SOLAR VIEWING SAFETY
Whatever means of viewing you choose, test it well before April 8, 2024. Time will go by in a flash that day and there are no second chances to get your equipment right!
Direct Viewing
During a solar eclipse, eye protection must be used at all times except during 'totality', when the Moon has completely covered the Sun. The protection must be used before and after totality. Look away from the Sun when you are putting on and taking off the glasses.
REGULAR SUNGLASSES ARE NOT SAFE TO VIEW THE SUN
Use solar glasses or a cardboard solar viewer. It's OK to share them! They should be stamped 'ISO 12312-2'. Make sure they have no scratches, holes or any other kind of damage. They must say 'Solar glasses'. 3D glasses are different and will damage your eyes. If you wear eyeglasses, put the solar glasses in front of your eyeglasses, not between your eyeglasses and your face. It is important to supervise children wearing solar glasses, to prevent accidental viewing of the Sun without protection.
Test the glasses before the eclipse. If the glasses are too wide or fall off, modify them so the arms stay in place. An idea for modifying them for children is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6qUK1d7U30
Binoculars, telescopes and smart phones may be used but must be fitted with proper solar filters. See the link above for references of filter sources. Using them without filters can permanently damage your eyes and the device and even cause them to burst into flames.
Note: During totality, the Sun's corona can be seen but will be faint to the naked eye, even with magnification. To see it better, wear an eye-patch over one eye in the half hour before totality, to prepare that eye for the dimmer corona.
#14 welders glasses may also be used as a safe viewing option.
Other sources of reputable solar glasses and filters: https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters.
Indirect Viewing
No eye protection is needed if you face away from the Sun and view the image of the eclipse on a projected surface. Great ideas here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera/
Two pieces of white paper with a pinhole the size of a pencil point, through the center of one piece. That piece is held above the second piece with the Sun behind you, so the image is projected, through the pin-hole onto the lower piece of paper.
Pinhole box viewer using an empty cereal box.
Hold a colander out so that the sun shines through it, projecting a different copy of the eclipse for every hole in the colander.