Ways to use this list
- Category game: spin a letter, and everyone writes an animal, a food, a country and a name starting with it before one minute is up; answers nobody else has score two points.
- Phonics: young children say the letter's sound rather than its name, then a word that starts with it; press Lowercase a–z, as early reading books mostly use small letters.
- Letter reversals: press b, d, p, q and children write the letter they land on; for b and d, draw the word "bed" so the two letters form the ends of a bed.
- Word race: write as many words as you can that start with the letter in one minute, with a bonus point for every word of six letters or more.
- Name starters: spin a first letter for a new pet, team or story character, then brainstorm five names that begin with it and vote for the best.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (26 entries)
- A – ant, apple, Australia
- B – bear, banana, Brazil
- C – cat, carrot, Canada
- D – duck, dumpling, Denmark
- E – eagle, egg, Egypt
- F – fox, fig, France
- G – goat, grape, Ghana
- H – horse, honey, Hungary
- I – iguana, ice cream, India
- J – jaguar, jam, Japan
- K – kangaroo, kiwi, Kenya
- L – lion, lemon, Lebanon
- M – monkey, mango, Mexico
- N – newt, noodles, Nepal
- O – owl, orange, Oman
- P – panda, pasta, Peru
- Q – quail, quiche, Qatar
- R – rabbit, rice, Romania
- S – snake, soup, Spain
- T – tiger, toast, Thailand
- U – umbrellabird, udon, Uganda
- V – vulture, vanilla, Vietnam
- W – wolf, waffle, Wales (UK)
- X – x-ray tetra (a fish); no common food or country
- Y – yak, yogurt, Yemen
- Z – zebra, zucchini, Zambia
📖 Related guide: How to run a fair raffle or giveaway draw
Questions people ask
Can I get letters without repeats?
Yes, without changing anything: No repeats until everyone is picked is on from the start, so after 26 spins every letter has come up exactly once, which suits an A-to-Z topic or a letter-a-week plan. Prefer to watch the alphabet shrink? Choose Remove the winner in Settings and each letter leaves the wheel once it's picked.
Which letters are best for category games?
Use No Q, X, Z: very few words start with those three, so landing on one can stall a round. Letters like S, B, C, M and P are the easiest; save Q, X and Z for older players who want a challenge.
Can I pick several letters at once?
Yes. Set Winners to 3 or more in Settings. For a word-building round, press Vowels and pick 2, then Consonants and pick 5, and see who can make the longest word from those seven letters.
Is Y a vowel?
Sometimes. Y works as a vowel in words such as sky, gym and happy, and as a consonant at the start of yes and yellow. The Vowels button keeps to A, E, I, O and U, the five that schools teach first; type Y on its own line to add it.
Which letters are used most in English?
E is the most common letter in written English, followed by T and A, while J, X, Q and Z are the rarest. More dictionary words start with S than with any other letter, which makes S a safe landing in a category game. Word games give rare letters higher scores for the same reason.
Is there a country for every letter?
Not quite. Of the 195 countries, none starts with W or X, and O, Q and Y have just one each: Oman, Qatar and Yemen. In category games most players accept Wales, one of the four nations of the United Kingdom, for W; for X, a fair house rule is to skip the country.