April Fool’s Day is here and it is crucial that we are prepared with an arsenal of pranks. Here are five easy and effective practical jokes for you to play on your friends on the one day of the year that you have a good excuse.

1. Broom to the ceiling: This prank is an easy and fun way to mess with your friends or siblings that requires almost no preparation. Simply fill a plastic cup with water or some other drink, then climb up on a chair and hold it against the ceiling. Call your victim over and ask if they can hold the cup to the ceiling with the broom while you get down. After they comply, you can just walk away, leaving them unable to move without dropping the cup and spilling the liquid.
2. Leg in the trunk: If you have the time, this one is almost certainly worth it. Safety pin a shoe to a sock, then safety pin the sock to the leg of an old pair of jeans. Stuff the whole thing with newspapers to make it look like a real leg, and close the trunk of your vehicle on the jeans to make it appear as though there is a leg sticking out of the back. For best results, don’t tell the driver of the car that you’ve done this.
3. Auto-correct antics: It can be difficult to obtain someone else’s iPhone without them knowing, but if you can manage it, this is the best way to go. If you go into keyboard settings, you will see a ‘text replacement’ button. With this, you can make their phone autocorrect any word to any other word. Instead of just going the obvious route and changing ‘hey’ to ‘I’m stupid’, try making more subtle changes, like why->what; what->who; who->when; when->where; where->how; and how->why. Opposites can be fun too, such as love->hate and hate->love, or OK->no and no->OK. The possibilities are limitless!
4. Bug cutouts: If you have a lamp with a lampshade in your house, try cutting pieces of cardboard into the shape of roaches or other nasty bugs and taping them to the inside of the lampshade. When the lamp is turned on, there will appear to be bug(s) inside. This is more than enough to freak out anyone who turns the lamp on and even when you know the bugs aren’t real it can be terrifying to stick your hand inside to remove them.
5. The sneeze: This last prank is a classic, old as the dawn of time. It’s so simple and so funny that it’s the kind of prank you will do all year round. All you need to do is get your hands wet and stand behind your victim. Then flick water at the back of their neck just as you fake a sneeze. It’s hilarious, and so realistic that you can do it ten times to the same person and still get a reaction.

So there you have it. Five simple pranks that can tremendously improve how much fun your day is. Remember to use your new powers responsibly, but not so responsibly that you don’t enjoy yourself at the expense of others. Happy April Fool’s Day!