April Fools’ Day

April Fools’ Day and Discernment

No one knows how April Fools’ Day began. One theory is that switching New Year’s Day from Easter to January 1st had many people wanting to keep to Easter were called April Fools. April Fools’ Day is fun and a great day to talk about discernment. Alas, many adults are caught in the web of spammers and con people, so help children understand they cannot believe all they see and hear.

Check out fools in the Bible:

God called Israel a foolish nation, Deuteronomy 32:28.
Samuel the prophet spoke about the foolishness of not obeying God, 1 Samuel 13:13.
Many proverbs share wisdom about fools: Proverbs 1:7, 5:23, 10:14, 13:16, and 14:16.
Jesus spoke about foolish choices: Matthew 7:26, 25:2, Land uke 12:21.

Check out some optical illusions and how we cannot always trust what we see or hear. Talk about asking the Holy Spirit for real wisdom. Share how important it is to believe your parents.

Have a few laughs at past tricks people have played.

A German paper, in 1905,once reported that thieves dug under a tunnel and stole $628 million dollars from the U.S. treasury.
In 1957, the BBC aired a story of Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti noodles from trees, and showed photos.
In 1974 a joker lit a fire on top of Mount Edgecumbe in Alaska tricking nearby residents into believing a volcano was erupting.
In 1996 Taco Bell announced they bought the Statue of Liberty and now it was the Taco Liberty Bell.

More April Fools’ Day Facts

In Scotland the day is called Huntigowk because gowk is Scottish for cuckoo, a symbol of a fool.
In France the day is called “Poisson d’Avril” and “Pesce d’Avril”(April fish) and stick paper fish on people’s backs.
Inn Brazil it; “Dia da Mentira” (day of the lie) where people tell wild tall tales.
Companies including Google, Amazon, and Facebook have offered fake products.
In 1789, the first big prank in America may have taken place in Boston with invitations to a nonexistent event at the Boston State House.
The Museum of Hoaxes keeps at extensive archive of April Fools’ Day pranks in history.

Enjoy the day! For more family fun check out Karen’s family devotional books.