What to Do When Bored Wheel
Spin once and try what the wheel picks. Nothing on it needs a trip to the store.
No spins yet. Each pick is listed here in order.
Things to do when bored, by group
Make something (14)
- Build a blanket fort
- Fold a paper airplane and test it
- Draw a map of your neighborhood
- Make a comic strip with four panels
- Write a letter to yourself in ten years
- Invent a board game on cardboard
- Make a paper chain from scrap paper
- Build a bridge from paper and tape
- Design a flag for your family
- Make a puppet from an odd sock
- Write a short story in six sentences
- Fold an origami boat
- Make a collage from junk mail
- Create a secret code and write a note
Move (14)
- Learn to juggle with rolled socks
- Do ten jumping jacks in every room
- Have a dance party to three songs
- Balance on one foot and time yourself
- Build an obstacle course with pillows
- Stretch like a cat for five minutes
- Hold a plank and count the seconds
- Hop on one leg down the hallway
- Tiptoe through the house without a sound
- Jump an invisible rope for one minute
- Toss a sock ball into a laundry basket
- Do a slow-motion race across the room
- Invent a new dance move and name it
- Walk like five different animals
Tidy and sort (14)
- Sort your books by color
- Empty your backpack and repack it
- Match up all the odd socks
- Clear one drawer from front to back
- Line up your shoes by size
- Make your bed like a hotel bed
- Sort the pens and test which still work
- Dust one shelf and put it back in order
- Fold every T-shirt the same way
- Pick five things to give away
- Wipe down your desk until it shines
- Untangle the cords and chargers
- Sharpen every pencil in the house
- Water the plants and wipe their leaves
Learn (14)
- Learn to count to ten in a new language
- Memorize a short poem
- Learn to tie three different knots
- Teach yourself to whistle a tune
- Learn the alphabet backward
- Practice writing with your other hand
- Learn five new words from a dictionary
- Learn a magic trick with a coin
- Read the first chapter of a book you own
- Learn the capitals of five countries
- Memorize the order of the planets
- Learn a tongue twister by heart
- Learn to fingerspell your name
- Find out what your name means
With other people (14)
- Play charades with household objects
- Invent a secret handshake
- Ask a grown-up what they did at age ten
- Hold a staring contest, best of three
- Play a yes or no guessing game
- Tell a story one sentence at a time
- Teach someone a skill you already have
- Put on a puppet show for the family
- Call a relative and ask for a story
- Draw portraits of each other
- Play rock paper scissors, best of nine
- Start a family talent show
- Make up a quiz about your family
- Play hide and seek
Outside (14)
- Count the birds you can see in ten minutes
- Collect five different kinds of leaves
- Watch the clouds and name their shapes
- Walk around the block a new way
- Look for bugs under a rock
- Run to the nearest tree and back
- Build a tiny house from sticks and leaves
- Listen and list ten outdoor sounds
- Pick up litter along your street
- Find one thing for each rainbow color
- Sketch the tree closest to your door
- Count how many steps to the corner
- Make a leaf rubbing with a crayon
- Watch ants and follow where they go
About the bored wheel
The wheel opens with all 84 things to do. Under “Choose a list” you can keep one kind instead: “Make something”, “Move”, “Tidy and sort”, “Learn”, “With other people” or “Outside”. Pick “Outside” when the weather is good and “Tidy and sort” when you would rather get something done.
Nothing on the wheel asks you to buy anything. The ideas are things like building a blanket fort, learning to juggle with rolled socks or writing a letter to yourself in ten years. They were written for this site, not copied from a book, an app, a game or another website, and all of them are listed on the page under their group, so a parent or a teacher can read them before a child spins.
Make the wheel fit your home before the first spin. Delete the lines that do not work for you, such as the “Outside” ideas if there is nowhere to walk nearby, and add your own. Your edited list stays saved in this browser, so the next bored afternoon starts with your version.
Times to spin the bored wheel
- A rainy afternoon at home when every usual idea has been used up.
- The last ten minutes of class, with one “Move” idea for the whole room.
- A sleepover or a family evening: choose “With other people” and do the first three picks.
- A long school break: spin once each morning and write the pick on the calendar.
How to use the wheel
- Type or paste your options, one per line. The wheel redraws as you type.
- Press Spin, click the wheel, or press Ctrl+Enter while you are in the list.
- Read the pick. Remove it from the wheel if nobody should be picked twice, then spin again.
How the pick is made
Before the wheel moves, your browser draws one slice at random with crypto.getRandomValues, the same generator browsers use for security keys. Every slice has the same chance. The spin you watch only plays that result out.
Nothing about the animation changes the outcome: not how hard you click, not how long the wheel turns, not the size of your screen. The pointer always stops inside a slice, never on a line.
Your list stays in your browser. A link you copy carries the list inside the link itself, so nothing is uploaded.
Questions about the bored wheel
- Do I need to buy anything for these ideas?
- No. Nothing on the list asks you to buy anything. The ideas use things like paper, socks, pillows and books, and if you are missing something for a pick, press “Spin again”.
- Which list works when I can’t go outside?
- Any list except “Outside”. The ideas in “Make something”, “Move”, “Tidy and sort”, “Learn” and “With other people” are written for indoors.
- Can I add my own ideas?
- Yes. Type each idea on its own line in the list. To give a favorite a bigger chance, write it on two lines so it gets two slices.
- How do I avoid getting the same idea twice?
- Switch on “Remove the winner after each spin”. Each idea then leaves the wheel as its result window closes, so the next spin has to land on something new.