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Solar eclipse 2024: No glasses? Make an eclipse viewer from a cereal box; piece of paper

By Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
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How to view the eclipse if you do not have glasses FILE PHOTO: MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 21: Wilson Sayre, Carmen Pelaez and Ana Sofia Pelaez (L-R) view the solar eclipse at The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science on August 21, 2017 in Miami, Florida. While Miami was not in the path of totality for the solar eclipse, around 77 percent of the sun was covered by the moon during the peak time of the partial eclipse. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

With a total solar eclipse just hours away, you may find yourself anxious if you want to watch the celestial event, but can’t find any eclipse glasses.

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Take heart, if you can’t buy glasses, you can make a device from simple items you likely have around your home that will allow you to watch the eclipse.

Below are instructions on how to make a couple of simple devices to view the eclipse.

Warning: Do not look at the eclipse without either approved solar eclipse glasses or by using one of the methods below. You will permanently damage your eyes.

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How to make a pinhole projector for safe eclipse viewing

One of the easiest eclipse projects to make is a pinhole projector that lets you project the image of the eclipse onto a piece of paper.

It consists of sticking a pin in a piece of paper. That’s about it. Follow these instructions and/or take a look at the video below.

  • Put a small pinhole into a piece of paper.
  • With your back to the sun – your shadow should be in front of you, holding the paper out so the sunlight hits it.
  • Hold a second piece of paper (or folder as shown in the video below) out in front of the piece of paper you stuck the pin in. You should see an image of the sun on the second piece of paper. You’ll see it go from a circle to a crescent unless you are in the path of totality – where the sun goes completely dark. If you are there, the circle will go black.

If you want to get a little fancier, check out the video below.

How to make an eclipse viewer from a cereal box

If you want to step up your eclipse viewing game, go to the pantry and grab a cereal box, then find scissors, tape, aluminum foil and a piece of paper.

  • First, put the box on top of a piece of white paper and trace around the bottom of the box. Cut out the part you traced to get a rectangle. Tape the cutout piece of paper to the bottom of the box on the inside.
  • Cut two openings in the cereal box top – one on each side of the part of the box with the tab that is used to close it.
  • Cover one of the openings with a piece of foil. Tape the foil down onto the box.
  • Take a pin and poke a hole in the foil.
  • Again, standing with your back to the sun, look into the other hole you made in the box and line the sun up with the pinhole in the foil so that an image of the sun is reflected onto the sheet of paper at the bottom of the box.

You can safely watch the eclipse on the bottom of the box.

See how it works in the video below.


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