According to Wikipedia, this international day of clowning people for no real reason got legs in the 19th century when penguins invaded England, overthrew the monarchy and established an anarcho-syndicalist commune that (sadly) only lasted a few hours.

Just kidding.

No joke, the first mention of an “April Fools’ Day” can be found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from 1392.

Anyway, here are those stories of children crafting their own practical jokes (with a link) in the spirit of the holiday: