April Fools' Day: Why do we do pranks on April 1st?

On 1 April, you might be planning to be mischievous and play pranks on your friends and family.

That's because it's April Fools' Day, when anyone can play the joker!

April Fools' has been celebrated in the UK since the beginning of the 19th century but there are lots of different theories and explanations about where it originally came from.

Let's take a look at the history and some of the best April Fools' Day pranks.

Where does April Fools' Day come from?

Could April Fools' Day be connected to poetry?

According to historians, some say a story told by early English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century - where a fox plays a prank on a rooster - is the first reference to pranks taking place on 1 April.

The poet doesn't actually directly refer to the date though. In the poem, he says 32 days "syn March began", which people have said is "32 days since March began" which would be the first day of April.

But those who don't believe this theory say he was just using confusing words to make fun of people in the poem.

Best April Fools Day Pranks

A story about "Spaghetti Trees" in 1957 tricked millions

One of the most famous April Fools' Day pranks ever was a BBC film about "Spaghetti Trees".

BBC News filmed a fake story showing what they said was people harvesting spaghetti from trees in Switzerland in 1957.

At the time spaghetti was a new food to many people in the UK, and 8 million people saw the pranky programme.

It caused lots of people to call in asking for advice on how to grow spaghetti trees.

One BBC call answerer allegedly said "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best!"

Spaghetti trees don't exist, spaghetti is made from dough pressed into thin strings - but this famous April Fools pranked millions.

Another of the best April Fools Pranks was when millions were convinced Penguins could fly!

A BBC film pretended to have found a new colony of the flightless birds in Antarctica which took to the sky.

Sadly, the film was made using CGI graphics so wasn't true.

If you want to know why penguins can't fly click here.

Is April Fools Day for Kids?

The simplest and easiest April Fools Pranks!

As we've found, April Fools' Day definitely isn't just for Kids, but that doesn't mean you can't try and trick your family or friends with April Fools' Day Pranks.

Here's a few of the easiest, best April Fools' Day Pranks for kids:

• With the help of an adult, Boil an egg and carefully eat it all for your brekky- but when it's done, turn it upside down in an egg cup and take it to another person... Watch as they crack open the top to find it completely empty!

• Print out some pictures of your favourite celebrity and put them into photo frames, see how long before adults notice!

• Unscrew the lid of a shampoo bottle and cover it with a tiny bit of cling film before screwing it back on, when someone tries to wash their hair they'll spend ages squeezing before they realise!

• Check with adults that there's no health reasons you shouldn't do this next one to someone, but a mean classic prank is to switch the sugar and salt around... Watch as an adult puts salt in their tea and sugar on their eggs. Bleurgh!

When is April Fool's Day?

Is 1 April the right day to celebrate Fools' Day?

Some believe the tradition started because of events in the calendar.

Something called renewal festivals date back to Roman times. These were big celebrations at the start of a new year or season.

As part of the festivities normal life went out of the window. According to historian Andrea Livesey, "servants could control masters and children were allowed to control their parents". Imagine that!

March is the time of the Spring Equinox, so people think the joker tradition could come from this, as the beginning of spring and planting flowers were once considered the start of the new year.

So when new year moved to the beginning of January, instead of the end of March, those who continued to celebrate it at the end of March, rather than on 1 January like we do today, were considered to be fools and had jokes played on them.

April Fools' Day around the world

In some parts of Europe, an April Fools' prank is to stuck a fish to someone's back

The earliest records of 1 April being marked in this way are from France and Holland in the 1500s and, because of this, people believe that it could have been a northern European tradition that spread to Britain.

It is actually known as April Fish Day in some areas of Europe.

People think this is because there are a lot of fish in French streams and rivers around 1 April, and they are easy to catch - foolish fish!

So it soon became a tradition to play tricks on people on 1 April too.

"It is still a common trick in France, and elsewhere in Europe, to attach a paper fish to somebody's back on April Fools' Day, and also to give chocolate fish as gifts," Andrea said.

In 2018 the North Yorkshire Moors Railway said it had created a train carriage dedicated just to dogs, but it was a cheeky 'tail'!

So it appears we don't actually know for sure where April Fools' Day officially started.

But one thing's for sure - people have been playing jokes on 1 April for a very long time.

So watch out that you don't get pranked!