Interactive Spinning Wheel

Type your options — one per line — and spin. The interactive wheel picks a result at random with a smooth spin, can remove each result after it is chosen, and keeps a history of spins. Use it for decisions, games, giveaways, chores or lesson activities.

How to use the spinning wheel

1. Type or paste your options into the box, one per line. The wheel updates as you type.
2. Click Spin, or click the wheel itself.
3. The pointer on the right shows the result when the wheel stops, and the result appears below the wheel.
4. Tick “Remove result after each spin” for draws where each option should only come up once, such as picking the order of presentations.
5. Use Shuffle to mix the order of slices — it does not change the odds, but looks fresh.

Every option has an equal slice. To give an option better odds, add it on more than one line: an option listed twice has twice the chance of a single option.

Is the wheel really random?

Yes. The final position is chosen with the browser’s cryptographic random number generator (crypto.getRandomValues), which is designed to be unpredictable. The number of full turns and the stopping angle both come from that random value, and the animation simply eases the wheel to the chosen position. Each option’s chance is its share of the wheel: with eight equal options, each has a 1 in 8 (12.5%) chance per spin. Past results do not affect future spins, so the same option can come up twice in a row.

Ideas for using a spinning wheel

Running a fair giveaway

• Publish the rules and closing date before you start, including how the winner will be chosen.
• Put one line per valid entry, and remove duplicates or ineligible entries first.
• Record the spin on screen so participants can see the draw.
• Use “Remove result after each spin” if you are drawing several winners.
• Check local laws for prize promotions — some places regulate sweepstakes and require that no purchase is necessary.

Spinning wheels in the classroom

Teachers use spinning wheels to pick question topics, choose which group presents next, or add an element of chance to review games. Because students can see the options and the spin, it feels fair. For picking individual students, a name wheel with the remove option ensures everyone gets a turn before anyone is picked twice. Keep lists short enough that each slice is readable on the projector — up to about 30 options works well.

Worked example: deciding dinner

A household can never agree on dinner, so they list eight options — pizza, tacos, sushi, curry, burgers, salad, pasta and ramen — and spin. The wheel lands on curry. For a weekly plan, they tick “Remove result after each spin” and spin five times to fill Monday to Friday without repeats; the history line shows the order. Because pizza is a favourite, they add it twice next week, giving it a 2 in 9 chance instead of 1 in 8.

Probability on a wheel

With n equal slices, the chance of a particular slice on one spin is 1/n. The chance it does not come up in k spins is (1 − 1/n)^k. With eight options, there is about a 34% chance that a given option does not appear in eight spins — which is why random picks sometimes feel unfair. Removing results after each spin turns the wheel into a draw without replacement, which guarantees every option appears once in n spins.

Making good wheel options

Short labels read best on a spinning wheel: one to three words per slice. If an option needs explanation, put a number or keyword on the wheel and keep the details on a separate list — “Challenge 4” on the wheel, with the full challenge on a card. Avoid near-duplicates that make the result ambiguous, and decide before spinning what happens if the wheel lands on a line between two slices (the pointer always chooses one, but agreeing in advance avoids arguments). For group decisions, let everyone add one option so the result feels fair to all.

Wheel versus other random methods

All of these are fair if done properly; the wheel simply makes the process easy to watch.

Printable wheels

For board games, classroom displays or offline events, a printed spinner works well: print a wheel template, mount it on card, and add a paper-fastener arrow. The paid pack includes blank wheels with 2 to 12 slices, labelled example wheels, and instructions for making a spinner from card.

Privacy

Your options stay in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or saved, and the history clears when you close the page.