Foolish April Fool's Day Pranks

This year youth group falls on April Fools Day (hee hee hee).  I'm not sure if I should be excited or nervous.  It got me thinking, though, there are some terrible prank type games out there that youth leaders have been doing to their poor teenagers for years.  I have been part of them over the years as well.  What sometimes looks funny on paper or in your head can be horrifying for other people.

One of the mean prank type games that I saw in a youth ministry idea book was to have the teens all stand up.  You call out an activity like "has been to a theme park before."  If that activity is something the students have done before then they sit down.  Play continues until one "victim" has been silently chosen beforehand by the game leader.  The game leader thinks of an activity that they know that only that student has been involved with.  When that student sits down, a presoaked sponge is placed lovingly on their chair.  You know the rest.  I did this to a girl in my first youth ministry and as soon as she sat down I felt horrible for doing it.  There's always the one where you have a student come up front.  The "victim" sticks a funnel into the front of their pants.  The game leader says the object of the game is to try to get an object (could be a penny or a mentos mint or anything about that size) from their forehead into the funnel.  While they have their head tilted back ready to start with the object of choice on their head, someone pours water down the funnel.  How come most of these have to do with wet pants?

I also have been the victim of pranks from kids.  As a youth leader, you have a huge target on your back for pranks.  But in teen language, unless it's done maliciously (like cutting your break lines or something), it is a sign of affection.  At the end of every school year we have a food fight and water war.  At the end of one particular such event I turned around only to be hit by an open bag of powdered sugar.  I temporarily went blind and was really surprised.  It was all done in fun but it did hurt.

Some people can take such pranks better than others.  That's why I stopped pranking my teens altogether in order to make sure I didn't accidentally find those who are in the latter category.  As ministers of the gospel, we should only let the gospel offend.  

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV).

I would rather not lose a student's attention or attendance because I embarrassed them in front of their peers.  What pranks have you pulled on your youth group that have backfired?  What pranks have been pulled on you that you weren't terribly pleased about?