The home is an ideal place to plan a great prank. From your victim's room, to prized possessions, and even his or her sleeping body, you have access to a great prank you could only dream about with schoolmates and co-workers. However, the downside to home-grown pranks is the same closeness that brings such an advantage. You have to live with your family, and they know where you sleep. Don't prank unless you're ready to face the consequences.
1. Bubble Pop
Discreetly place some bubble wrap around the rim of the toilet bowl and then gently lower the toilet seat onto it. The next time someone sits down to do their business, they'll be in for quite the popping surprise!
2. Suds-Less Soap
Certain things in life are expected. For instance, when you step in the shower, you expect your soap to create a lather. However, when you cover a bar of soap with clear nail polish, your victim can scrub with this coated bar for hours without seeing a single bubble. This is one of the best pranks to do at home for the sheer levels of confusion it can produce. Make sure there is a spare bar of soap, so no one is late for work or school.
3. TV Time
The latest television features provide many options for home pranks. If you know what buttons to push, you can create maximum annoyance with minimal effort. If the parental controls aren't already set on the family television you can make sure the next person to turn it on can't watch anything but preschool television shows. Just be ready with the password to change it back before you get in trouble. Some televisions will also allow you to set a timer to turn the television on or off at unexpected times.
4. Watered-Down Drink
Add a few drops of food coloring to plain water so it looks like juice or Kool-Aid. If you want a delayed reaction, pour it in an empty juice bottle and leave it in the fridge. For an immediate effect, offer to get everyone something to drink and bring in glasses of your "juice." The fun is in the looks on the victims' faces when they take a drink and it's not what they expected.
5. On the Other Foot
Stuff some cotton wool or other similarly soft material into the toes of your victim's favorite shoes. When he goes to put on his shoes, he'll think that his feet have suddenly grown (or his shoes have miraculously shrunk). For even more fun, stuff more cotton wool in one shoe than the other so it will feel like one foot is much larger than the other. This is a great prank to do to a sibling since you have easy access to their shoes.
6. Fake Damage
You can find props like fake nail polish spills and melting ice cream at joke shops or online. Place one on the new white carpet and wait for the reaction. You can also create fake damage by placing tape or contact paper on a flat surface and writing on top of it with markers or paint. This would be especially convincing in a home with small children. Make sure you won't ruin the finish on a table or appliance before trying this prank, though.
7. Anti-Snooping Measures
If you fear guests will start looking through your medicine cabinet or you think your brother or sister is snooping around your room, why not give them something to find? Plant a fake medicine bottle for a contagious condition in the bathroom, or booby trap a closet shelf with packing peanuts or confetti. In addition to the usual satisfaction you get from a prank well done, perhaps you will teach the victim to mind his or her own business.
8. Bed Switch
While two people are sleeping, pick them up and place them in each other's beds so they wake up completely confused. This prank will only work on sound sleepers, and it's most practical with small children who can be easily lifted. With the extra sneakiness and planning required, you can feel like you've pulled off a really big prank without the damage usually associated with larger efforts.
9. Short Sheet the Bed
When making the bed, fold the top sheet in half before tucking it in. A classic camp prank, it's effective because it strikes just as the victim is ready to get comfortable for the night.
10. Early Wake Up
After your victim is asleep reset the clocks so he or she will wake up a few hours early. You can try to trick one person or the entire family. Be warned that the victims may be especially grumpy from disrupted sleep, so use this prank with caution.
11. Fake Lottery Win
Everyone dreams of winning millions of dollars in the lottery! Record the lottery drawing on the nightly news using the PVR, making sure that you record at least a few minutes before the draw itself. Then, go and buy the ticket for those numbers. Leave your lottery ticket on the coffee table, start playing the recording, and tell your victim that the draw is about to come on. Watch as they are amazed with each matching number, only to realize it was last week's draw.
12. Ants Come Marching
Pick up an inexpensive package of plastic ants and scatter some of them somewhere in the kitchen, like in the sugar bowl or near a cupboard where food is stored. Then leave a trail of these ants leading from that spot to another hidden location where you've placed a very large plastic ant. When the victim follows the trail to see where the ants are coming from, he or she will be horrified to discover the giant ant that appears to be spawning tiny ones.
13. Flipping Out
Turn on the laptop or desktop computer running Windows, right-click on the desktop and select "screen resolution." This opens up a settings window. Change the "orientation" option to "landscape (flipped)" and the screen will flip upside-down, including mouse movements. Most people don't know how to change this and they'll be very confused with the upside-down computer screen.
14. Colorful Cereal
Place a few small drops of food coloring into the bottom of a cereal bowl, ideally the same color as the bowl itself. When the victim pours milk into that bowl, he or she will be aghast to find the milk turning a strange color.
15. Yummy Yogurt
Clean out an empty mayonnaise jar with the label still clearly attached. Put some vanilla yogurt in there instead. When the guests arrive, take the "mayo" jar out of the refrigerator and proceed to eat the yogurt straight out of the jar. They'll think you're crazy, snacking on mayo! This can also be a funny April Fools prank to play on a teacher or lunch room lady.
Everyone likes a good practical joke, so why should the fun pranks be restricted to within the home? Try some of these pranks:
- Teenagers can have a lot of fun with high school pranks, especially senior pranks before graduating.
- Safe college pranks and harmless dorm pranks offer silly yet entertaining hijinks.
- Play some camping pranks on your fellow travelers and even enjoy some safe car pranks on the ride there.
It's all clean and safe fun that will get everyone laughing and having a good time.