April Fool’s day will arrive in about a week. If you live/work in an office setting, it is time to think about things you can do. The goal in this post is to provide inspiration. It also serves another purpose – it inoculates you against these pranks if you are on the receiving end.

The first one is a big prank. It would require planning ahead, a good bit of free time and a very forgiving working environment. Plus there is cleanup and repair involved. On the other hand, it certainly would get a lot of attention:

At a similar scale there is the aluminum foil cubicle prank:

Filling a cubicle or an office with balloons, packing peanuts, etc. is another option:

Sleeping in the office on the night of March 31 may be the only defense.

The next one makes a mess. On the other hand, if you walk up to your desk and find an overturned cup sitting there, you now know what to expect:

As long as we are on the subject of drinks, here are two more:

And:

The previous one is so messy that it belongs outdoors. But if you are subjected to this prank, do not try to cover the bottle’s top. That just makes the spray worse. Head straight for the sink and point the bottle down toward the drain. No sink? Point it toward a tile floor. Cleaning a tile floor is a lot easier than cleaning a ceiling or a wall.

This next one is ancient, and mean. It involves ketchup and baking soda. The baking soda reacts with the acid in the ketchup to create a mess when the bottle opens:

What this begins to suggest is that all closed bottles should be suspect on April 1.

The bathroom prank doesn’t cause any damage and is easy to clean up:

If you walk into the restroom on April 1 and it looks full up like this, you might have reason to listen closely.

This one is making the rounds on social media sites. The idea is to tape the following poster to the office printer:

Printer posters

See also:
- 10 Outrageous Office Pranks
- Top 10 April Fools’ Day Pranks