Random Activity Generator

The Random Activity Generator gives you one to ten things to do, picked at random from a list of 343 activities. Set the dropdown to Indoor and it draws from 165 things you can do at home or in a studio, gym or venue; set it to Outdoor and it draws from 175 things that need sky above you. Leave it on Random for the full list. Each result is a short activity name on a card, nothing more, which is exactly what you want when the problem is "I'm bored and I can't decide."

What you can set

• Number of activities: 1 to 10. The default is 4, which is enough to pick from without being a to-do list.
• Category: Random, Indoor Activity or Outdoor Activity.

The tool shuffles the filtered list and takes the first N entries, so a single press never gives you the same activity twice. Press again for a completely new set. There is no way to exclude activities you've already seen or to weight toward cheap or free ones; if the set doesn't fit, press again.

What's on the list

The activities are single things you can go and do, not vague prompts. The indoor half is heavy on crafts, cooking and fitness: oil painting, pottery, origami, quilting, wood carving, jewelry making, bread making, sushi rolling, candle making, cocktail mixing, piano, guitar, drumming, ballroom dancing, yoga, Pilates, Zumba, kickboxing, Tai Chi and meditation are all in there. The outdoor half runs from the gentle (a picnic, lawn bowls, an aquarium visit, an outdoor film screening) to the serious (mountain biking, windsurfing, safari tours, wingsuit flying).

Some entries are lessons or classes rather than solo pursuits, and a few of the outdoor ones need equipment, money or a specific location. That is deliberate. The activity randomizer is a list of things people actually do, not just things you can do on a Tuesday night with no budget. If you want a longer-term pursuit rather than an afternoon's plan, the Random Hobby Generator is the better fit.

Ways people use it

• Weekend planning with a partner or friends. Draw five outdoor activities on Friday, veto until one is left, and go.
• Rainy-day list for kids. Set Indoor, draw ten, and hand the list over. Origami, baking cookies and scrapbooking show up often enough to keep it realistic for a family.
• Breaking a fitness plateau. Ten indoor draws usually include two or three exercise classes you haven't tried, and the Random Yoga Pose Generator can turn one of them into a session.
• Try-something-new challenges. One draw a week for a year. Some people pair it with a Random Topic Generator draw to have something to talk about while they do it.
• Writing prompts. Give a character a random activity and see what happens. The Random Thing Generator supplies the object they find while doing it.

Indoor versus outdoor

The split is by where the activity normally happens, not by the weather. Indoor cycling is indoor; mountain biking is outdoor. Cooking classes are indoor; outdoor community classes are outdoor. A handful of entries could go either way (yoga, for instance, is filed as indoor even though people do it in parks), so treat the filter as a strong hint rather than a guarantee. If you specifically want a physical thing to pick up rather than something to do, the Random Shoe Generator and Random Car Brand Generator live in the same section; see all fun, party & decision tools.