Kids love tricks and jokes and other tomfoolery (how often does one have the chance to use that word in 2009?). I remember when Amanda was in preschool and she was enlightened about the fact that one day each year she could say something like, “There’s a spider on your arm!” which would cause me to jump (even if I was doing so just to humor her), and then laugh like crazy as she said, “April Fool!”
Maybe some of you don’t want to encourage your children to call you a fool — in April or any other month– but anything that causes a child to let out one of those contagious and melodic belly laughs is okay in my book.
Gotcha!: 18 Amazing Ways to Freak Out Your Friends by David Acer is aimed at an older crowd, because many of these ideas require work, such as “make your own Bigfoot tracks” — but how fun would that be for a kid on a lazy summer day?
Each of the projects, such as testing your ESP and hypnotizing someone and moving things with your minds, all have real scientific explanations in a green bubble on the page. For example, “So does ESP really exist? I knew you were going to ask that. The truth is, nobody knows for sure. But one thing we do know is that most people who say they have ESP just make it look that way by using tricks” (page 9).
This book is published by Kids Can Press and features the kids from the Mystery Hunters show, with some information that did appear on the show that ties into some of these tricks, such as “Araya goes to spoon-bending school.”
So in honor of April Fool’s Day I recommend this book that might help your kids extend the pranks or gotcha’s that they have tried to pull today. Maybe you could even read ahead and get them back!
Managing Editor Jennifer Donovan also blogs at Snapshot about life with her tween daughter and preschool son.