April Fools' Fun

April Fools' is this week. 

I'm not a big fan of pranks or being made a fool of, but I'm all for fun and good memories. Especially when we are cooped up and trying to maintain a safe and positive environment for our children. So today, I thought I'd share our April Fools' tradition because it's simple and fun and something you can scrounge together quickly if you want to do something with your family for April Fools'.

I've always thought mystery menu dinners were super fun. We did a few of them with my church group when I was growing up, and it was always one of my favorite activities. I know a lot of people do mystery menus around Halloween, but our Halloween season is so packed with parties and activities, that I've never felt like I could squeeze in a mystery menu dinner at Halloween time. So I decided to make it an April Fools' tradition instead. It was a great solution because A) we get to have a mystery menu dinner, B) we get to do it at a time of year that isn't already overly scheduled, and C) the food doesn't have to be centered around a holiday theme.

Here is our mystery menu from last year:

If you're not familiar with mystery menu dinners, all you have to do is make up silly names for foods, create a menu, and then have your dinner guests select food items in "courses." I typically do nine menu items and serve three courses, thus having my kids pick three items for each course. 

I use what we have on hand already. I can't remember what everything on the menu was last year, but "triangle delight" was quesadillas, "wedgies" were Mandarin oranges, "mouse poop" was a scoop of chocolate chips, etc. When the kids are older, I'll probably add more to the menu to make it sillier - they might have to order their fork or a butter pat, therefore, ending up with everything served at the wrong time. But for right now, all the menu items are just food (the littlest ones wouldn't understand and would just be frustrated by the more intricate silly menu). 

In our current circumstances, this will definitely be the highlight of our week!

Another fun April Fools' dinner idea (that's even easier!) is to serve dinner on silly dishes. Instead of using the usual plates, cups, and forks, you can serve your meal in frying pans, pie tins, pyrex etc, drink out of measuring cups, and eat with giant serving spoons or tongs. We haven't done this, but a friend of mine told me that her family did this when she was growing up, and I think it would be a lot of fun. Plus... easy peasy! I'm all for simplicity!