Photo: Susan Holt Simpson on Unsplash
A random number, with a bit of drama
“Pick a number between 1 and 10” is how arguments start: someone always says 7, and someone else is sure they peeked. With the wheel, nobody picks. It spins, slows down, wobbles between 3 and 4, then stops. The winning number appears in big type under the wheel, large enough to read from the back of a classroom or the far end of the table.
The wheel comes filled with 1 to 10, but you can change everything: add slots, delete some, or load one of the ready-made lists. “1 to 6” stands in for a die, “1 to 20” gives you more range, and “0 to 9” lets you build bigger numbers one digit at a time.
Lost the die? Spin instead
Board game night, and the die just rolled under the couch? Load “1 to 6 (like a die)” and set the phone in the middle of the table. Each player spins on their turn: same odds as a real die, one in six for each number, and nobody can roll it off the table by accident.
A few ways to use it:
- Move your piece in any race-to-the-finish board game, or on a homemade game board drawn on paper.
- Decide how many steps to take in a backyard game like Mother May I, or in a treasure hunt where every spin tells you how far to go.
- Replace a 20-sided die for a family storytelling or role-playing game, with the 1 to 20 list.
- Decide who goes first: everyone spins, and the highest number starts. For a big group, the turn order picker lines everyone up at once.
In the classroom: math facts, questions and table numbers
The number wheel is an easy classroom helper, up on the projector or on a laptop screen.
- Mental math warm-up. Spin twice: students add, subtract or multiply the two numbers. With the 0 to 9 list, three spins build a three-digit number to round, write out in words or break into hundreds, tens and ones.
- Times tables. The number tells you which times table to practice today. Remove each number once it comes up, and you’ll get through every table without repeats.
- Pick a question. Number the questions on a worksheet from 1 to 10 or 1 to 20, and let the wheel choose which one you go over together.
- Pick a table or a group. Each student sits at the table the wheel gives them, or the group that comes up presents first.
To call on a student by name instead of a number, the random name picker does exactly that.
Family bingo and quick challenges
Homemade bingo takes nothing but paper and pencils: everyone draws a card with six numbers between 1 and 20. Load “1 to 20,” check the option to remove the winning slot, and start spinning. After each spin, remove the number that came up, just like a ball that doesn’t go back in the cage. The first person to cross off their whole card shouts “Bingo!” and gets to pick dessert or the next game.
The wheel also puts a number on small challenges: how many frog jumps, how many words to describe a drawing, how many seconds to find something hidden in the room. The number lands, and off you go.
A fair wheel for everyone
Every slot gets exactly the same share of the wheel, so the same chance of winning: with ten slots, each number has a one-in-ten chance. The moment you tap, the site picks the winning number with your browser’s secure random generator, then spins the wheel so it lands right there. Tapping fast or slow changes nothing.
Chance has no memory, though: 4 can come up twice in a row. If that’s not what you want (questions you don’t want to repeat, table numbers that should all be different), check the option to remove the winning slot. After each spin, the “Remove this slot” button takes that number off the wheel, and the next spin is between the numbers left, down to the last one. For more tips, read our guide to fair random draws.
Send your wheel to friends
Playing from different homes? Tap “Send my wheel” to share it by WhatsApp, text message or a copied link. Your friends open the link and get the exact same wheel, ready to spin on their phone. The slots travel inside the link itself: nothing is stored on the server, and nobody needs an account.
Want another ready-made wheel? The letter wheel picks the letter for a round of the classic list game, the yes or no wheel settles small dilemmas, and the dare wheel livens up the end of game night. To write your own slots, the spin the wheel page takes anything you like. And every other picker is waiting on the Buzzloo home page.