, ketchup, or whatever sauce you’d like and snip off the corner with a pair of scissors. Stick a straw inside and wrap a piece of tape around the packet’s opening to secure it. When someone isn’t looking, replace their straw with the booby-trapped one!

15

Sneaky as a Mouse

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1. 
   Hook up a wireless mouse to someone’s computer. If you have a family member who works from home or someone who spends a lot of time on the computer, plug a wireless mouse into their USB port. When they’re online, wiggle the mouse around and listen to how frustrated they get from the other room!
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16

Freaky Friday

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1. 
   Switch all of the furniture in 2 people’s bedrooms. This might work best if you have 2 or more siblings you can mess with. When neither of them is home, move all of their furniture from one room to the other. When they get home, they’ll be so confused and wonder how all of their stuff got there!

17

Release the Quackin’

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1. 
   Hide small plastic ducks all around the house. Buy a bag of 200 small plastic ducks and place them all around everyone’s rooms. Put them in cabinets, inside the sugar and flour containers, in socks or shoes, and on top of every picture frame to confuse your parents, siblings, and other family members!

   • For bonus points, label each duck from 1 to 220, skipping numbers 180 to 200. That way, your family will be searching for (or silently expecting to find) the last 20 forever.
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18

Happy Birthday!

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1. 
   Wrap everything your parents or sibling(s) own in wrapping paper. This prank might take a lot of time, tape, and wrapping paper, but it’s totally worth it. Just imagine your family member’s reaction when they come home from a long day of work or school…only to find everything in their room carefully wrapped like a present.

   • Try to wrap everything, including any pens, pencils, door handles, and plant pots.
   • Alternatively, use newspaper, aluminum foil, or large-scale pictures of you!

19

Shell Shocked

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1. 
   Empty an egg or two without breaking the shell and ask for an omelet. This prank is not only funny, it will blow your family member’s mind. Take a room-temperature egg and put a small piece of tape on the top and bottom. Use a needle to gently poke a hole in the top of the egg, holding it over a bowl to catch any liquid that comes out.

   • Poke a hole through the bottom and wiggle the needle around to widen it. Swirl the end of the needle around inside the egg to break up the yolk.
   • Flip the egg so the narrow end is on top and blow air into the hole. Once all of the egg is in the bowl, rinse the inside and outside of the egg with water.
   • Let the egg dry completely before removing the tape and putting it in the fridge. Ask a family member to make you an omelet and watch for their reaction!
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20

Feeling Watched

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1. 
   Stick googly eyes to everything in your house. Take a bag of stick-on googly eyes and attach them to all the appliances, objects, and pictures in your house. This fun prank will have your parents and siblings finding the jiggly eyes for weeks!

Join the Discussion...

Fun pranks that are actually good

wikiHow Editorial Team

Want to pull some harmless yet hilarious pranks on your pals? Here are some great options to try out:

• Get a realistic-looking temporary tattoo and convince them it’s real.
• Tape the top of their shampoo bottle so the shampoo won’t come out when they try to use it.
• Offer them a sweat treat with large chunks of “sugar” on it (but it’s actually salt).
• Replace all the framed photos in their house with pictures of a celebrity.
• Hide a small bluetooth speaker in their room and use it to play creepy noises to scare them.
• Send a fake confirmation text that makes it seem like they’ve signed up for a silly mailing list (like a service that sends daily pictures of capybaras).

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WikiDolphinWalker460

I'm about to try the Oreo one now. Wish me luck.😅

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See all 6 Replies and

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• Question

  What is the best prank?

  

  Ashley

  Community Answer

  A fake spill is a good one. Use a piece of plastic or wax paper to create a fake spill (like juice or coffee) and place it on a table. It looks real but is completely harmless.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 8 Helpful 9
• Question

  What can I prank my friend?

  

  Ashley

  Community Answer

  You might enjoy some of these: Fake Bug: Place a realistic-looking fake bug on their desk or in their lunchbox. When they see it, they'll get a little surprise, but it's all in good fun! Switcheroo: If you have a friend who loves a certain snack, you can switch the contents with something else (like switching chips with a healthy snack). Just make sure it's something they can eat and won't be allergic to. Sticky Note Attack: Cover their locker or desk with sticky notes. Write funny or positive messages on them to make it even more fun. Fake Computer Screen: Take a screenshot of their desktop and set it as their wallpaper.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  Yes No

  Not Helpful 4 Helpful 4

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