How to celebrate april fools day at school?

By now you know that I truly believe in the power of using holidays and seasons to motivate and engage students in meaningful learning activities. No matter how old students may get, they are still truly motivated by seasonal and holiday-inspired lessons and activities. I have seen this year after year in both my third grade and fifth grade classrooms.

One holiday that I KNOW students are always so excited to celebrate is April Fools' Day! And why wouldn't they? It is a day filled with fun, laughter, and silliness...all the things that every student, no matter their age, absolutely LOVES!

Whether you want to prank your students on April Fools' Day or just use it as a lesson motivator, these ideas and activities will surely bring a smile to you and your students' faces this April! Be sure to grab the free lesson, just perfect for April Fools' Day at the bottom of this post.

My students always love learning about the history of different holidays. April Fools' Day has such a fun and uncertain history. Historians are still debating over its true origins, making it fun to read about and deciding which of the different theories you agree with!

Take some time on April Fools' Day to read about and watch some short videos about the history of this holiday.

Try these:

Helping students develop strong emotional health should always be a top priority, especially in today's stressful age. Laughter is known to reduce stress and help both students and teachers feel more relaxed.

Teaching students that age-old idiom, laughter is the best medicine, can really do wonders for students' emotional well-being. Start with facts! Getting your daily dose of laughter can improve your mood and strengthen relationships, too. Doctors agree that even a small giggle can increase endorphins and improve your mood in just moments.

Humor in the classroom has many proven positive outcomes, too. It can:

Help your students understand the value of laughter with these high-interest nonfiction articles.

I am all about using laughter in the classroom to engage students, motivate them, and build classroom relationships. In fact, we start out each and every morning with a joke of the day. But when April rolls around, we spend each morning trying to do some tongue twisters. Not just any tongue twister, but ones my students have written themselves!

Writing tongue twisters is such a fun and memorable lesson AND the bonus is that it is all focused around alliteration, a figurative language strategy that I always encourage my students to use as writers. So while it is a fun lesson, it is meaningful, too!

Grab the FREE lesson and activities that I use to teach alliteration and tongue twister writing in my classroom right here!

I love sharing funny picture books all year long! But when April Fools' Day and April come along, we dive deep into poetry. The first of April is the perfect day to kick off both April Fools' Day and National Poetry Month with a whole lot of giggles from poetry books that kids love!

Here are some of my favorites:

My favorite time to read aloud some funny poetry is right before dismissal. It is always a good thing when you can send your students home smiling and laughing!

Don't want to play a prank on your students? This activity is for you! Be the judge in your classroom courtroom while your students debate over whether or not students should be allowed to play pranks in school on April Fools' Day.

I love holding debates in my classroom. Not only do debates address multiple skills and objectives, but it allows students to put all of their opinion and persuasive writing strategies and knowledge into action within a real-world activity. Plus it helps sharpen both their listening and speaking skills!

Want to challenge your students with this activity? Go a step further and have students argue for the side they actually disagree with. It will help them to see things from a different perspective!

We polled our audience and asked readers and teachers, just like you, to share the best pranks they have pulled on their students. Below is a list of ideas that teachers have used to have a little fun with their students. Make sure you read to the end, the last one is in my future!

{Be sure to check to see if your school or district has a policy about April Fools' Day pranks BEFORE you play any prank or joke on your students!}

If you can't beat'em, join'em! Get in on the fun and laugh a little, well really a lot, with your students this April Fools' Day! And don't forget, when it comes to bringing laughter into the classroom, don't just wait for April 1st to roll around! Start from the first day of school and watch your classroom community grow and become a positive place for everyone to spend their day!

Celebrated on 1 April every year, April Fool's Day is a tradition enjoyed by many around the world. And nothing helps an ESL class relax more than some good old-fashioned laughter. And isn't that what April Fool's Day is all about?

On this day when so many take the time to play pranks, stage hoaxes, or execute practical jokes, give your ESL students the chance to join in the fun, and who knows? Maybe you’ll inspire them to play some pranks of their own. Remember, whatever you or your students come up with, the aim of a successful April Fool's inspired class is to encourage speaking, reading, vocabulary, and comprehension. With this in mind, here are some ideas for April Fool’s activities for your ESL class. Just remember to check whether your country plays pranks all day or until noon so that you're not the fool!

Before launching into your lesson, a good place to start can be with comprehension mixed with a little information and history. With this resource, your students can learn more about April Fool's Day. Alternatively, build in some cultural exchange with this warm up activity asking whether there's something similar in your students' cultures, followed by expression opinions about different prank scenarios.