What is a letter wheel?
A letter wheel, also called an alphabet spinner, is a random letter generator shaped like a wheel. Choose which letters to include, spin, and the pointer lands on one letter. Each letter on the wheel has exactly the same chance.
How to use the alphabet spinner
- Choose a letter set: the full alphabet, Easy letters (without Q, U, V, X, Y and Z, which are hard to play with), vowels only, or consonants only.
- To make your own set, pick Custom and type one letter per line. Letters from other alphabets, such as Urdu, Arabic or Spanish, work too.
- Tick Remove winner after each spin if a letter shouldn't come up again in the same game.
- Press SPIN and play with the letter you get.
Letter wheel games and activities
For the classroom
- Phonics: spin a letter and ask students for its sound and a word that starts with it.
- Alphabet categories: spin a letter, then name an animal, country, food and job that begin with it.
- Spelling warm-up: spin three consonants and one vowel and see who can make the longest word.
- ESL speaking: spin a letter, and students say a sentence where every important word starts with that letter.
For game night
- Scattergories-style games: spin the round's letter instead of rolling a letter die. The Easy letters set keeps rounds fun.
- Stop the bus / Name Place Animal Thing: the classic pen-and-paper game, with a fair letter every round.
- Word chains: spin to choose the first letter, then go round the group.
How SpinFair keeps every spin fair
Most wheel sites use Math.random(), which is fine for games but isn't built for fairness. SpinFair picks the winner with crypto.getRandomValues(), the same cryptographic random source browsers use to make passwords and security keys. We also use rejection sampling, so every entry gets exactly the same chance, with no small bias towards the first items on the list.
The winner is chosen before the wheel starts moving, and the animation simply lands on it. Spin speed, how hard you click or when you click can't change the result. Nobody can rig it, including us: your entries stay in your browser and are never sent to a server.
Want numbers instead? Use the number wheel. To pick students for each round, try the random name picker.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a random letter from A to Z?
Choose A-Z (26 letters) and press SPIN. Each letter has an equal 1 in 26 chance.
Can I take hard letters like Q, X and Z off the wheel?
Yes. Choose Easy letters, which leaves out Q, U, V, X, Y and Z, or pick Custom and delete any letters you don't want.
Can I use a different alphabet?
Yes. Choose Custom and type the letters you want, one per line. This works with Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish (Ñ), German (Ä, Ö, Ü) and any other script.
How do I stop the same letter coming up twice?
Tick Remove winner after each spin. Each letter that's picked is removed for the rest of the game.
Is it good for Scattergories?
Yes. Many players use the Easy letters set so every round has a playable letter.
More free wheels and pickers
- Wheel SpinnerSpin a custom wheel of names or choices
- Random Name PickerDraw names from a list, with no repeats
- Yes or No WheelSpin for a random yes or no answer
- Number WheelRandom numbers from any range
- Random Team GeneratorSplit names into fair teams
- Giveaway WheelPick fair raffle and giveaway winners
- Classroom Name PickerPick students fairly in class
- Food WheelWhat should I eat? Spin to decide
- Decision WheelLet the wheel make the choice
- Truth or Dare WheelParty game spinner with ready-made questions