Saturday is April 1st, April Fool's Day. Although it's not a nationally recognized holiday, but both adults and kids love to celebrate by fooling each other. But, if it's not a "real" holiday, how did it start? No one really knows... no fooling!
There are many different theories on the origin of April Fools' Day, but one of the most popular involves the calendar. The year was 1582, the same year that France began using the Gregorian Calendar. The change in calendar shifted the observance of New Year's Day from the end of March (around the time when Spring begins) to the first of January.
The story is that there were many people who either didn't know about the change - or perhaps didn't care - and continued to celebrate the New Year on April 1st. Those who knew of the calendar changes began to tease and trick those who celebrated, calling them "April Fools." This practice of pranks continued year after year and eventually spread throughout Europe. We don't know if this story is completely true or not, but what we DO know, is that April 1st is a great excuse to inject a little fun!
I have already pulled most of the popular tricks on my kids. One year I added food coloring to the bottom of the cereal bowl so the milk turned blue and switched them to a different bed after they went to sleep. The year before I cut out a silhouette of a spider and tape it to the inside of a lamp shade and I super-glue dimes and quarters to the floor of the garage and watched the kids try to pick them up.
Last year, I served Dessert for Dinner and Dinner for Dessert! The grilled cheese sandwiches and fries with an ice-cream sundae for dessert were really cake with orange icing filling, cookie "fries" and mashed potato/pulled pork/cole slaw sundaes with a cherry tomato on top!
This year, I'm serving a FAMILY MIXED-UP DINNER! Here's how you can do this too! For this prank, the kids get to choose from a menu. But this menu is not like other menus. They will be choosing from a list of random items rather than an actual food item. They will not know what random item goes with an actual food choice.
First, decide what you are actually serving for dinner. You will need the following 8 "Real Menu" items:
- Fork
- Spoon
- Napkin
- Main Meal
- Side Dish
- Roll/Side Dish
- Drink
- Dessert
Choose whatever items will work best for your family, but you need a total of 8 items. Without revealing it to anyone else, assign each real menu item a mixed-up menu item.
Mixed Up Cafe Menu Items:
- Pencil
- Vacuum
- Chair
- Car
- Shirt
- Book
- Crayon
- Piano
Then when it is time for dinner, get your meal all ready, but do not set the table. Sit your kids down and hand them the menu and explain to them that you are going to be their waitress/waiter for the evening. Give each child their own menu. Have each child fill out their orders directly on the menu.
Each child will order 2 items as the Appetizer, 4 items for the Main Course and then 2 Dessert items (being sure that they order all 8 different items only one time each). Each child’s dinner will vary depending on what they order. The fun thing about this meal is that everything will be mixed up. They may not have a utensil to eat with or a drink until the next course, but that is all part of the fun. The kids will be able to eat with their fingers or have dessert before their dinner. This will be a meal your kids will never forget!
Copy and paste the menu below, then print one for each family member.
Happy Foolin'!
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