All fifty states are on this wheel, from Alabama to Wyoming, matched against the official list on USA.gov. Washington, D.C. and the territories are left off because they are not states, though you can type them in if your lesson includes them.
When to use it
Social studies teachers hand out state report topics with it, so nobody argues over who gets California or Texas. In no-repeat mode each state goes to exactly one student until the list runs out.
It is a handy warm-up before a capitals test. Spin, say the state out loud and give the class ten seconds to write down its capital, nickname or state bird.
Travelers and road trip fans use it to pick the next state to visit, research a national park or choose a regional recipe for Sunday dinner.
Ideas
- License plate hunt: spin a state, then see who spots a plate from it first on the next family drive.
- Fifty-state passport: print a blank US map and color in each state as the wheel lands on it during the school year.
- Postcard project: each student writes a pretend postcard from the state they spun, mentioning one landmark and one local food.
- Abbreviation sprint: call out the state and race to write its two-letter postal code.
Variations
- Split the wheel by region, keeping only New England, the Midwest or the West Coast states while you study that part of the country.
- Add Washington, D.C. or Puerto Rico yourself if your class covers the capital district and territories too.
- Switch to normal mode and weight the states your students find hardest, such as Delaware*2 or Wyoming*2, so they come up more often during review.
Tips
- Press Start over when a new class period begins and every state comes back on the wheel.
- In remove the winner mode the wheel visibly shrinks, which helps students see how many reports are still unassigned.
- Save your regional version on the device you teach from so you do not need to delete states again before each lesson.
Make it yours
Change any entry, weight or color above, or open a copy of this wheel to edit and share as your own. This page always keeps its original entries.
List from www.usa.gov, checked on October 17, 2026.