April Fools’ Ideas For Cheerleaders

Monday is April Fools’ Day, an often-forgotten but totally fun holiday. Take advantage of the fact that most people forget about April Fools’ Day and play some fun, yet harmless, pranks on your fellow teammates! By keeping your pranks funny and not mean-spirited, a prank can double as a spirit boost for your team. A good cheer prank will excite your squad, not upset them! April Fools’ Day Ideas: Change the date. Have a cheer competition or event coming up? Fool the squad by pretending the date is the next day! If you’re a coach or captain, print out a flier about preparing for the event and change the date to the next day. If you’re a cheerleader, ask your teammates if they’re ready for tomorrow. Once everyone looks shocked and convinced, reveal it was an April Fools’ Day trick! The pom switch. Switch out one of your teammate’s pom poms with pom poms featuring your rival team’s colors! (Just remember to give her real poms back!) Fake an accident. Wrap your foot in a bandage and use crutches to show up to practice. Then tell your teammates you hurt your ankle and are out for the rest of the season! Just remember to quickly reveal that it’s just a joke. This type of trick should only be used on coaches who know your humor and won’t be upset by the joke. Swap shoelaces. If you have access to a teammate’s cheer bag, switch out the shoelaces on her cheer shoes! Add neon shoelaces, extra-long shoelaces, or no shoelaces for a fun prank. If you can’t access a friend’s bag, change your own shoelaces and see if anyone notices! Use giant ribbons or something noticeable and out-of-the-ordinary. Then act like nothing is different. Hole-y water. Poke holes in a bottle of water and then offer it to your friend. Once she starts drinking it, water will start pouring out! Inside out. Wear your cheer clothes inside out to practice and see if anyone notices. If someone points it out, act like it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Change the music. Is your squad practicing a routine to music? Switch out the CD with a different, funny song. When someone hits play, everyone will be shocked. New dance moves. If you’re a coach or captain, tell your squad you have a new move for them to learn. Then, break out into a funky, weird dance. Try to remain as serious as possible so no one suspects you’re joking! A hair-raising fright. If you have a big competition or event coming up, wear a brightly colored wig to practice and tell your coach you dyed your hair. Jaws will drop when they see you stroll into practice with neon pink or bright green hair. Show off your art. Draw a fake tattoo or wear a press-on tattoo onto your arm or leg – the worse the design the design the better! Then, show it off to your coach and teammates and tell them it’s permanent. Play it warm. If you live in a warm-weathered climate, show up to practice buttoned up in your warm-ups. Act like the weather is freezing and you can’t believe everyone else is in shorts. Your teammates and coach will think you’ve gone crazy! Once practice actually starts, reveal the joke and take off your warm-ups so you don’t overheat! Go jumbo. Take your hair bow to new heights, literally! Buy or find a long piece of ribbon (at least five feet long) and tie it into your ponytail. Let the ends drape down and watch everyone look shocked! What not to do on April Fools Day: Know when to stop. No matter how innocent or silly you may think your prank is, if someone seems to be reacting negatively, let her know it’s a joke. It’s no longer fun if someone becomes scared, upset, angry, nervous, or anxious. Don’t break the law. When you focus too much on a prank, you may forget rules still apply on April Fools’ Day. Don’t vandalize property. This includes your school, locker room, gym, and any property or items that don’t belong to you. Don’t hurt feelings. A prank shouldn’t be mean-spirited. It’s not fun if someone is the butt of a joke. Keep it light and fun. Whoever you target for your prank should know you well enough to find it funny, not embarrassing. Think about consequences. Before you do anything, always first think: will there be any negative consequences? Make sure your prank can’t lead to danger, trouble, or vindictive retaliation.