With special glasses for the solar eclipse sold out don't panic we found a couple of do it yourself projects that are easy to do so you can safely look at the sun.

We went to time and date dot com to find some easy projects to make viewing the eclipse safe. For the full instructions go here.

First up is a very simple pinhole projector.

All you need is two pieces of white cardboard, like two paper plates, take one piece and make a tiny pin hole in the centre, with your back to the sun hold it above your shoulder allowing the sun to shine on the second piece of carboard.

The cardboard with the pinhole will act as a projector casting an image of the sun onto the second piece of cardboard, to make the image larger hold the paper further away.

A box projector is a bit more involved but you should have all the items needed on hand.

You need a cardboard box, scissors, aluminum foil, a pin or thumbtack, a sharp knife or paper cutter and a sheet of white paper.

Cut a rectangular hole at the end of the box, you can tape two boxes together to make a long box, the longer the box, the larger the projected image.

Using the scissors, cut out a piece of the aluminum foil slightly larger than the rectangular hole. Make sure the foil is completely flat and not crinkled.

Tape the foil over the rectangular hole in the box, use the pin to poke a tiny hole in the enter of the foil.
    
Tape the sheet of paper on the inside of the other end of the box.

Stand with your back toward the Sun and place the box over your head with the pinhole towards the Sun. Adjust your position until you see a small projection, a reversed image, of the eclipsed Sun on the paper inside the box.

If you want a project with a better image you step it up by using binoculars or a telescope.

Put the binoculars or the telescope on a tripod, using duct tape to make sure that it is steady.

Trace the lenses of the telescope or binoculars on cardboard, and cut out the holes, tape the cardboard in front of the binoculars or the telescope so that the lenses stick out of the holes make sure there are no holes between the cardboard sheet and the lenses if there are cover them with duct tape.
    
Direct the binoculars toward the sun without looking at the sun directly place the sheet of the paper on the ground at a distance below the eyepiece, move the paper around until you see the sun's image projected on the paper.

Always keep your back to the sun while looking at the projection.

 

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