Debunking Friday the 13th: Three kid-friendly pseudoscience experiments

Is Friday the 13th unlucky? Or is it just another day? A surprising number of Americans (over one in ten) believe that Friday the 13th is indeed unlucky. And a shocking number (30%) describe themselves as superstitious. Given how prevalent superstition is, it is a good idea to teach your kid how to out-think these cognitive pitfalls early.

Inoculation theory is an evidence-based approach to teaching people how to think critically about superstitions like Friday the 13th. It relies on a tested and simple principle: to build resistance to superstitions simply expose a person to a weak form of superstition and help them debunk it. Then when they encounter a strong form later on they will have the tools needed to fight it off. This theory is a great approach for building up kids’ critical thinking skills by encouraging them to debunk common spooky legends and tall tales, which kids already love. And Friday the 13th is the perfect opportunity for inoculation.

Instead of giving in to spooky superstitions, kids can roll up their sleeves and bust the myth using hands-on activities that mix science, logic, and fun. Whether at home or in the classroom, these three pseudoscience experiments help kids think critically and prove that Friday the 13th is just another perfectly good day.

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🔍 Activity 1: The Bad Luck Stakeout

Objective: Investigate whether more bad luck happens in a public space than would be expected on any other day.

What You Need:

• A notebook or worksheet
• A pen or pencil
• Optional: a clipboard and stopwatch for extra detective flair

What to Do:

1. On Friday the 13th, have kids pick a stakeout spot in a park, in a mall, or any other busy public space and observe people’s behavior for fifteen minutes. Look for bad luck: trips, falls, spilled drinks, broken shoelaces, etc. BUT ALSO look for neutral events and good luck too.
2. Rate each event: Lucky 😊, Neutral 😐, or Unlucky 😖.
3. Repeat the same activity the next day or the following Friday for the same amount of time.
4. Compare the days. Which day had more “bad luck”? Or more good luck?

What is in this inoculation?
Regardless of the outcome, this activity teaches kids about two key ideas: 1) we should stay skeptical and test ideas before we believe them and 2) testing ideas can be fun!

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🎲 Activity 2: The Luck Test Lab

Objective: Test if luck behaves any differently on Friday the 13th.

What You Need:

• 1 six-sided die
• A results chart

What to Do:

1. Choose a “lucky” number and an “unlucky” number. Roll the die 30 times and record how many times you get your special numbers. Do you get more of one than the other?
2. Repeat this on a different, non-Friday-the-13th day.
3. Compare the results: Did fewer lucky numbers come up on Friday the 13th?

What is in this inoculation?
This activity tests probability—a fancy way of saying, “How likely is something to happen?” The results will show that the laws of chance don’t change based on the date.

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🎤 Activity 3: Survey Says… Superstition Busted!

Objective: Find out if people believe the Friday the 13th myth—and whether their day reflects it.

What You Need:

• A short survey with 2–3 questions
• Family, friends, or classmates to ask
• A way to tally responses (chart, graph, or tally marks)

Sample Survey Questions:

• Do you believe Friday the 13th is an unlucky day? (Yes/No)
• Did anything unlucky happen to you today? (Yes/No)
• Did anything good happen today? (Yes/No)

What to Do:

1. Ask at least 10 people your questions.
2. Record their answers and organize them into a simple graph or pie chart.
3. Discuss the results: Do most people believe in the myth? And does belief match reality?

What is in this inoculation?
This activity teaches kids how to collect and analyze data the way that psychologists and other researchers do —by asking people directly what they think and feel. What is interesting about this kind of experiment is that the things people say often give you more questions than the one you started out with. It is a good idea to teach kids ahead of time about the concept of confirmation bias (that when you ask people to think of unlucky events they will usually be able to confirm that there were unlucky events) because it will definitely come up.

With a bit of curiosity and creativity, kids can investigate the Friday the 13th myth for themselves—and the results usually show that it’s all just spooky storytelling. Through tracking, testing, and surveying, they’ll learn to think like scientists, question superstitions, and discover the truth for themselves.