25 Harmless Practical Jokes to Pull on That Person You’re in a Prank War With

Everyone loves a harmless practical joke, right? Right? We all could use an excuse to lighten up these days and a practical joke pulled on a family member or friend could do the trick. For those of you out there in a prank war with a coworker, bookmark this list because there are so many excellent practical jokes that are relatively easy to pull off here.

You don’t have to take things to Kevin from Home Alone, but you can create an exceptional practical joke with just a few materials or by simply being clever. We decided to cook up the best jokes that require minimal effort with huge payoffs. So, if you’ve just been pranked by a sibling or coworker or anyone, we’ve got some ideas for how you can get payback and plenty of belly laughs! Check out our 25 favorite harmless practical jokes that are easy to pull off!

Glitter Bomb

Here’s a simple and straightforward way to ruin someone’s day! Fill an envelope with glitter and mail that glittery package to your target. Make sure you will not encounter the person you are sending this to for a couple of days, because glitter sticks to everything and it takes forever to get all of it up.

Caramel Onion

Who doesn’t love a chewy and sweet caramel apple? We know! They are a crowd-pleaser which makes them the perfect delivery vehicle for your next prank. If you follow this simple recipe, you can create a practical joke that involves covering a peeled onion to look just like a caramel apple. Trust us, it does not taste as sweet!

Googly Eyes See All

Of all the practical jokes on this list, this prank is one of the best for children and families. Honestly, it’s fun for all! Order yourself some googly eyes, you can get like 500 for under $5. Adhere the eyes to every item in a cabinet, or our personal favorite, the refrigerator to give someone a wild and cook surprise.

So Many Newsletters

We have all gotten emails from subscriptions it feels like we never signed up for. Why not sign someone up for a lot of those to make their inbox a little more chaotic? This is one of the best practical jokes for coworkers because you likely already have their email. Us the email to sign the person up for all sorts of unwanted things. We suggest things like the Ferret Association of Connecticut!

What’s That Noise?

This practical joke is very clever and very easy to pull off. All you need to do is purchase a cheap harmonica and duct tape it to the front bumper of your target’s car. They likely won’t notice a thing until they are up to speed on the road. Then, they will hear what sounds like wheezing and think they need to check their engine. If you really want to annoy someone, go with this simple prank.

Cutlery Chaos

Here’s one of the best practical jokes to pull on a family member who is a bit type-A. For those who keep every drawer in the kitchen strictly organized, you can wreak a lot of havoc by messing up their system. Rearrange the most organized drawer so that nothing is in exactly the right place to make their morning a waking nightmare!

Urgent!

Here’s one of the best practical jokes to play on a coworker! Grab a post-it note or any sort of note and write something along the lines of “I need to see you ASAP. It’s very urgent.” Then, sign the note in an illegible signature so they can’t figure out who it is from. Stick the note on the desk when they’re not looking and wait for the panic to set in. Be warned, taking this one too far can land you in hot water at work so be near to let them know they’ve been pranked.

Cracked Screen

Nothing is a bigger nuisance than a cracked screen on a smartphone! Now, this prank requires you to have access to the person you are pranking’s phone, so you will need that to proceed. Download an app like this one onto the device that makes it appear as if their screen is busted. The distress might only last a few seconds, but your victim’s fleeting moments of discomfort will stay with you forever!

Signed, PHAT Gurl Into Feet

Here’s another one that requires access to someone’s email account. A great practical joke for coworkers, if your colleague leaves their inbox pulled up while they step away from their desk for a moment, slide on over there and change the signature settings so that they’re emails are signed with something absolutely ridiculous. Nothing too bad, now, just a harmless something like “David Hasselhoff.”

Veggie Surprise

Here’s one of the best practical jokes for kids and for the break room. Make a trip to your family’s favorite donut shop that has good branding on their donut boxes (think Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc). Empty the box of the donuts (eat them) and then replace the fried treats with vegetables. You have not lived until you have seen the disappointment one’s face shows when they have been denied the promise of a donut.

Hidden Bubble Wrap

One of the funnest practical jokes to play on someone you live with is to get your hands on some bubble wrap. Hide bubble wrap underneath bathmats, rugs, and more. We suggest a runner rug or long rug in a hallway! Place the wrap underneath the entire length of the rug and brace yourself for pops followed by a surprised reaction.

Breakfast, Served Cold

Another great practical joke for your kids is to fill a bowl with your child’s favorite cereal and some milk the night before you want to pull prank. Place the bowl in the freezer overnight (preferably with a spoon in it) and then serve the frozen breakfast to them the next morning. Sleepy confusion will soon set in!

Spidery Silhouettes

All you need is some black paper and scissors to pull off this easy practical joke. Cut out a bug shape from the paper and tape it to the inside of a lamp shade. When your target turns on the light, they will think there is a big bug waiting for them under the shade! Gross!

No Lather

Here’s one of the best practical jokes to play on parents or for parents to play on their kids. All you need to know is someone who uses bar soap and clear nail polish. Take the polish and paint the soap and allow it to dry. Replace the soap in the shower and your target will scrub and scrub trying to figure out why their soap is not lathering!

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Confetti Drop

Purchase yourself some confetti or create your own by chopping up a whole bunch of paper. Once you have a good amount of confetti, very carefully put the confetti on top of the blades of a ceiling fan. It’s not as easy as it sounds! Take care! Once you have completed the job, wait for your target to turn on the fan and they will be showered with confetti like it’s New Year’s Eve.

Balloon Room

One of the best practical jokes to play on a coworker is to fill their office completely full of balloons. Like, every inch! This will take a lot of balloons and a lot of lung power, but you can do it with the help of some friends. When your target goes to enter their office they will have to shove in and pop some of the balloons!

No End

There’s nothing worse than getting a new roll of toilet paper only to search and search and search to find the end of the roll. You can make it that much harder on a victim by rigging the roll before they even start. Get a new roll of toilet paper and using a small amount of hairspray, attach the end to the roll with the spray. You just created a nightmare!

Use Other Door

Here is one of the best practical jokes to play at work in an office. Your coworkers will hate you, but it’s a lot of fun. Create a document with “Door is broken, use other door,” on it, and then print a bunch with arrows pointing left and others right. Attach them to all the doors of the office and watch your coworker(s) walk around looking for an entrance.

Mixed Up Underwear

Here is one of the best practical jokes for big families! Raid all of the underwear drawers in the home and mix everyone’s undergarments up and return them to the wrong drawer! Try and keep a straight face as your siblings and parents try and get to the bottom of the mystery.

Happy Birthday!

Here’s a very funny practical joke that your victim will not see coming. You will need to gain access to their Facebook profile and once you have, change the birthday for a random day. They’ll be flooded with birthday wishes and have no idea why. It also helps to get their closest friends and family in on the joke.

Block the Sensors

Here’s is one of the funniest practical jokes to play on a coworker or multiple ones! All computer mouses use lasers that track the desk underneath the mouse to operate. Put tape over the sensor and watch your coworker have a time trying to get the mouse to function again. At home, you could do this with a TV and remote as well!

Upgraded Prank Call

Prank calls are an old favorite and you can still pull them off! Convince people you know to call a friend or coworker every 30 minutes and ask for someone else’s name. So, have them all call and say, “Hello, may I speak to Bob?” The target will have no idea what’s going on and why a man named Bob gave all these people their phone number!

New Faces in Familiar Places

This one take a little planning and some time, but you can easily print out the faces of celebrities or other people and replace the pictures in frames around a home. So, if you know a person that does not like say, Justin Bieber, print out dozens of photos of the singer and put them in frames all over the house! What fun!

Keep Them Waiting

We have all stared at the dreaded reply bubble that lets us see that the other person we are communicating with is drafting the text. Now, you can give your friends and family the gift of anxiety by sending a GIF that looks just like you are about to send them a text! Grab it here and change a life!

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A Classic

If you would like to make someone at work scratch their head, grab a glass and fill it with water. Find a very thin piece of plastic or a card and place it over the mouth of the glass. Flip the glass over and carefully put it down on a desk or a table, then remove the card. What they will be left with is one of the best, classic practical jokes. A winner for sure!

There you go! Did you get some great ideas for your next practical jokes and pranks? We sure hope so! All of these pranks are relatively easy to pull off, but they do require you to be extra sneaky. Practical jokes are so fun and a great way to lighten the mood. However, we urge you to use your best judgment before pulling one! You do not want to saddle someone who is having a very bad day with an annoyance such as these.