It is a once in a generation opportunity for parents to play April Fools pranks on their children on Easter Sunday morning. Here are our top tips

Parents rejoice! For the first time since 1956, Easter Sunday and April Fools’ Day take place on the same day – meaning it’s a once in a lifetime chance to play corny and obvious Easter-themed pranks on your children. Here are some suggestions:

A treasure hunt with a twist

A fantastic Easter Sunday tradition is to do a treasure hunt where the Easter Bunny has left eggs around your house, and each egg has a small written clue or riddle directing the children to where they can find the next one. But this year, instead of hiding chocolate eggs, why not leave some carrots in their place. On the third or fourth clue you can make it appear as if the Easter Bunny has left a note apologising for eating all the chocolate, but saying they hope you enjoy this left-behind lunch.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Sunday is a golden opportunity for parents to wind up their children - and then just blame these guys. Photograph: Michael Walter/PA

An Easter basket with a difference

Prepare an Easter basket for the children, and either wrap it up or cover it up so the contents can’t be seen. Have a card from the Easter Bunny next to it which they can open first, with a message that the Easter Bunny wants them to have an extra special Easter this year and so has prepared a special gift for them. But rather than chocolate or sweets, what you’ve put in the basket is incredibly dull stuff that kids will be completely unimpressed by - new toothpaste, some socks, a packet of batteries.

Surprise them with grapes

This one is a bit fiddly, but promises huge rewards. Buy a packet of mini eggs with foil wrappers. Unwrap them carefully, and (optionally) eat the chocolate yourself. Wrap grapes up in the place of the chocolate. Put the grapes back in the packet and wait for hilarity to ensue.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest With a little bit of effort, grapes can be cunningly disguised as mini Easter eggs. Photograph: molka/Getty Images/iStockphoto

A sticky situation



You’ll need to prepare this in advance, but buy some of the plastic eggs that contain toys. Unwrap them, open them, and then carefully glue them shut and re-wrap them. You don’t have to be too tidy – your children are going to be thinking about getting to the toy, and are not going to be suspicious. Sit back and enjoy them trying and failing to open the eggs.

The invisible Easter egg hunt

This is an excellent plan if you have a garden. Tell the children there is an Easter egg hunt in the garden. Put the children in the garden. Close the back door. Let them spend ages searching fruitlessly for Easter eggs that you haven’t actually hidden. After you’ve enjoyed a rare 10 minutes of peace and quiet indoors, while they get increasingly bemused and frustrated, go into the garden claiming to have found a note from the Easter Bunny. The note reads “April Fool”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Imagine the peace and quiet you could enjoy on Easter Sunday morning by sending your kids out on a quest to find some Easter eggs that simply aren’t there. Photograph: National Trust/Rex

The ultimate Easter Sunday April Fools prank

If you really want to get Easter started with some tears and tantrums, why not just tell your children the truth about the Easter Bunny? And Father Christmas while you are at it...