RANDOM CATEGORY GENERATOR

Spin for a random category from 99 ready-made prompts like "Things at the beach" and "Things that are sticky". Pair it with a random letter for a quick word game, or use it for trivia, Pictionary and writing warm-ups.

Press Space outside a form field, or use the spin button.

Filter the wheel

99 categories · 1.0% each

Difficulty

The wheel shows 16 of the 99 matching categories, drawn at random, so every one has the same chance.

Every category on the wheel

All the categories, from easy ones for kids to tricky ones for adults. They are written for this site, so you can use them freely in your games.

Easy (kids)

Spin only these

Animals
Fruits
Vegetables
Colors
Sports
Cartoon characters
Things at the beach
Pizza toppings
Ice cream flavors
Things that are cold
Things with wheels
Musical instruments
Things in a backpack
Breakfast foods
Toys
Bugs
Things that fly
Zoo animals
Things in the sky
Clothing
Things that are round
Birthday party things
Desserts
Body parts
Things in a kitchen
Farm animals
Snacks
Things that are green
Sea creatures
Things in a bedroom
Shapes
Things at a playground

32 categories · 3.1% chance each when spun alone

Classic

Spin only these

Boys' names
Girls' names
U.S. cities
Countries
Movie titles
TV shows
Song titles
Things in a hospital
Car brands
Reasons to be late
Things in a junk drawer
Hobbies
Vacation spots
Things at a wedding
Spices and herbs
Rivers
Halloween costumes
Store names
Sandwiches
Things with buttons
Things in a park
Things you plug in
Candy
Things in a garage
Fictional characters
Things at a carnival
Jobs
Drinks
Board games
Things in a grocery store
Restaurants
Things you do at a sleepover
Kinds of dogs
Cereal
School subjects

35 categories · 2.9% chance each when spun alone

Tricky

Spin only these

Words with double letters
Things that are sticky
Things that make you nervous
Famous duos
Book titles
Things with tails
Things in a museum
Things in outer space
Mythical creatures
Famous landmarks
Things that grow
Things that smell good
Things people collect
Jobs that need a uniform
Things in a fairy tale
Things in a toolbox
Things that break
Things that are square
Things with stripes
Superpowers
Ways to say hello
Chemical elements
Things at a gas station
Excuses for missing homework
Things you shout
Words that rhyme with "day"
Things you can recycle
Last words before a nap
Things with keys
Things that are hot
Things you find in a wallet
Inventions

32 categories · 3.1% chance each when spun alone

Ways to use a random category generator

Category and letter game

Spin a category here and a letter on the random letter generator, then race to name something in the category that starts with the letter. Unique answers score a point.

Name five

Spin a category and see who can name five things in it fastest. Kids can play with the easy list.

Trivia night rounds

Let the wheel pick the theme of the next round so the host does not have to.

Writing warm-ups

Spin a category and write a list, a short poem or a story about it in five minutes.

About the list

Easy categories use things every child knows. Classic categories are the kind you find in most list games. Tricky categories ask you to think sideways, such as things that are sticky or things that break.

For the classic letter game, avoid hard letters like Q, X and Z, or leave them in for a challenge. The random letter generator lets you exclude letters.

Every spin is fair: the result is chosen before the animation starts, and the method is written up onhow random selection works. To spin your own list instead, use the custom wheel.