Spaghetti Trees and the History of April Fools' Day

This Friday is April Fools' Day. It's a day that I've always enjoyed a little bit at home and at school. I've always enjoyed the various pranks and jokes that my students tried over the years. Where did the tradition of April Fools' Day pranks begin? If you've ever wondered about that or you want to be ready to answer that question from your students, here are a few short video explanations. 

Mystery Doug is a talking dog who answers questions from kids, he offers a short explanation In Why Do We Celebrate April Fool's Day?



Learn About April Fool's is a short explanation from WatchMoJo that was published ten years ago and is still good.



Perhaps the greatest April Fools' prank of all is the classic Spaghetti Tree hoax broadcasted by the BBC back in 1957. Here's a little interview with one of the producers of that hoax.

Two Short Videos on the Origins of April Fools' Day

This morning I was able to trick a couple of my Facebook friends into thinking that I was selling Free Technology for Teachers. I am not selling it (unless someone wants to make me obscenely wealthy), I was just having a little April Fools' Day fun. So how did this tradition of playing tricks on people on April 1 start? Here are two short video explanations of the origins of April Fools' Day.

Follow-up on Magic Grade

Earlier today I wrote a post about Magic Grade. Just to clarify, it was an April Fool's Day joke. It's not a real service. Sorry if I caused confusion or frustration.

With my luck someone will develop the Magic Grade idea and make millions.