How the letter wheel picks
Press Spin for one letter from A to Z. Each of the 26 letters has a 1 in 26 chance; with only the five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) it is 1 in 5, and with a set you choose it is 1 in however many letters are on the wheel.
Turn on removing picked letters and no letter comes up twice until you reset.
How to use it
Choose the letters
Start from all 26, the vowels or the consonants, then tap individual letters to add or drop them. Taking out Q, X and Z is two taps, and it makes most word games friendlier.
Pick capitals or small letters
This only changes how letters look on the wheel and in the result. Lowercase suits early reading practice and handwriting warm-ups.
Spin
Press Spin or click the wheel. The letter appears in large type and stays marked on the wheel after you close the result.
Keep every round fresh
Switch on the option to remove picked letters, and each letter leaves the wheel once it is drawn. The picked letters are listed in order, and one reset brings them all back.
Ways to use a random letter
Word and category games
Plenty of party and road-trip games start with a letter: everyone writes an animal, a city, a food and a job that begins with it, against a timer. Spinning in front of the group settles any suspicion that the letter was chosen to suit someone, and removing picked letters stops the same one turning up two rounds later.
Spelling and phonics
Ask a learner for three words that start with the letter, an object in the room that begins with it, or the letter written in both cases. Spin vowels only to practice vowel sounds, or consonants for blends.
Writing and drawing prompts
A random letter makes a good constraint: a story whose first word starts with it, a character’s name, a sketch of something beginning with that letter. A rule like that is easier to start from than a blank page.
Turn order and tidying
Pick which surname initial lines up first, which shelf of an alphabetized collection to sort, or which section of a long list to review this week.
Tips
- Y counts as a consonant in the presets. If your game treats it as a vowel, start from the vowels and tap Y to add it.
- For quick rounds, leaving out Q, X, Y and Z gives 22 letters that almost always have plenty of words.
- Your letter set and the letters already picked are saved in this browser, so a game carries on after a reload.
- Need two letters at once, for initials or a two-letter challenge? Draw several in one go.
Questions people ask
Are common letters like E more likely?
No. Each letter on the wheel has an equal slice and an equal chance. If some letters are too hard for your game, take them off the wheel.
Can the same letter come up twice in a row?
Yes, unless picked letters are being removed. Each spin is an independent draw from your browser’s cryptographic random number generator, so with 26 letters a repeat happens about once every 26 spins.
Does showing lowercase change anything?
Only the look. Capitals and small letters are the same 26 slices underneath, so the odds, the picked list and your saved set stay exactly as they were when you switch.
What happens when every letter has been picked?
The wheel empties and says so. Reset the picked letters to start again.
Can I spin accented letters, syllables or whole words?
This page covers A to Z. For anything else, type your items on the main wheel, one per line.
Maintained by Aneeb Shinwari · Last updated