While you may be interested to observe the sun, you should NEVER look at the sun directly; it's bad for the retina of your eye. A pinhole camera enables us to view a scale (a very, very, very small scale) model of the sun by focusing its rays through a tiny hole. The mini sun will shine onto another piece of paper or other light surface, so you can "see" the sun without looking directly at it.  More complex pinhole camera models can use that very small, focused sunbeam to expose photography film in such a way that they take real photos! Below we have included plans for a simple paper "camera" to view the sun, and also linked to a more complex design that will enable you to make your own camera from items found around the house. 

A pinhole camera is especially handy during an eclipse. An eclipse is when part or all of the sun is obstructed from view by another planet, moon, or extra-planetary object between our line of sight and the sun. The last major eclipse was August 2017. Some of you may remember the ice cream party we had to celebrate on the Lyndhurst patio! Can you spot the tiny eclipsed sun in the bottom of this pinhole camera photo, below? 

Simplest Pinhole Camera Design - From NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab