Today (… and Happy Friday the 13th to us all!) I was thinking how when my kids were young I used playing cards to help them practice their number skills. Several games revolved around the number “13” and even today we still enjoy these games. 
And, now that I think of it, none of us suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia. So maybe I’m on to something.
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Pyramid “13” Solitaire:
Deal 21 cards to form a pyramid such that there are six overlapping rows — 1 card in first row, 2 in next … 6 in last row. (For an added challenge, add a seventh row.) In all but the last row, each card is blocked by two cards beneath it. The remaining 31 cards are placed in a stock pile face down. The object is to eliminate exposed cards that add to 13. Jacks count as 11, Queens are 12 and Kings are 13. Therefore, a 10 and a 3, a Queen and Ace, a King, and so on, can be eliminated if exposed. When no cards can be eliminated, the player turns a card face up from the stock pile. If it cannot be paired with an exposed pyramid card and eliminated, another stock card is turned face up on top of the previous stock card. The object of the game is to eliminate all the cards in the pyramid before all stock cards have been played.
If you want to play this game on-line, go to
http://www.freegames.ws/games/card_games/pyramid_solitaire/pyramid.htm
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Target “13”:
(2 or more players) Deal 5 cards (or 4 if you like) to each player. (Optional: Set a timer for a reasonable time.) Players look at their cards and try to combine them to make 13. They may add, subtract, multiply and divide in any order but may not use a card more than once. Depending on math level, exponents, square root and factorials could be allowed. Each person’s score is the number of cards they used. (For example, if a player was dealt an Ace (1), 2, 3, 7 and Queen (12) … then [(12 ÷ 3) + 7 + (1 x 2)] would score 5 points and [12 + 1] would score 2 points.) After everyone has gone, a new round of cards is played.
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By the way, in the health section of today’s ABCNEWS.com, http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodResourceCenter/friday-13th-origins-phobia/story?id=11395381
it was reported that Dr. Donald Dossey, author of “Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun: Mythical Origins, Scientific Treatments,” thinks he’s found the cure for friggatriskaidekaphobia (the fear of Friday the Thirteenth.) He said in an interview on NPR radio, that once a sufferer learns how to pronounce it … they’re magically cured.
Of course pronouncing a word is never as much of a fun “cure” as playing cards.
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