How it works
This claw machine name picker puts every name from your class list into a capsule, then drops a claw that lifts one out. Paste the list once and it is saved in this browser. A picked name leaves the machine, so nobody is called twice until everyone has had a turn. It is the same fair pick as our plain name picker, acted out for the classroom board.
Read the full guide
Load the machine with your class
The page opens on a made-up sample class so you can try a drop straight away. Paste your own names under Your class, one per line, or on one line with commas between them. The list holds up to 80 names of up to 40 characters each. If two pupils share a name, the second becomes Alex (2), so add a last initial instead. Names stay in this browser. They are never sent to us. Once you type a class, Saved classes under the machine keeps up to 12.
Drop the claw
Press Drop the claw, or the space bar on a keyboard. On a touch board or a phone, tap the button. The claw slides across, drops, and lifts one capsule to the chute, where it opens to show the name. The pick is decided before the claw moves and every name still in the machine has the same chance, so the claw never misses. If a pupil is out of the room, press the Put back button, which carries the name, and drop again.
Rounds, records and the plain picker
When the last capsule has gone, the page says everyone has had a turn, and Start a new round refills the machine. Copy the order of a round to paste into your notes, or print it as a presenting order for the week. The round is kept in this browser, so you can carry on tomorrow. The claw is a costume for the random name picker: both pages read the same saved class list, and the plain one is quicker when you only need a name.
- Ask the question first, give the class thinking time, and only then drop the claw. If the name comes first, everyone else stops thinking.
- Save the claw for moments that deserve a drum roll: line leader, first presenter, who feeds the fish. For rapid questions, the 3 seconds of animation soon drag.
- Keep a second saved class with only the pupils who have not yet presented, and drop from that list until it is empty.
- Tell the class once how it works: every capsule has the same chance and a picked name is out until the round ends.
Questions and answers
Is the claw machine random name picker really fair?
Yes. The name is chosen at random in your browser before the animation starts, and every name still in the machine has exactly the same chance. The claw then acts out that choice. Arcade claw machines are a different matter: their owners can often set how firmly the claw grips from turn to turn. This claw has no such setting and never drops a capsule.
How is this different from your random name picker?
Only in how the pick looks. Both pages use the same class list saved in this browser, the same rule that nobody repeats within a round, and the same buttons for putting a name back or starting over. The plain page shows the name on a card at once and also has a wheel view. Choose the name picker claw machine when the pick should be a show on the board.
Can I use a random name picker claw machine for a raffle or a giveaway?
Yes, for an informal one. Type one entry per line, up to 80, drop the claw for each prize, and the winners appear in order in the Already picked list, which you can copy or print. Nobody can win twice in a round. For a draw with legal rules behind it, use the method those rules name: this page keeps no record that anyone else could audit.
Does the claw name picker work on a smartboard or a tablet?
Yes. The drop button is large enough to press with a finger on a touch board, and the picked name is set in large type that can be read from the back of a room. With a keyboard, the space bar drops the claw.
Can pupils see who is left in the machine?
Not from the machine: the capsules are closed and carry no labels. The Already picked list does show who has gone, so near the end of a round a sharp pupil can work out who is left, as with any picker that avoids repeats. Treat it as a claw machine name randomizer that remembers the round: it picks at random, but it never forgets who has already been called.