light a fire with a magnifying glass

You may have heard of this one before but it isn't as easy as it sounds. It's not hard to get a brown dot appear with smoke but how to make fire?

Any magnifying glass will work, as will glasses from a long sighted person. Shirt sighted ones won't do. You go outside and focus the suns rays into a super bright dot using the magnifying glass. Do this on a dry piece of newspaper that features an advert with large areas of black- either a photo or its design. Black paper is best for burning as it holds the heat better.

Keep focusing the spot until the smoke starts pouring off. You can even puff a little gently on it. If the hole gets too large put several layers of black newspaper under each other and keep burning until you have a fire!

If you are in the woods with no paper find a piece of birchbark. Scratch and curl its surface up to make something good for catching alight. Then focus the sun's rays as above.