Practical Jokes Involving Kids

July 15, 2006 12:49 PM

Practical Joke Filter: I need some clever prank ideas that can involve kids.

I'm working at a summer camp and I keep finding myself on the wrong side of practical jokes -- I really want to get back at two of my co-workers but I'm horrible at coming up with workable pranks. The catch is that I really would like the prank to be mostly executed by our campers -- one co-worker has six 7-9 year olds and the other has 13-15 year olds. Does anyone have some clever ideas that go beyond sticking a sign on his back?

Anything involving any significant mess or potential danger is out. We work on computers a lot every day, so any good computer pranks would be great! And if you have any awesome pranks that can't be executed by kids, go ahead and throw them out there -- I always need ideas.

posted by purplevelvet to human relations (16 comments total)

This one's a small prank, but if you put anyone's name following .justgotowned.com it creates a nice little flash video. for example, purplevelvet.justgotowned.com
For names with spaces, just type purple.velvet.justgotowned.com
posted by alona at 12:53 PM on July 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Any sinks involved? My daughter and I wrapped a rubber band around the handle of the sprayer nozzle (to keep it in the on position) on the eve of April Fools Day, so when my wife turned on the sink, she got a chest-full of water. Of course, my daughter got caught in the friendly fire, so she learned a little bit about the knack pranks have of backfiring.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:02 PM on July 15, 2006

You might get some prank ideas from these two previous threads:

What's the best April Fool's Day joke you've ever heard or been a part of?

Know any college pranks?
posted by ericb at 1:05 PM on July 15, 2006

One involving children, previously: What's a great April Fool's Day prank?
posted by apple scruff at 2:34 PM on July 15, 2006

Take a screenshot of their desktop and set it as their background, then move all of their icons to the trash.
posted by joannemerriam at 2:40 PM on July 15, 2006 [3 favorites]

Moving their icons to the trash is a horrible idea, it's far better to simply use "Arrange Icons By->Show Desktop Icons" to turn off the icons.
posted by borkencode at 3:39 PM on July 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

The cup prank
posted by growabrain at 4:06 PM on July 15, 2006

Shortsheeting beds is fun, but only if you have beds with sheets.

Prank software Galore
posted by tomble at 4:43 PM on July 15, 2006

A latex surgical glove can hold a lot of water. Label a cardboard box with recipient's name, "open other end" on top, and "up" arrows pointing down, put the water-filled glove inside, tape the top shut (leaving a few open spots, and some holes in the sides), and insert some strategically placed pins with another layer of tape to hold them. A few upside-down FedEx stickers might help. Have someone trustworthy deliver the package upside down, or just leave it in a strategic location. The obedient recipient should invert the box to open it, and end up with a lot of water in his lap. © wgp.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:48 PM on July 15, 2006

My son was a deep sleeper and my daughter and I used to love to draw a mustache on him with a marker. Sometimes he wouldn't notice for hours.
posted by haikuku at 5:21 PM on July 15, 2006

For the 7-9 year olds: tell them to go look to the mirror and see what they like with their eyes closed. At a certain age, some children will work at this very earnestly for minutes until they "get it."
posted by SPrintF at 8:31 PM on July 15, 2006

Where do the co-workers sleep? Do they have their own living quarters? My favorite college prank involved breaking into someone's room (with the help of the RA, incidentally), removing all the furniture to the quad, then sitting down on the couch and watching tv under the trees until she came back from class. A bunch of kids would make moving the furniture a lot easier.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 6:34 AM on July 16, 2006

This always works and the great thing about this prank is that you can get more than one camper at the same time.

Announce that there will be a contest and the winner will get something special (extra sleep time, extra dessert, ect). Take a dozen jelly filled rolls, with a straw suck out as much of the filling as possible, (save the straw), put a tube of "close-up" toothpaste into the hole and fill until that roll until it balloons up (past the normal size is best, who can resist that), remove the tube of toothpaste and insert the jelly filled end of the straw and squeeze some jelly into and around the hole, (giving the appearance that the roll is oozing jelly, (this is important in case the camper takes a taste of the jelly- they will only taste jelly and no toothpaste. Get everyone lined up with the rolls in front of them and "Get on you mark, Get set, GO!

Sit back and watch the show! Having a camera on hand is a good idea. When possible shut off the water and remove drinks before hand.

I know that this works every time, HAVE FUN!!!!
posted by ok at 6:34 AM on July 16, 2006

The kitchen probably has those huge rolls of plastic wrap. Wrap the bed, the dresser, etc. Be thorough.

The cup thing and the box prank-excellent ideas.
posted by theora55 at 8:26 AM on July 16, 2006

Super simple: put a piece of Scotch-type (transparent) tape over the mouse's roller ball. Or, for an optical mouse, a spot of opaque duct or electrical tape.
posted by CodeBaloo at 1:33 PM on July 26, 2006

Even simpler and WAY more fun for the kids: teach the kids the right way to make fake fart noises. Put one end of a straw in your armpit. Put that arm at your side (closing the armpit and trapping the straw) and blow gently into the other end. Since the mechanics are the same -- a stream of air escaping from between two flesh objects -- the resulting sound is a 100%, absolutely, true-to-life replica of the real deal.

For even more realism and effect, add a dab of water to the armpit.

Experience has shown that the best time to "fart" is either A) when bending over to pick up something from the floor in front of the victim, or B) when the pranker is leaning on a counter or table and the victim walks by behind him or her.

Enjoy.
posted by CodeBaloo at 1:42 PM on July 26, 2006