DIY Wooden Card Holder for Playing Cards

Uno is a classic card game that kids have enjoyed for decades, but game play can get a little wild if you’ve got too many cards to handle. Not a big deal with honest parents, but somewhat disconcerting once you’ve got older siblings to contend with!

Whether your players include little ones with small hands, an adult holding the baby, or older adults with a touch of arthritis, having a set of playing card holders can make game play much more fun.

Our six kids span 11 years and they all love playing games. Early on we discovered that it was difficult for young children to hold all their cards without sharing their hand with the whole world. 

You can use a large chip clip to hold cards, and I’ve seen a fabric type holder, but I love these hands-free playing card holders — perfect for when you’re holding the baby or wriggling toddler!

Bryan created a set of these “card-boards” for our toddlers and younger children to use. Similar to the Scrabble tile holders, these card-boards hold any number of cards so that little people can see their cards without laying them all out on the table.

I recently busted them out to play Quiddler with my teens and young adult kids. The card holders for playing cards are perfect for adult card games as well as the classic uno. (Great game, by the way; it’s like Scrabble with a twist!)

If you’ve got a handy man — or woman — in the family, these are quite easy to make. Well, sort of. I mean, I didn’t make them. But, Bryan assures me it’s simple if you’re tooled up.

You can find similar card boards on Amazon, but it is cheaper to make your own.

How to Make a Wooden Card Holder for Playing Cards

1. Cut several large planks out of 1×6 or 1×8 clear pine. 
2. Cut the channels with a table-saw set half-way through the material at about a 10° angle. A thin-kerf blade works best. (That just means that the blade is thin so that it doesn’t make too wide of a cut.) 
3. Sand and smooth any rough edges.

See? That wasn’t hard, was it? And you’ll have so much fun playing cards with your kids once you get tooled up with card holders for anyone who wants one!

A set of wooden card holders makes a great Christmas Gift packaged with a favorite card game. Be sure to check out some of our favorite games to play as a family as they are some of the best frugal gifts to give.